| 1. |
- Billmayer, Jakob, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Remote teaching to ensure equal access to education in rural schools
- 2020
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Ingår i: Education in the North. - Aberdeen : School of Education at the University of Aberdeen. - 0424-5512 .- 2398-0184. ; 27:2, s. 1-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An impending challenge in today’s school is to ensure that all students have access to an equal education, which should in turn improve social and economic conditions for both individual and society (Lundahl, 2016). The equality aspect is especially accentuated in rural areas which, unlike metropolitan regions, often have significant difficulties related to long distances between schools, lack of qualified teachers and problems filling the classroom due to diminishing birthrates. This in turn restricts students' right to an equal education in rural areas (cf. Pettersson, 2017).At the same time, digitalization of society is one of the fundamental challenges for the future. The development and broad availability of digital technologies has created new unique opportunities, and pitfalls, for rethinking and reinventing students’ equal access to learning, education and collaboration in the digital age (Collins and Halverson, 2009). Distance and remote teaching are such examples used to ensure equal access to education, not least in rural areas (cf. Hilli, 2020; Pettersson and Olofsson, 2019). Using digital technologies for remote teaching have thereby also, to some extent, changed the way that schools operate and the ways that teaching is being conducted (cf. From, Pettersson and Pettersson, 2020). However, research, networks and collaborations within this area can be said to be scarce not only at a Nordic, but also at an international level (Barbour, 2013; Toppin and Toppin, 2016).Based on the lack of research, networks and collaboration for developing remote teaching as a practice, the significance of a symposium was identified. In May 2020, the international research symposium Remote teaching to ensure equal access to education in rural schools was held at Umeå University in Sweden. At the symposium different strategies to systematically and proactively increase access to education at upper secondary school level using digital technologies were discussed. One basic assumption that emerged during the discussions was that the existence of, and access to, new information technologies is necessary but not sufficient. In the discussions it became obvious that it will be of complementary importance who is empowered to design, create, invent and choose to use the technologies that enhance their personal and professional lives.The symposium resulted in an open call for a special issue of Education in the North, which resulted in a huge interest not only from the Nordic countries but from researchers all over the world. As can be seen in this special issue, research from Australia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Iceland, Scotland, and Sweden with different focuses on aspects of equal access to education in schools are represented. The great promise of this special issue lies in its potential to provide research of interest to a wide audience, including researchers, practitioners and policymakers in both Nordic and international contexts.
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| 2. |
- Lindberg, Ola J., 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Researching school practices with a complementary and symmetrical approach : the case of remote teaching in the rural north of Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Education in the North. - : School of Education at the University of Aberdeen. - 0424-5512 .- 2398-0184. ; 27:2, s. 235-241
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This feature describes an ongoing research project on remote teaching in the rural north of Sweden. Remote teaching is a form of teaching in which the teacher and students are separated in space but not in time, and students are accompanied by a designated supervisor at their location. The project is conducted within the framework of the national initiative Development, Learning, Research (DLR) to try out sustainable collaboration models between academia and school practice. At Umeå University, this relation has been described as complementary and symmetrical: complementary in the sense that each part brings unique competencies into the work, and symmetrical in the sense that each part is valued as equal in the work, which allows for a dimension of development work into the research approach. The feature elaborates on opportunities and challenges in conducting complementary and symmetrical research, seeking to promote knowledge built on collaboration between academia and school practice.
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| 3. |
- Pettersson, Fanny, et al.
(författare)
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Special Issue: Theory and Practice in Remote Teaching, Online Learning, and Distance Education for K-12 : [Special issue introduction]
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Digital Social Research (JDSR). - : Umeå University. - 2003-1998. ; 4:2, s. 1-6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are many situations where digital technology has served as the lifeline or salvation for society. Unexpected and unpredictable situations like catastrophic floods, blizzards, earthquakes, and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic have forced families to stay home, meaning that digital technologies have become important tools for people to work and learn. Other examples are societal and regional challenges such as lack of qualified teachers, diminishing birth rates, and difficulties in filling classrooms that force digital and educational development. The symposium held in May 2021, which resulted in this special issue, was intended to explore possibilities for ensuring equal access to education in rural schools using remote teaching. At the symposium, different strategies to increase access to education in the context of K-12 using digital technologies was presented and discussed. It brought together researchers from Europe and North America, all represented in this issue.
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| 4. |
- Siljebo, Josef, et al.
