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Use of information and communications technology by teachers and students in biomedical laboratory science educations in the Nordic countries

Authors:
Eeva Liikanen at Tampere University of Applied Sciences
Eeva Liikanen
Marko Björn at Häme University of Applied Sciences
Marko Björn
Marianne Nielsen at University College Absalon
Marianne Nielsen
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Seventeen degree programmes of Biomedical Laboratory Science (BLS) in all Nordic countries collaborate in BioNord under NordPlus. For some years, BioNord focused on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the biomedical laboratory science education. The purpose of the study was to explore the use of ICT among teachers and students within the biomedical laboratory science studies in the countries collaborating in the NordPlus program, in the Nordic countries. The electronic questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 142 students and 43 teachers in all Biomedical Laboratory Science Programmes in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The data were collected in spring 2016. The questionnaire respondent rate for students was 27.5% and for teachers 51.2%. For communication, teachers mostly used Skype (90.5%) and students used Facebook (94.7%). For collaboration students (68.4%) and teachers (42.9%) used mostly Google Docs. Teachers mostly used YouTube Links (71.4%), E-books (47.6%) and Demo-videos/tutorials (47.6%) as learning tools, and students used mostly YouTube links (81.6%) and E-books (50.0%). Students expected guidance in the use of ICT programs as well as peer support. In the future, teachers would like to use more diverse types of tools to support learning. The focus was on virtual learning environments where students can be more active and use tools that support regular and prompt possibilities for feedback and interactive discussions. Students and teachers need support to learn how to use ICT tools in education to improve learning and learning outcomes.
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Use of information and communications technology
by teachers and students in biomedical laboratory science
educations in the Nordic countries
Eeva Liikanen
1
&Marko Björn
2
&Marianne Nielsen
3
Received: 24 January 2018 /Accepted: 23 May 2018 /Published online: 9 June 2018
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract Seventeen degree programmes of Biomedical Laboratory Science (BLS) in
all Nordic countries collaborate in BioNord under NordPlus. For some years, BioNord
focused on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the bio-
medical laboratory science education. The purpose of the study was to explore the use
of ICT among teachers and students within the biomedical laboratory science studies in
the countries collaborating in the NordPlus program, in the Nordic countries. The
electronic questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 142 students and 43 teachers in all
Biomedical Laboratory Science Programmes in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden. The data were collected in spring 2016. The questionnaire
respondent rate for students was 27.5% and for teachers 51.2%. For communication,
teachers mostly used Skype (90.5%) and students used Facebook (94.7%). For collab-
oration students (68.4%) and teachers (42.9%) used mostly Google Docs. Teachers
mostly used YouTube Links (71.4%), E-books (47.6%) and Demo-videos/tutorials
(47.6%) as learning tools, and students used mostly YouTube links (81.6%) and E-
books (50.0%). Students expected guidance in the use of ICT programs as well as peer
support. In the future, teachers would like to use more diverse types of tools to support
learning. The focus was on virtual learning environments where students can be more
active and use tools that support regular and prompt possibilities for feedback and
interactive discussions. Students and teachers need support to learn how to use ICT
tools in education to improve learning and learning outcomes.
Educ Inf Technol (2018) 23:2867–2878
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9746-y
*Eeva Liikanen
eeva.liikanen@tamk.fi
1
Biomedical Laboratory Science, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Kuntokatu 3,
33520 Tampere, Finland
2
Biomedical Laboratory Science, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Ruiskatu 8, 20720 Turku,
Finland
3
Center of Nursing and Bioanalysis, Biomedical Laboratory Science, University College Absalon,
Næstved, Parkvej 190, DK-4700 Næstved, Denmark
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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