| 11. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
An innovative approach for teacher students to learn about bullying via an immersive Virtual Reality bullying experience
- 2021
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Even though in general Swedish pupils have a high level of digital competence (Internetstiftelsen, 2019), a national initiative for a rapid and systematic digitalization of the educational system has been introduced in Sweden. In this context, teacher education is regarded as being of strategic importance for preparing student teachers to teach in a highly digitalized society (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, 2019). Here, innovative initiative is important for helping student teachers to develop professional digital competence (Lund, Furberg, Bakken & Engelien, 2014). One example of an innovative initiative is the development of Digital Learning Labs (DLL) that are closely connected to teacher education and offer student teachers and experienced teachers opportunities to explore digital technologies. At the University of Gävle (Sweden), the Digital Learning Lab (2020) offers a number of state of the art technologies, such as robots for programming, media-production and technologies for virtual and augmented realities (VR and AR). In research-based explorative studies, teachers and student teachers elaborate on technologies such as VR and AR (Fransson, Holmberg, & Westelius, 2020). This way, their views becomes involved in principled innovation processes to enact the technology in the best way possible for teaching and learning.
|
|
| 12. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
Disruptive innovations in teacher education?
- 2021
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The initial paper has a conceptual approach and problematizes innovation in teacher education. While the term “innovation” often has positive connotations, it can also be regarded as a ‘buzzword’ that is associated with change and market logic or be overused to hype specific issues (Mozorov, 2014). When comes to teacher education, “innovation” has been associated with a number of issues, of which technology is the most common. The notion of innovation may seem out of place in a teacher educational context, especially if it is associated with market logic and technical-rational positions, where innovation is conceptualized and construed as something new, unique and often based on cutting edge technology. In this context, Ellis, Souto-Manning and Turvey (2019) suggest that “technology-based claims of innovation in teacher education [...] must be viewed critically” (p. 8) and that “many ‘innovations’ merely reproduce unequal and unjust situations, educationally and more socially” (p. 3). Here, the notion of “principled innovation” (Sirotnik, 1999; Mishra, 2020) offers a framework for connecting innovation to norms, values and ideas about the public good. Principled innovations have been suggested as: “the ability to imagine new concepts, catalyse ideas, and form new solutions, guided by principles that create positive change for humanity” (Arizona State University Mary Lou Fulton Teacher College, 2019). However, this framework also generates questions like: Who decides what a positive change for humanity is? Who would benefit the most? To what extent is it possible to foresee the innovation’s further development? The latter question could be exemplified with a technological innovation such as Facebook, which was first acknowledged as a socially connecting platform but was later also associated with hate, social profiling and political manipulation (González, 2017). Principled innovations could emphasize moral and political dimensions and thereby reinforce inequality and injustice. They might also miss disruptive innovations as emerging technologies that challenge the existing ones. Here, the notion of disruptive innovation offers a conceptual frame for understanding how innovations can emerge in teacher education (Bower & Christensen, 1995; Ortlieb, Susca, Votypka & Cheek, 2018).In this conceptual paper we aim to contribute to the discussion about how the concept of innovation can be construed, understood and positioned and how it can be used in a teacher education context. Although the notion of innovation is used to understand developments that extend beyond the production of new technological devices, we here direct attention to the implementation of new technologies for use in the education sector and innovations driven by applying technology in new ways. Drawing on different understandings of the concept of innovation, the notions of innovation, principled innovation and disruptive innovation are problematized in relation to technological innovations in teacher education and as a frame of reference for the symposium.
|
|
| 13. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
Exploring how a digitally skilled teacher’s self-understanding influences his professional learning strategies. A research cooperation between a teacher and a researcher
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Teacher Development. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1366-4530 .- 1747-5120. ; 25:4, s. 432-448
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The call for digitalisation in compulsory and upper secondary schools implies the need for teachers to pursue professional development. Here, teachers’ self-understanding may influence how they use, relate to and learn about digital technologies. The purpose of this article is to explore how a teacher’s self-understanding influences his professional development activities and, in turn, is influenced by his learning. In focus for this case study is one upper secondary school teacher’s endeavour to enact digital technologies and find suitable strategies for professional learning. This teacher and a researcher formed a reflective research partnership to explore how, and whether, the teacher’s self-understanding and professional learning strategies influenced each other. Reflective conversations, reflective writings and theoretical inputs facilitated the analysis.The findings show, for example, how his task perception changed over time from an emphasis on teaching to a greater emphasis on improvement, supporting colleagues in their learning and contributing to the professionalisation of the teaching community. This in turn influenced him adopting a self-directed informal learning strategy.
