Maahanmuuttajaoppilaat erityiskouluissa

Immigrant Pupils in Special Education Schools The study focused on the opinions of immigrant pupils in the 1st–9th grades of basic education in four special education schools of the City of Turku and in need of special support about the following: 1. Their difficulties in going to school in general education before the transfer to a special education school. 2. Their opinions about the transfer process to special education and the changes in their school practice after being transferred to a special education school. 3. Their experiences about their school and coping in special education school. The study strengthened the idea that immigrant pupils need positive special treatment, linguistic support, individual guidance, small teaching groups and operating models that promote well-being on their integration and education path. The central educational idea of inclusive education is based on deconstructing the power structures concerning gender, ethnicity and “race” and approval of differences in the pupils. Shifting the emphasis from the pupil to working on the learning environment has resulted in special education no longer being primarily separate special education tied to a certain place, but directing the teaching more towards individuality. The central dimension of intercultural competence of a teacher working in a multicultural class seems to be the attitudes and approaches to a different pupil; the teacher must be interculturally sensitive when facing children and young people from a foreign culture. Education and teaching affect every sector of the pupil’s well-being. Learning and learning results have a connection with teaching, education and well-being. Every sector is important for the going to school and integration of an immigrant pupil in need of special support. The basis of the study is the equality of opportunities and the humanistic idea of the human being in the Finnish education policy. The immigrant pupils selected for the study represented the following language groups: Arabian, Albanian, Somali, Russian and Vietnamese. In the four special education schools, the number of immigrant pupils belonging to these language groups (2004) totalled 104. A total of 89 pupils i.e. 86% answered the questionnaire, which is sufficient considering the generalisation of the study. Although this is basically a quantitative study, the interviewing method was used in part of the study, because the questionnaires were in Finnish and consequently, it was difficult for some immigrant pupils to understand them. Understanding the questions was also affected by the fact that the age distribution in the study was very wide (7–18). According to the results of the study, the immigrants felt that the biggest drawbacks in general education were their inability to speak Finnish and lack of concentration. The actual process of being transferred to a special education class remained unclear for immigrant pupils, and they could do very little about the transfer themselves. The results show that immigrant pupils coped well in special education school; they felt that their learning ability and concentration improved in the small groups of the special education school. They considered the individual support given in the special education schools to be useful. The lower-grade immigrant pupils had a more positive attitude towards special education school than the upper-grade immigrant pupils. In all the special education schools the immigrant pupils experienced that they were in a good position in the class; girls felt this even a little more strongly than boys. The teacher-pupil-relationship was felt to be good. School bullying being so common was a negative feature experienced by immigrant pupils, who were often targets or bullies themselves. Immigrant pupils believed in their success at school and in the opportunities offered by special education schools. Generally they were of the opinion that pupils are not labelled by special school; however, upper-grade immigrant pupils were more hesitant than lower-grade immigrant pupils. This study aimed at bringing out the immigrant pupils’ own opinions. Teaching immigrant pupils in special education schools has not been very much studied in Finland, which made the topic new and even more challenging.

Turvallisuusosaamisen varmistaminen verkko-oppimistyökalun avulla metsäteollisuusyrityksessä

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää UPM-Kymmene Oyj:n turvallisuuskoulutukseen verkko-oppimistyökalu, jolla voitaisiin tehostaa yrityksen turvallisuuskoulutusta, ja näin parantamaan turvallisuusosaamista, ja sitä kautta vähentää tapaturmia ja sairaspoissaoloja. Työ toteutettiin pilottiprojektina UPM:n Kymin sellutehtaalla Kuusankoskella. Työtä lähestyttiinhuomioimalla mahdollisimman monipuolisesti ne eri osa alueet, jotka turvallisuuden verkko-oppimishankkeeseen liittyivät. Samalla selvitettiin verkko-oppimiseen liittyviä vahvuuksia ja heikkouksia sekä keinot vahvuuksien hyödyntämiseen ja heikkouksien välttämiseen. Teoreettisessa tarkastelussa painotettiin aikuisdidaktisia lähestymistapoja, järjestelmän käytettävyyttä sekä e-oppimismenetelmien erityispiirteitä. Työn tuloksena saatiin kehitettyä verkko-oppimisympäristö oppimateriaaleineen, joka on laajennettavissa muihin yksiköissä sekä kehitettävissä edelleen. Lisäksi saatiin tutkimustuloksia ja kokemuksia, joita voidaan hyödyntää hankkeen jatkokehityksessä.