(författare)
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School leadership in a digitalized society : Reflections on the Use of a Survey Tool for Improving Educational Practice
- 2021
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Ingår i: ECER programmes.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This presentation will report from a pilot study using a novel quantitative instrument as a mean for findings of scientific relevance as well as of relevance for school development. The aim of the pilot study was to better understand school leadership in the midst of digitalization in school. The project was based on two theoretical positions for understanding leadership in the context of digitalization: Leadership behaviours according to Yukl (2013) and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) according to Engeström, (2015). The essence of leadership in organizations is, according to Yukl (2013),“influencing and facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives”. Leaders can improve the performance of a team or organization by influencing the processes that determine performance.Background: The Swedish government has commissioned a national pilot project to test sustainable collaboration models between academia and the school or school system regarding research, school activities and teacher education for the period 2017 to 2021 (ulfavtal.se). Expectations are to contribute to the research base of the school system, and to conduct research build on equal terms between researchers and schools. In Sweden there is an explicit expectation in the Education Act, that education is to “rest on a scientific grounds and proven experience” (Section 5). This means that teachers and school leaders are to base the exercise of their profession on research and that school development is to be permeated by a scientific approach. Along this argument, a need to develop sustainable collaboration models between the school system and academia resting on common grounds is formulated as a goal of the pilot project. Similar collaborative approaches between practice and academa are adopted in many European countreis. This means embracing a dimension of development work into the approach to research.The idea of forming collaborations between schools and academia to improve the quality of the educational practice is not new internationally. There is a growing body of initiatives with the aim to connect school improvement with external actors such as universities through networks and collaborative partnerships of different kinds (Chapman et al., 2016). Research shows how this may lead to meaningful changes in the teaching and learning processes in schools (Ainscow, 2012). Literature on initial teacher education, professional development for teachers, and educational research, also acknowledges how school–academia partnerships are powerful collaborations that can result in improved practice and results for students (Day & Smethem, 2010). However, only a limited amount of research tries to understand how such partnerships and collaboration forms stem from strategic leadership (e.g., Murphy, 2017).In this paper we address the issue of better understanding how such collaborations can be built on strategic decisions about content for collaboration, when it comes to digitalization in schools. Digitalization and school leadership: As discussed by Olofsson et al. (2015), school leaders often experience digitalization processes as “challenging and difficult” (p. 117). Chua Reyes (2015) showed that school leaders experience that their role has changed “from leading a team of teachers who have been deliverers of knowledge towards leading a team of teacher facilitators” (2015, p. 378). In Sweden, research on school leadership is rather limited (Ärlestig et al., 2016). Studies at hand argues that leadership is important for implementation of digital visions and reforms (Petersen, 2014). Moreover, that school leaders’ professional development is needed to effectively lead for digitalization in school (cf. Håkansson-Lindqvist & Pettersson, 2019; Pettersson, 2018). In 2012, the Swedish School Inspectorate (Lund, 2012) pointed out that school leaders do not actively lead, and support digitalization and that more knowledge is needed for leading digitalization in school.Method: The quantitative instrument is based on two constructs (1) notions of leadership (based on the survey developed by Yukl, 2013); and (2) levels of expansive learning with digital technology (based on the theoretical foundations found in Engeström, 2015). The first construct is measured in four meta-categories: Task-oriented behaviours, Relations-oriented behaviours, Change-oriented behaviours, and External leadership behaviours. The four meta-categories consist of a total of 17 specific component behaviours, such as Clarifying, Supporting, Advocating change and External monitoring. In total, this part of the survey consists of 49 questions, all modified to address the current state of leadership at the respondent workplace. The second construct is measured in 18 questions related to three levels 1) how respondents use digital technologies in their daily work, 2) how the use has changed the daily practice, and 3) how the use has changed the way they work, communicate, and operate in the entire organization. The questions concern to what degree the use of digital technologies has developed new ways of organising and talking about daily practice. Item are designed as fixed-response format (Wilson, 2005) and responses are on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (not relevant) to 5 (absolutely essential). A series of background questions of relevance for the different