Talking Tools Learning Sloyd with Smartphones

Craft and design (sloyd) is a compulsory subject taught in grades 1-7 in primary schools in Finland. In grades 8-9 the subject is elective. The learning process in sloyd is highly student-centred and focused on individual learning processes during which tangible artefacts are manufactured e.g. in wood, textile materials, metal and plastic. Sloyd also includes basic mechanics and electronics. The subject ́s character is highly communicative and traditional teaching materials in the form of e.g. textbooks have a minor role. Because of the subject’s student-centered and productive nature, teachers create most of the teaching material themselves, depending on the needs of the areas of work, the teaching context and students (Porko-Hudd, 2005, pp. 68– 69) The teacher is often forced to repeat her instructions for individual students when teaching sloyd to a whole class. This is mainly because all pupils are not simultaneously in the need of the same information. On the contrary, students often need very different information under completely different times. The individual craft processes means individual learning needs. Decreasing costs of smartphones and increasing capacity in data storage and wireless networks, pocket-size mobile devices are becoming powerful digital tools, creating new possibilities for learning (Pachler, 2009, p. 4) In the case of sloyd education, mobile technology might provide tools for changing the teacher ́s role and the character of the communication between the teacher and student. The main idea in developing the mobile solution Talking Tools is to encourage learner autonomy by providing a learning platform including e.g. virtual learning objects and tools for work process documentation. The vision of the project is to create a smartphone application that on the one hand can enhance student autonomy and consciousness of learning. On the other hand to free teacher resources for renewing one ́s teaching practice by shifting focus and characteristics in the teacher–learner communication.