Mikroyritysten tietotekniikkataitojen osaamisen kehittämismalli

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tuottaa koulutuksen kehittämismalli mikroyritysten tietotekniikkataitojen kehittämiseen. Työssä tarkasteltiin myös mikroyritysten asenteita tietotekniikan oppimiseen. Tutkimus tehtiin EU-projektiin nimeltä 'Mikrotie', jonka tavoitteena on estää mikroyritysten tietotekninen syrjäytyminen. Työ koostuu teoreettisesta ja empiirisestä osasta. Teoriaosassa kerrotaan konstruktivistisesta oppimisprosessista ja sen ympärille rakennetaan teoriaviitekehystä niin kouluttajasta kuin oppimisympäristöstä. Teoria keskittyy myös erityisesti aikuisopiskelijoiden erityispiirteisiin. Empiirisen osan aloittaa lomakekyselynä toteutettu kvantitatiivinen tutkimus mikroyritysten asenteista, jonka jälkeen käsitellään haastattelututkimuksena tehtyä tarkempaa kvalitatiivista osaa palveluntarjoajien ja mikroyritysten suhtautumisesta tapahtuneeseen koulutukseen sekä heidän parhaaksi katsomistaan koulutustavoista. Johtopäätösten mukaan aikuisoppimisen ja kouluttamisen asiantuntijan tulisi suunnitella mikroyritysten tietotekniikan koulutus tukenaan koulutettaviin asioihin perehtyneet palveluntarjoajat. Pelkästään vikojen korjailun sijaan mikroyrityksiä tulisi kouluttaa suuremmista asiakokonaisuuksista. Opiskelutavoitteet saavutetaan parhaiten vierikoulutuksena ja yleisemmän peruskäytön osalta pienryhmissä. Parhaana oppimisympäristönä toimisi yrityksen oma työskentelytila ja pienryhmäkoulutuksessa tietokoneluokka. Oppimistapahtumat pitäisi jakaa alle neljän tunnin osiin, jotka sijoiteltaisiin niin että opiskelu ei haittaa mikroyrityksen liiketoimintaa.

Verkko-opetuksenhyödyntäminen uusien työntekijöiden koulutuksen haasteisiin vastaamisessa

Työn tarkoituksena oli kehittää verkko-oppimisympäristö sahatavaran jatkojalostusprosessien uusien ja työtehtävää vaihtavien työntekijöiden perehdytykseen. Työssä tutkittiin myös miten verkko-oppimisympäristöä voidaan käyttää osaamisen siirrossa. Työssä haastateltiin työnjohtajia ja työntekijöiden perehdyttämisestä vastaavia henkilöitä siitä, mitkä ovat ongelmat ja haasteet sahatavaran jatkojalostuksen alueella tietämyksen siirrossa uusille työntekijöille. Työssä tarkasteltiin tiedon syntymistä ja siirtämistä tietojohtamisen, sekä oppivan organisaation teorioiden avulla. Työssä selvitettiin myös mitkä ovat verkko-oppimisympäristöjen vahvuudet ja heikkoudet tiedonsiirrossa, sekä miten verkko-oppimisympäristö voisi toimia osana tiedonsiirtojärjestelmää. Haasteiksi uusien työntekijöiden koulutuksessa nousi esille neljä teemaa. Ne olivat laatutietous, turvallisuus, taloudellisuus jamotivaatio oppimiseen. Verkko-oppimisen vahvuuksia pyrittiin käyttämään mahdollisimman tehokkaasti hyväksi esiin nousseisiin haasteisiin vastaamisessa. Verkko-oppimisen vahvuuksia ovat eri mediaelementtien käyttö kuten kuvat, videot ja animaatiot. Työn tuloksia käytettiin hyväksi verkko-oppimisympäristön teossa. Lopuksi tehtiin myös ehdotus verkko-oppimisympäristön käytöstä osana tiedonsiirtojärjestelmää. Järjestelmän käyttö riippuu sen sisällön hyödyllisyydestä ja jatkuvasta päivityksestä.

