Opettajien tieto- ja viestintäteknologinen osaaminen varhaiskasvatuksessa ja perusopetuksessa

Tutkimuksemme tavoitteena oli selvittää, millä tasolla opettajien tieto- ja viestintäteknologinen osaaminen on tällä hetkellä. Lähestyimme aihetta neljän tutkimuskysymyksen kautta. Ensimmäinen tutkimuskysymysemme keskittyi selvittämään osaamisen tämänhetkistä tasoa. Toinen tutkimuskysymyksemme selvitti opetuskokemuksen yhteyttä tieto- ja viestintäteknologiseen osaamiseen. Kolmas tutkimuskysymyksemme selvitti, miten ja kuinka usein opettajat hyödyntävät tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa arjessaan. Lisäksi tarkastelimme koronapandemia-ajan ja etäopetukseen siirtymisen vaikutuksia opettajien osaamiseen. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin Webropol-kyselyllä, johon vapaaehtoiset vastaajat pääsivät QR-koodin tai suoran nettilinkin kautta. Tutkimusjoukko koostui pääasiassa Varsinais-Suomessa työskentelevistä varhaiskasvatuksen ja perusopetuksen opettajista (N=37). Tutkimus oli luonteeltaan laadullinen ja analysoimme tuloksia aineistolähtöisen sisällönanalyysin menetelmällä. Tutkimustulosten mukaan opettajien osaaminen on hyvällä tasolla. Tästä huolimatta opettajat kaipaavat lisäkoulutusta tieto- ja viestintäteknologisiin taitoihinsa. Pitkällä opetuskokemuksella havaittiin olevan negatiivinen yhteys digiosaamiseen. Tulos selittyy sillä, ettei pidempään työskennelleiden opettajien koulutus ole pitänyt sisällään tieto- ja viestintäteknologian sisältöjä. Tämä joukko hyötyisi erityisesti lisäkoulutuksista. 65 % opettajista kertoi hyödyntävänsä tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa opetuksessaan päivittäin. Puolestaan vain 3 % vastaajista kertoi hyödyntävänsä sitä harvemmin kuin kerran viikossa. Tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa hyödynnettiin perusopetuksessa varhaiskasvatusta useammin ja monipuolisemmin. Käyttöön vaikutti ennen kaikkea laitteiden saatavuus. Sähköisiä opetusmateriaaleja ja sovelluksia on myös enemmän saatavilla perusopetuksen puolelle. Pandemia-aika ja etäopetus kuormitti opettajia lähiopetusta enemmän. Uudet digitaaliset sovellukset oli otettava haltuun omatoimisesti nopealla aikataululla. Korona-aika kuitenkin kehitti opettajien digiosaamista. Aiemmin on tehty lähinnä selvityksiä tieto- ja viestintäteknologian käytön mahdollisuuksista opetuksessa. Aiempi tutkimus on keskittynyt määrittelemään teknologian ja digitaalisen kompetenssin käsitettä. Tutkimuksemme tuo uutta ja ajankohtaista tietoa opettajien tieto- ja viestintäteknologisen osaamisen tasosta. Tulostemme perusteella opettajille tulisi tarjota aiempaa enemmän lisäkoulutusta tieto- ja viestintäteknologisen osaamisen tueksi

Spoken Language Skills in Children With Bilateral Hearing Aids or Bilateral Cochlear Implants at the Age of Three Years

Objectives: Early hearing aid (HA) fitting and cochlear implants (CIs) aim to reduce the effects of hearing loss (HL) on spoken language development. The goals of this study were (1) to examine spoken language skills of children with bilateral HAs and children with bilateral CIs; (2) to compare their language skills to the age-norms of peers with normal hearing (NH); and (3) to investigate factors associated with spoken language outcomes. Design: Spoken language results of 56 Finnish children with HL were obtained from a nationwide prospective multicenter study. Children with HL comprised two groups: children with mild-to-severe HL who used bilateral HAs (BiHA group, n = 28) and children with profound HL who used bilateral CIs (BiCI group, n = 28). Children's spoken language comprehension, expressive and receptive vocabulary, and phonological skills were compared with normative values of children with NH at the age of three years. Odds ratio (OR) was calculated to compare proportions of children below age-norms in BiHA and BiCI groups. Factors associated with spoken language outcomes were modeled with analysis of covariance. Results: At the age of 3 years, 50%-96% of children with HL performed 1 SD or more below the mean of the normative sample of age-peers with NH in spoken language skills, depending on the language domain. Receptive vocabulary and phonological skills were the most vulnerable language domains. In receptive vocabulary, 82% of the children in the BiHA group and 50% of the children in the BiCI group scored 1 SD or more below the normative mean. The BiHA group was 4.4 times more likely to have poorer receptive vocabulary than the BiCI group. In phonological skills, 96% of children in the BiHA group and 60% of the children in the BiCI group scored 1 SD or more below the normative mean. The BiHA group was 18.0 times more likely to have poorer phonological skills than the BiCI group. The analysis of covariance models showed that unaided pure-tone average, PTA(0.5-4 kHz), had a significant effect on spoken language comprehension in the BiHA group. For the BiCI group, age at HL diagnosis and age at CI activation had a significant effect on expressive vocabulary. High maternal level of education had a significant effect on language comprehension and expressive vocabulary and female gender on phonological skills. Conclusions: At the age of 3 years, especially receptive vocabulary and phonological skills caused difficulties for children with HL showing also considerable individual variation. Children with bilateral HAs seemed to be more likely to have poorer receptive vocabulary and phonological skills than children with bilateral CIs. A variety of factors was associated with outcomes in both groups. Close monitoring of spoken language skills of children with HL is important for ensuring similar opportunities for all children with HL and timely intervention, when needed.Peer reviewe

