Home–school collaboration aims to support children’s development and learning and is thus a crucial aspect of education. Internationally, digital platforms are widely used to facilitate communication between home and school. In Finland, the digital platform Wilma is used for communication between parents and teachers. However, there is limited research on parents' experiences with the Wilma platform, particularly in the context of special educational support. 

This study investigates parents' experiences of home–school collaboration via Wilma. It compares the experiences between primary and lower secondary education, and between parents whose child receives special educational support and parents whose child does not receive this kind of support. The research questions were: 1) What is home-school collaboration like regarding the number of contacts and Wilma markings and the usefulness of the markings? 2) How do parents describe the collaboration in Wilma?

The study utilized an online questionnaire completed by 558 parents. Of the respondents, 32.6% had a child who received special educational support. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, while qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.

The findings indicate that Wilma is the most frequently used home–school communication tool. The parents whose child received special educational support reported more frequent Wilma markings and messages from school. Wilma messages and markings awakened both positive and negative emotions in parents. While parents generally found Wilma beneficial, they also highlighted the need for common guidelines and practices. The platform was perceived as a good technical tool, but lacking consistency as a pedagogical tool. The results emphasize the importance of developing common guidelines for using Wilma to enhance its effectiveness as a tool for home-school collaboration. The use of Wilma differs between schools and even teachers in the same school. Addressing differences in Wilma use could improve communication with all parents. The study revealed that parents make assumptions about teachers’ professionalism on the basis of communication via Wilma.

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