Matematiikan opetuksen virtuaaliympäristöjen pedagoginen käyttö

Tämän kandityön tarkoituksena on selvittää ja kehittää Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston sovelletun matematiikan laitoksella luotua virtuaalimateriaalin käyttöä eri kohderyhmille sopivaksi sekä käyttäjäystävällisemmäksi. Matematiikan virtuaalimateriaali on luotu tukemaan lähiopetusta matematiikan perusopetuksessa. Matematiikan virtuaalimateriaalin hallintaympäristöä on kehitetty vuodesta 2001. Järjestelmää sekä sen opiskelumateriaalia on kehitetty opettajien ja opiskelijoiden avulla. Järjestelmä kattaa teknillisen yliopiston eri osastojen matematiikan peruskurssien materiaalit. Sen käytöllä opettajat voivat hankkia itselleen lisää aikaa opetuksen suunnitteluun materiaalin luomisen nopeutuessa, koska opetusmateriaali voidaan nopeasti kasata valmiista tehtävistä ja teoriaosioista. Opiskelijoiden kannalta hyvätasoinen oppimateriaali on jatkuvasti saatavilla ja sen avulla on myös helppo opiskella hyvien hakutoimintojen ansiosta.

Evaluation of the Development of Metacognitive Knowledge Supported by the KnowCat System

The aim of this study was to examine the development of the metacognitive knowledge of a group of higher education students who participated actively in an experiment based on a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning environment called KnowCat. Eighteen university students participated in a 12-month learning project during which the KnowCat learning environment was used to support scaffolding process among equals during problem-solving tasks. After using KnowCat, the students were interviewed over their work in this shared workspace. Qualitative analysis revealed that the educational application of KnowCat can favour and improve the development of metacognitive knowledge.

Matematiikan perusopetuksen internet-aineiston tuottaminen

Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on kuvata Lappeenrannan teknillisessä yliopistossa matematiikan perusopetuksen virtuaaliympäristöä pedagogisesti toimivana oppimisympäristönä. Matematiikan virtuaalimateriaali on luotu tukemaan lähiopetusta matematiikan perusopetuksessa. Virtuaalimateriaalin kehittämisessä tähdätään pedagogiseen osaamiseen ja järjestelmän toimintalogiikan kehittämiseen sisällönhallintatyökalujen avulla. Opiskelun ja opetuksen kansainvälistymisen myötä on kehitetty perusmatematiikan virtuaaliympäristöä niin, että järjestelmä tarjoaa yliopiston opettajille ja suomalaisille sekä ulkomaalasille opiskelijoille yhteisen perusmatematiikan virtuaaliympäristön. Kehityksen tuloksena on saatu järjestelmä, joka hyödyntää tietoverkkoja kuten Wikipediaa verkko-opetuksen aputyökaluna.

Implantación del sistema VLE Moodle para la Escuela Internacional de Medios Audiovisuales (EIMA) : Administración de web y de comercio electrónico en entornos de software libre

Implantación de un virtual learning environment (VLE), en concreto Moodle, para la Escuela Internacional de Medios Audiovisuales (EIMA).

Sairaanhoitajan opiskelijaohjaustaidot sekä ohjaajakoulutuksen tarve ja hyöty hoitotyön ohjatun harjoittelun oppimisympäristössä

A Nurse's Preceptorship Skills of Guiding Students and the Need for and Benefit from Preceptorship Education Guided practical training in units of health services is an essential part of the education of nurses. Nurses take care of a student's preceptorship during these periods, and their role in supporting a student's learning has been shown to be the most important factor in the learning environment of guided practical training. Education for preceptors in various educational units has been organized to develop their skills of guiding students. The aim of this study was both to investigate preceptors' skills of guiding students, the differences in the student guiding skills of those who have and who have not received preceptorship education and to describe their experiences of their own need for preceptorship education and of the benefit of such education. Any activities that promote a student's learning were included in nurses' preceptorship skills. On the basis of research knowledge, the preceptorship skills were divided into the following subdomains: proficiency in nursing; creation of a preceptorship relationship; planning of preceptorship; implementation of preceptorship; combination of theory and practice; and evaluation. The target group comprised all those nurses (n=128) in a hospital in southern Finland who guided future nurses. The material was gathered by means of a questionnaire with structural and open questions. Preceptorship skills were studied with the structured questions and the need for and benefit from preceptorship education with the open questions. The material was interpreted by means of a statistical SAS programme and qualitative content analysis. The preceptorship skills in all domains of guiding skills proved good. Those who had received preceptorship education had better skills than those who had not received such education in all domains but “creation of a preceptorship relationship”. However, the differences were not statistically significant. The need for preceptorship education was highest in evaluation and in setting goals for a student. To support these, the preceptors wanted information on education and students' requirements. Most of all, preceptorship education had benefited the creation of a preceptorship relationship and the implementation of evaluation. The preceptors were of the opinion that their skills of guiding students were good. However, education is needed, which makes the results inconsistent in this respect. The results can be used in developing preceptorship skills and in planning preceptorship education.