Spoken Language Skills in Children With Bilateral Hearing Aids or Bilateral Cochlear Implants at the Age of Three Years

Objectives: Early hearing aid (HA) fitting and cochlear implants (CIs) aim to reduce the effects of hearing loss (HL) on spoken language development. The goals of this study were (1) to examine spoken language skills of children with bilateral HAs and children with bilateral CIs; (2) to compare their language skills to the age-norms of peers with normal hearing (NH); and (3) to investigate factors associated with spoken language outcomes. Design:Spoken language results of 56 Finnish children with HL were obtained from a nationwide prospective multicenter study. Children with HL comprised two groups: children with mild-to-severe HL who used bilateral HAs (BiHA group, n = 28) and children with profound HL who used bilateral CIs (BiCI group, n = 28). Children's spoken language comprehension, expressive and receptive vocabulary, and phonological skills were compared with normative values of children with NH at the age of three years. Odds ratio (OR) was calculated to compare proportions of children below age-norms in BiHA and BiCI groups. Factors associated with spoken language outcomes were modeled with analysis of covariance. Results: At the age of 3 years, 50%-96% of children with HL performed 1 SD or more below the mean of the normative sample of age-peers with NH in spoken language skills, depending on the language domain. Receptive vocabulary and phonological skills were the most vulnerable language domains. In receptive vocabulary, 82% of the children in the BiHA group and 50% of the children in the BiCI group scored 1 SD or more below the normative mean. The BiHA group was 4.4 times more likely to have poorer receptive vocabulary than the BiCI group. In phonological skills, 96% of children in the BiHA group and 60% of the children in the BiCI group scored 1 SD or more below the normative mean. The BiHA group was 18.0 times more likely to have poorer phonological skills than the BiCI group. The analysis of covariance models showed that unaided pure-tone average, PTA(0.5-4 kHz), had a significant effect on spoken language comprehension in the BiHA group. For the BiCI group, age at HL diagnosis and age at CI activation had a significant effect on expressive vocabulary. High maternal level of education had a significant effect on language comprehension and expressive vocabulary and female gender on phonological skills. Conclusions: At the age of 3 years, especially receptive vocabulary and phonological skills caused difficulties for children with HL showing also considerable individual variation. Children with bilateral HAs seemed to be more likely to have poorer receptive vocabulary and phonological skills than children with bilateral CIs. A variety of factors was associated with outcomes in both groups. Close monitoring of spoken language skills of children with HL is important for ensuring similar opportunities for all children with HL and timely intervention, when needed.</p

Long-term results after simple versus complex stenting of coronary artery bifurcation lesions:nordic bifurcation study 5-year follow-up results

ObjectivesThis study sought to report the 5-year follow-up results of the Nordic Bifurcation Study.BackgroundRandomized clinical trials with short-term follow-up have indicated that coronary bifurcation lesions may be optimally treated using the optional side branch stenting strategy.MethodsA total of 413 patients with a coronary bifurcation lesion were randomly assigned to a simple stenting strategy of main vessel (MV) and optional stenting of side branch (SB) or to a complex stenting strategy, namely, stenting of both MV and SB.ResultsFive-year clinical follow-up data were available for 404 (98%) patients. The combined safety and efficacy endpoint of cardiac death, non–procedure-related myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization were seen in 15.8% in the optional SB stenting group as compared to 21.8% in the MV and SB stenting group (p = 0.15). All-cause death was seen in 5.9% versus 10.4% (p = 0.16) and non–procedure-related myocardial infarction in 4% versus 7.9% (p = 0.09) in the optional SB stenting group versus the MV and SB stenting group, respectively. The rates of target vessel revascularization were 13.4% versus 18.3% (p = 0.14) and the rates of definite stent thrombosis were 3% versus 1.5% (p = 0.31) in the optional SB stenting group versus the MV and SB stenting group, respectively.ConclusionsAt 5-year follow-up in the Nordic Bifurcation Study, the clinical outcomes after simple optional side branch stenting remained at least equal to the more complex strategy of planned stenting of both the main vessel and the side branch