constructs are also asked. The instrument is available online and will be administered as an online self-administered questionnaire. In this pilot study, the survey was distributed to all school leaders in one municipality in the northern Sweden (N = 44 with a response rate of 90 %). As can be seen, the total number of school leaders in municipalities in this region is low, but the tests have been made covering the total number of respondents possible. As such, awareness of this challenge is kept in mind in terms of analysis and inferences possible by use of the data.Expected Outcomes: The possibilities for the results of the survey to be used as a basis for school development is discussed, as is the possibilities for the approach to be a way of conducting research, and thus also development work of relevance for school practice with the outspoken intention to improve the quality of the educational practice. Even if the data at the moment is not fully analyzed yet, there are some interesting trends in the material. For instance, due to the participant school leaders, Task-oriented and Relations-oriented leadership behaviours are more important than Change-oriented behaviours, when it comes to leading digitalization in school. There are also some interesting discrepancies between what is judged as important for their school organisations on one hand, and what is important in their leadership on the other. These trends seem to be of importance for strategic decisions about content for continous collaboration, and thereby for school development when it comes to digitalization in school. For the approach to be a collaboration form that provide genuine possibilities for research to be the scientific ground that educational quality should rest on, as is intended in the education act, there are a number of possibilities as well as challenges such as the inconsistency of the educational practice as such and the contextual boundaries of knowledge of what works and improve the quality of practice.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Andersson, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Utbildningsinsats för att höja den pedagogiska digitala kompetensen
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Under 2015 genomförde Medicinska fakulteten vid Umeå universitet en satsning för att höja den Pedagogiska Digitala Kompetensen (PDK) bland sina medarbetare i syfte att öka de digitala inslagen i undervisningen. En del i satsningen var att genomföra en utbildningsinsats. Uppdraget gavs till Pedagogiska institutionen som i samarbete med Universitetspedagogik och lärandestöd (UPL) genomförde ett antal seminarier under 2015. Deltagarna hade möjlighet att delta på plats i Umeå eller via nätet. Målsättningen var att varje seminarium skulle innehålla både teoretiska och praktiska inslag och en progression från inledande förmedlande information till allt fler deltagaraktiva inslag. Under hösten 2015 genomfördes även en workshop, som utgjorde en fördjupning där deltagarna med utgångspunkt i en fiktiv kursplan samt metoden flipped classroom utarbetade egna förslag till kursdesign och undervisningsaktiviteter med stöd av digital teknik. Exempel på digital teknik som deltagarna har fått ta del av eller själva arbeta med under utbildningsinsatsen är Moodle, Googleapps, Adobe connect, Socrative, Screen cast-o-matic och Prezi. En webbresurs har funnits tillgänglig som komplement till seminarieserien. Där har deltagarna haft tillgång till instruktioner, frågeställningar, föreläsningsfilmer samt de digitala presentationerna som hållits under seminarierna. Utöver detta har även ett s.k. bonusmaterial i form av länkar och frivilliga uppgifter tillhandahållits för de som varit intresserade att fördjupa sig inom exempelvis e-lärande i relation till pedagogisk meritering. Totalt medverkade ca 100 deltagare, som representerade 20 utbildningsprogram på fakulteten, i utbildningsinsatsen. Utvärderingen av insatsen visar att majoriteten av deltagare upplever att de höjt sin pedagogiska digitala kompetens i hög eller mycket hög utsträckning. De uttrycker även att de tillägnat sig generella kunskaper, vilket ses som en viktig grund för det egna arbetet med att öka de digitala inslagen i undervisningen. En annan framträdande synpunkt är att de praktiska och exemplifierande inslagen har uppfattats som betydligt mer värdefulla från ett lärandeperspektiv än de inledande teoretiskt inriktade inslagen. Resultatet visar också att majoriteten anser att de ökat sina kunskaper om digitala resurser och verktyg som kan användas i undervisningen. Även webbresursen har använts flitigt. Utvärderingen visar att majoriteten anser att webbresursen varit ett bra komplement till seminarieserien. Detta återspeglas också i de loggdata som visar på relativt omfattande besöksfrekvenser. Att seminariematerialet fanns samlat på ett ställe och tillgängligt för deltagarna före och efter seminarierna har haft stor betydelse för deltagarna. Därmed underlättades deras förberedelser inför seminarierna och möjligheten gavs att i efterhand repetera och ytterligare fördjupa sina kunskaper.Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten från utvärderingen att målen med utbildningsinsatsen uppnåtts på ett tillfredsställande sätt, och att satsningen sålunda fallit väl ut. En aspekt som inte framkommit ovan men som är värd att lyftas fram är det faktum att ett flertal kommentarer i utvärderingarna handlar om ett ökande intresse för, och en ökande nyfikenhet på, att integrera digitala inslag i sin egen undervisningspraktik i större utsträckning än tidigare. Den samlade bedömningen är att Medicinsk fakultet vid Umeå universitet i och med denna satsning lagt en mycket god grund för fortsatta utvecklingsarbeten avseende PDK.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Utbildningsinsats för att höja den pedagogiskt digitala kompetensen
