Health and Social Care Educators’ Competence in Digital Collaborative Learning: A Cross-Sectional Survey

The ongoing change from traditional pedagogy to digital collaborative learning requires a new mode of teaching, learning, and educators’ responsibilities. For competence in digitally mediated teaching, educators need understanding of how to provide appropriate digital environment to learn collective...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSAGE open Vol. 10; no. 4
Main Authors Männistö, Merja, Mikkonen, Kristina, Kuivila, Heli-Maria, Koskinen, Camilla, Koivula, Meeri, Sjögren, Tuulikki, Salminen, Leena, Saaranen, Terhi, Kyngäs, Helvi, Kääriäinen, Maria
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2020
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
SAGE Publishing
Subjects
Collaborative learning
Cooperative Learning
Cross-sectional studies
Foreign Countries
Health Education
Higher Education
Profiles
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Competencies
Teachers
Vocational Education
Web Based Instruction
Finland
competence
higher education
vocational
digital collaborative learning
educator
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Summary:The ongoing change from traditional pedagogy to digital collaborative learning requires a new mode of teaching, learning, and educators’ responsibilities. For competence in digitally mediated teaching, educators need understanding of how to provide appropriate digital environment to learn collectively and individually. The aim of this study was to describe and explore health and social care educators’ perceptions of their current level of competence in digital collaborative learning and identify distinct educators’ profiles. Data were collected via cross-sectional survey from educators in 21 universities of applied science and eight vocational colleges in Finland using an instrument covering two subdimensions: educators’ competence in fostering construction of knowledge in digital collaborative learning, and supporting students in individualized collaborative learning. The data were analyzed by statistical methods. Three significantly differing clusters of educators’ profiles were identified, and a significant association between type of current work organization and their self-reported competence in digital collaborative learning was found. The vocational college educators rated their competence in fostering construction of knowledge in digital collaborative learning as significantly lower than higher education educators. There were also remarkable differences in competence in supporting students’ individual collaborative learning. To provide such support, sufficient competence in teaching in digital learning environment is essential, and our study highlights clear needs to enhance this competence.
ISSN:2158-2440
2158-2440
DOI:10.1177/2158244020962780