Evaluation of Teacher Education Programs by Students and Graduates

The purpose of this research was to do a repeated cross-sectional research on class teachers who study in the 4th year and also graduated at the Faculty of Education, University of Turku between the years of 2000 through 2004. Specifically, seven research questions were addressed to target the main purpose of the study: How do class teacher education masters’ degree senior students and graduates rate “importance; effectiveness; and quality” of training they have received at the Faculty of Education? Are there significant differences between overall ratings of importance; effectiveness and quality of training by year of graduation, sex, and age (for graduates) and sex and age (for senior students)? Is there significant relationship between respondents’ overall ratings of importance; effectiveness and their overall ratings of the quality of training and preparation they have received? Are there significant differences between graduates and senior students about importance, effectiveness, and quality of teacher education programs? And what do teachers’ [Graduates] believe about how increasing work experience has changed their opinions of their preservice training? Moreover the following concepts related to the instructional activities were studied: critical thinking skills, communication skills, attention to ethics, curriculum and instruction (planning), role of teacher and teaching knowledge, assessment skills, attention to continuous professional development, subject matters knowledge, knowledge of learning environment, and using educational technology. Researcher also tried to find influence of some moderator variables e.g. year of graduation, sex, and age on the dependent and independent variables. This study consisted of two questionnaires (a structured likert-scale and an open ended questionnaire). The population in study 1 was all senior students and 2000-2004 class teacher education masters’ degree from the departments of Teacher Education Faculty of Education at University of Turku. Of the 1020 students and graduates the researcher was able to find current addresses of 675 of the subjects and of the 675 graduates contacted, 439 or 66.2 percent responded to the survey. The population in study 2 was all class teachers who graduated from Turku University and now work in the few basic schools (59 Schools) in South- West Finland. 257 teachers answered to the open ended web-based questions. SPSS was used to produce standard deviations; Analysis of Variance; Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r); T-test; ANOVA, Bonferroni post-hoc test; and Polynomial Contrast tests meant to analyze linear trend. An alpha level of .05 was used to determine statistical significance. The results of the study showed that: A majority of the respondents (graduates and students) rated the overall importance, effectiveness and quality of the teacher education programs as important, effective and good. Generally speaking there were only a few significant differences between the cohorts and groups related to the background variables (gender, age). The different cohorts were rating the quality of the programs very similarly but some differences between the cohorts were found in the importance and effectiveness ratings. Graduates of 2001 and 2002 rated the importance of the program significantly higher than 2000 graduates. The effectiveness of the programs was rated significantly higher by 2001 and 2003 graduates than other groups. In spite of these individual differences between cohorts there were no linear trends among the year cohorts in any measure. In respondents’ ratings of the effectiveness of teacher education programs there was significant difference between males and females; females rated it higher than males. There were no significant differences between males’ and females’ ratings of the importance and quality of programs. In the ratings there was only one difference between age groups. Older graduates (35 years or older) rated the importance of the teacher training significantly higher that 25-35 years old graduates. In graduates’ ratings there were positive but relatively low correlations between all variables related to importance, effectiveness and quality of Teacher Education Programs. Generally speaking students’ ratings about importance, effectiveness and quality of teacher education program were very positive. There was only one significant difference related to the background variables. Females rated higher the effectiveness of the program. The comparison of students’ and graduates’ perception about importance, effectiveness, and quality of teacher education programs showed that there were no significant differences between graduates and students in the overall ratings. However there were differences in some individual variables. Students rated higher in importance of “Continuous Professional Development”, effectiveness of “Critical Thinking Skills” and “Using Educational Technology” and quality of “Advice received from the advisor”. Graduates rated higher in importance of “Knowledge of Learning Environment” and effectiveness of “Continuous Professional Development”. According to the qualitative data of study 2 some graduates expressed that their perceptions have not changed about the importance, effectiveness, and quality of training that they received during their study time. They pointed out that teacher education programs have provided them the basic theoretical/formal knowledge and some training of practical routines. However, a majority of the teachers seems to have somewhat critical opinions about the teacher education. These teachers were not satisfied with teacher education programs because they argued that the programs failed to meet their practical demands in different everyday situations of the classroom e.g. in coping with students’ learning difficulties, multiprofessional communication with parents and other professional groups (psychologists and social workers), and classroom management problems. Participants also emphasized more practice oriented knowledge of subject matter, evaluation methods and teachers’ rights and responsibilities. Therefore, they (54.1% of participants) suggested that teacher education departments should provide more practice-based courses and programs as well as closer collaboration between regular schools and teacher education departments in order to fill gap between theory and practice.