- 2016
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Under 2015 genomförde Medicinska fakulteten vid Umeå universitet en satsning för att höja den Pedagogiska Digitala Kompetensen (PDK) bland sina medarbetare i syfte att öka de digitala inslagen i undervisningen. En del i satsningen var att genomföra en utbildningsinsats. Uppdraget gavs till Pedagogiska institutionen som i samarbete med Universitetspedagogik och lärandestöd (UPL) genomförde ett antal seminarier under 2015. Deltagarna hade möjlighet att delta på plats i Umeå eller via nätet. Målsättningen var att varje seminarium skulle innehålla både teoretiska och praktiska inslag och en progression från inledande förmedlande information till allt fler deltagaraktiva inslag. Under hösten 2015 genomfördes även en workshop, som utgjorde en fördjupning där deltagarna med utgångspunkt i en fiktiv kursplan samt metoden flipped classroom utarbetade egna förslag till kursdesign och undervisningsaktiviteter med stöd av digital teknik. Exempel på digital teknik som deltagarna har fått ta del av eller själva arbeta med under utbildningsinsatsen är Moodle, Googleapps, Adobe connect, Socrative, Screen cast-o-matic och Prezi.En webbresurs har funnits tillgänglig som komplement till seminarieserien. Där har deltagarna haft tillgång till instruktioner, frågeställningar, föreläsningsfilmer samt de digitala presentationerna som hållits under seminarierna. Utöver detta har även ett s.k. bonusmaterial i form av länkar och frivilliga uppgifter tillhandahållits för de som varit intresserade att fördjupa sig inom exempelvis e-lärande i relation till pedagogisk meritering.Totalt medverkade ca 100 deltagare, som representerade 20 utbildningsprogram på fakulteten, i utbildningsinsatsen. Utvärderingen av insatsen visar att majoriteten av deltagare upplever att de höjt sin pedagogiska digitala kompetens i hög eller mycket hög utsträckning. De uttrycker även att de tillägnat sig generella kunskaper, vilket ses som en viktig grund för det egna arbetet med att öka de digitala inslagen i undervisningen. En annan framträdande synpunkt är att de praktiska och exemplifierande inslagen har uppfattats som betydligt mer värdefulla från ett lärandeperspektiv än de inledande teoretiskt inriktade inslagen. Resultatet visar också att majoriteten anser att de ökat sina kunskaper om digitala resurser och verktyg som kan användas i undervisningen.Även webbresursen har använts flitigt. Utvärderingen visar att majoriteten anser att webbresursen varit ett bra komplement till seminarieserien. Detta återspeglas också i de loggdata som visar på relativt omfattande besöksfrekvenser. Att seminariematerialet fanns samlat på ett ställe och tillgängligt för deltagarna före och efter seminarierna har haft stor betydelse för deltagarna. Därmed underlättades deras förberedelser inför seminarierna och möjligheten gavs att i efterhand repetera och ytterligare fördjupa sina kunskaper.Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten från utvärderingen att målen med utbildningsinsatsen uppnåtts på ett tillfredsställande sätt, och att satsningen sålunda fallit väl ut. En aspekt som inte framkommit ovan men som är värd att lyftas fram är det faktum att ett flertal kommentarer i utvärderingarna handlar om ett ökande intresse för, och en ökande nyfikenhet på, att integrera digitala inslag i sin egen undervisningspraktik i större utsträckning än tidigare. Den samlade bedömningen är att Medicinsk fakultet vid Umeå universitet i och med denna satsning lagt en mycket god grund för fortsatta utvecklingsarbeten avseende PDK.
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| 8. |
- From, Jörgen, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Are Timetable-free Schools Possible?
- 2003
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Ingår i: European Educational Research Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1474-9041. ; 2:4, s. 547-558
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article is about timetable-free schools, the latest ‘innovation’ in Swedish educational policy, and is based on findings from an ongoing research project. In autumn 2000, the Swedish government started a 5-year trial period where a limited number of municipalities and schools were allowed to abandon the current restrictions in the national timetable for comprehensive schools. The research primarily focuses on the effects of abandoning the timetable on the inner life of the schools. Two categories of schools are followed: (two) schools with the national timetable and (four) schools without. Primary findings indicate that the use of time in school is a complex sphere of operation. In many aspects, the differences within the category schools without the national timetable are more notable than differences between the two categories of schools. How time is spent in schools is related to a wide range of interlinked factors on different levels, and the national timetable is only one of them. It seems that when the new so-called freedom increases, the instruments of individual control also increase. This may be an indication that disciplining and selection still are fundamental tasks for schools to fulfil.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- From, Jörgen, 1966-
(författare)
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Contradictions at play
- 2010
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Ingår i: JEP. - Arizona : Northern Arizona University. - 2158-9232. ; Spring:2010
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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