Overcoming Learning Difficulties with Smartphones in an Inclusive Primary Science Class

Abstract

This paper examines how pupils with learning difficulties (LDs) used smartphones as supportive learning tools in an inclusive science class and how the usage developed over a two-year period. The case study was conducted in a Finnish primary school, where nine LD pupils’ smartphone usage was followed in three science learning practices that supported LDs. The data consisted of repeated smartphone questionnaires, interviews, learning outcomes, and teachers’ memoranda. The content and co-occurrence network analysis revealed that the smartphone usage varied in different practices, and its benefits developed gradually during the research period. Research highlights that teachers’ and pupils’ engagement with a dedicated, collaborative, and long-lasting process of smartphone usage in teaching and learning enables the achievement of change.