L'informatique: un outil remarquable pour l'enseignement de la médecine interne générale [The informatics: a remarkable tool for teaching general internal medicine].

INTERMED training implies a three week course, integrated in the "primary care module" for medical students in the first master year at the school of medicine in Lausanne. INTERMED uses an innovative teaching method based on repetitive sequences of e-learning-based individual learning followed by collaborative learning activities in teams, named Team-based learning (TBL). The e-learning takes place in a web-based virtual learning environment using a series of interactive multimedia virtual patients. By using INTERMED students go through a complete medical encounter applying clinical reasoning and choosing the diagnostic and therapeutic approach. INTERMED offers an authentic experience in an engaging and safe environment where errors are allowed and without consequences.

Simulated Patient as Co-facilitators: Benefits and Challenges of the Interprofessional Team OSCE (Submission #9350).

Hypothesis: The quality of care for chronic patients depends on the collaborative skills of the healthcare providers.1,2 The literature lacks reports of the use of simulation to teach collaborative skills in non-acute care settings. We posit that simulation offers benefits for supporting the development of collaborative practice in non-acute settings. We explored the benefits and challenges of using an Interprofessional Team - Objective Structured Clinical Examination (IT-OSCE) as a formative assessment tool. IT-OSCE is an intervention which involves an interprofessional team of trainees interacting with a simulated patient (SP) enabling them to practice collaborative skills in non-acute care settings.5 A simulated patient are people trained to portray patients in a simulated scenario for educational purposes.6,7 Since interprofessional education (IPE) ultimately aims to provide collaborative patient-centered care.8,9 We sought to promote patient-centeredness in the learning process. Methods: The IT-OSCE was conducted with four trios of students from different professions. The debriefing was co-facilitated by the SP with a faculty. The participants were final-year students in nursing, physiotherapy and medicine. Our research question focused on the introduction of co-facilitated (SP and faculty) debriefing after an IT-OSCE: 1) What are the benefits and challenges of involving the SP during the debriefing? and 2) To evaluate the IT-OSCE, an exploratory case study was used to provide fine grained data 10, 11. Three focus groups were conducted - two with students (n=6; n=5), one with SPs (n=3) and one with faculty (n=4). Audiotapes were transcribed for thematic analysis performed by three researchers, who found a consensus on the final set of themes. Results: The thematic analysis showed little differentiation between SPs, student and faculty perspectives. The analysis of transcripts revealed more particularly, that the SP's co-facilitation during the debriefing of an IT-OSCE proved to be feasible. It was appreciated by all the participants and appeared to value and to promote patient-centeredness in the learning process. The main challenge consisted in SPs feedback, more particularly in how they could report accurate observations to a students' group rather than individual students. Conclusion: In conclusion, SP methodology using an IT-OSCE seems to be a useful and promising way to train collaborative skills, aligning IPE, simulation-based team training in a non-acute care setting and patient-centeredness. We acknowledge the limitations of the study, especially the small sample and consider the exploration of SP-based IPE in non-acute care settings as strength. Future studies could consider the preparation of SPs and faculty as co-facilitators. References: 1. Borrill CS, Carletta J, Carter AJ, et al. The effectiveness of health care teams in the National Health Service. Aston centre for Health Service Organisational Research. 2001. 2. Reeves S, Lewin S, Espin S, Zwarenstein M. Interprofessional teamwork for health and social care. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell; 2010. 3. Issenberg S, McGaghie WC, Petrusa ER, Gordon DL, Scalese RJ. Features and uses of high-fidelity medical simulations that lead to effective learning - a BEME systematic review. Medical Teacher. 2005;27(1):10-28. 4. McGaghie W, Petrusa ER, Gordon DL, Scalese RJ. A critical review of simulation-based medical education research: 2003-2009. Medical Education. 2010;44(1):50-63. 5. Simmons B, Egan-Lee E, Wagner SJ, Esdaile M, Baker L, Reeves S. Assessment of interprofessional learning: the design of an interprofessional objective structured clinical examination (iOSCE) approach. Journal of Interprofessional Care. 2011;25(1):73-74. 6. Nestel D, Layat Burn C, Pritchard SA, Glastonbury R, Tabak D. The use of simulated patients in medical education: Guide Supplement 42.1 - Viewpoint. Medical teacher. 2011;33(12):1027-1029. Disclosures: None (C) 2014 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Web and education, a successful open entanglement

E-learning, understood as the intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies in mainly but not only) distance education, has radically changed the meaning of the latter. E-learning is an overused term which has been applied to any use of technology in education. Today, the most widely accepted meaning ofe-learning coincides with the fourth generation described by Taylor (1999), where there is an asynchronousprocess that allows students and teachers to interact in an educational process expressly designed in accordance with these principles. We prefer to speak of Internet-Based Learning or, better still, Web-Based Learning, for example, to explain the fact that distance education is carried out using the Internet, with the appearance of the virtual learning environment concept, a web space where the teaching and learning process is generated and supported (Sangrà, 2002). This entails overcoming the barriers of space and time of brickand mortar education (although we prefer the term face-to-face) or of classical distance education using broadcasting and adopting a completely asynchronous model that allows access to education by many more users, at any level (including secondary education, but primarily higher education and lifelong learning).

Fostering Collaborative Knowledge Building by the Effective Provision of Knowledge about the Discussion Process

Peer-reviewed

The effects of ICT on school: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on school from teachers’ and students’ perspectives. The focus was on three main subject matters: on ICT use and competence, on teacher and school community, and on learning environment and teaching practices. The study is closely connected to the national educational policy which has aimed strongly at supporting the implementation of ICT in pedagogical practices at all institutional levels. The phenomena were investigated using a mixed methods approach. The qualitative data from three cases studies and the quantitative data from three statistical studies were combined. In this study, mixed methods were used to investigate the complex phenomena from various stakeholders’ points of view, and to support validation by combining different perspectives in order to give a fuller and more complete picture of the phenomena. The data were used in a complementary manner. The results indicate that the technical resources for using ICT both at school and at homes are very good. In general, students are capable and motivated users of new technology; these skills and attitudes are mainly based on home resources and leisuretime use. Students have the skills to use new kinds of applications and new forms of technology, and their ICT skills are wide, although not necessarily adequate; the working habits might be ineffective and even wrong. Some students have a special kind of ICT-related adaptive expertise which develops in a beneficial interaction between school guidance and challenges, and individual interest and activity. Teachers’ skills are more heterogeneous. The large majority of teachers have sufficient skills for everyday and routine working practices, but many of them still have difficulties in finding a meaningful pedagogical use for technology. The intensive case study indicated that for the majority of teachers the intensive ICT projects offer a possibility for learning new skills and competences intertwined in the work, often also supported by external experts and a collaborative teacher community; a possibility that “ordinary” teachers usually do not have. Further, teachers’ good ICT competence help them to adopt new pedagogical practices and integrate ICT in a meaningful way. The genders differ in their use of and skills in ICT: males show better skills especially in purely technical issues also in schools and classrooms, whereas female students and younger female teachers use ICT in their ordinary practices quite naturally. With time, the technology has become less technical and its communication and creation affordances have become stronger, easier to use, more popular and motivating, all of which has increased female interest in the technology. There is a generation gap in ICT use and competence between teachers and students. This is apparent especially in the ICT-related pedagogical practices in the majority of schools. The new digital affordances not only replace some previous practices; the new functionalities change many of our existing conceptions, values, attitudes and practices. The very different conceptions that generations have about technology leads, in the worst case, to a digital gap in education; the technology used in school is boring and ineffective compared to the ICT use outside school, and it does not provide the competence needed for using advanced technology in learning. The results indicate that in schools which have special ICT projects (“ICT pilot schools”) for improving pedagogy, these have led to true changes in teaching practices. Many teachers adopted student-centred and collaborative, inquiry-oriented teaching practices as well as practices that supported students' authentic activities, independent work, knowledge building, and students' responsibility. This is, indeed, strongly dependent on the ICT-related pedagogical competence of the teacher. However, the daily practices of some teachers still reflected a rather traditional teacher-centred approach. As a matter of fact, very few teachers ever represented solely, e.g. the knowledge building approach; teachers used various approaches or mixed them, based on the situation, teaching and learning goals, and on their pedagogical and technical competence. In general, changes towards pedagogical improvements even in wellorganised developmental projects are slow. As a result, there are two kinds of ICT stories: successful “ICT pilot schools” with pedagogical innovations related to ICT and with school community level agreement about the visions and aims, and “ordinary schools”, which have no particular interest in or external support for using ICT for improvement, and in which ICT is used in a more routine way, and as a tool for individual teachers, not for the school community.