|
|
| 14. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-
(författare)
-
Forskning inom området utbildningsvetenskap vid Högskolan i Gävle : Forskning för att möta dagens och framtidens utmaningar
- 2020
-
Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Vid Högskolan i Gävle bedrivs forskning av relevans för att förstå utbildning, undervisning och lärande i näringsliv och offentlig sektor, med huvudsakligt fokus på det formella utbildningsystemet i dess helhet – från förskola, skola och fritidshem till högre utbildningen vid universitet och högskolor.De flesta av forskarna inom området tillhör organisatoriskt Avdelningen för Utbildningsvetenskap vid Akademin för Utbildning och ekonomi (AUE), men bidragen med de centrala ämnesdidaktiska dimensionerna inom området görs i huvudsak av forskare som tillhör Avdelningen för humaniora (AUE) och av några som tillhör akademierna ATM och AHA. Det finns sålunda en närhet mellan de kompletterande kompetenserna inom organisationen.Vid HiG finns ett antal forskningsgrupper (miljöer) som samlar de utbildningsvetenskapligt orienterade forskarna kring olika tematiska frågor. Exempel på forskningsgrupper är Early Childhood Education (ECE), IT i lärande, Studies of Relationships In Educational Settings (STORIES), SEP (Studies in Educational Policies), ROLE (Research on Learning Environments) samt forskning inom matematikens- och naturvetenskapens didaktik, religionsdidaktik.
|
|
| 15. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-
(författare)
-
Mentoring for newly-qualified teachers in Sweden: Reforms and challenges.
- 2020
-
Ingår i: New teachers in Nordic countries – Ecologies of induction and mentoring. - Oslo : Cappelen Damm Akademisk. - 9788202665272 ; , s. 177-197
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter focuses on the mentoring of newly-qualified teachers (NQT) in Sweden and gives a brief historical overview of how mentoring has appeared on the educational agenda in Sweden and how its focus has changed over time. The research questions that guide this study are: (a) what major key events and reforms can be identified in relation to implementing mentoring of NQTs in Sweden, and how have these efforts turned out; (b) what is the state at present; (c) how is the issue of education and training dealt with; and (d) what key players and initiatives for the future can be identified? The methodological approach is a systematic review of policy documents and research on mentoring in Sweden from 1970 – 2019, as well as analyses of key actors web pages. Two important reforms are identified: (1) the national agreement (ÖLA, 2000) in 1995 between the Swedish Association of Local Authorities (SALAR), the National Union of Teachers in Sweden (Lärarnas Riksförbund) and the Swedish Teachers’ Union (Lärarförbundet), giving NQTs the right to be supported by a mentor and to participate in an induction programme; and (2) the parliamentary decision in 2011 to introduce a reform package which included teacher registration with a probationary year, evaluations of NQTs and a mentoring system. The probationary year and principals’ evaluations of NQTs were discontinued in 2014. A side effect of this was that mentoring became downplayed, which led to new initiatives to get mentoring back on the educational agenda. A professional programme with four levels of proficiency has been identified as a key reform that, if implemented, could put mentoring and the professional development of NQTs back on the educational agenda.The current situation in Sweden is that some legislation and regulations related to the mentoring of NQTs are in place, although recent data shows that induction and mentoring are not as widespread as might be expected. Major stakeholders such as the two teacher unions, the Swedish National Agency for Education and the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) are identified as providers of web-based materials supporting NQTs.
|
|
| 16. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-
(författare)
-
Mentoring in Sweden: A brief historical overview with a focus on the present state of the actual
- 2020
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This presentation outlines the background, development and present state of the actual concerning support for newly qualified teachers (NQT) and the teacher induction system in Sweden. The emergence of a nationwide induction system to support NQTs was strengthened by the decision of the 1992 Congress of the National Union of Teachers in Sweden (Lärarnas Riksförbund) to work for teacher registration in Sweden. Teacher induction and mentoring were also regarded as associated issues. This was followed in 1995 by a national agreement between the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and the two teachers’ unions. One component in this agreement was that it gave new teachers the right to be supported by a mentor and to participate in an induction programme. This can be regarded as the first milestone for NQT mentoring in Sweden.Support for NQTs was high on the educational agenda in 2006 when an Official Investigation was launched, which in 2008 proposed a national mandatory induction system, with mentoring, a probationary year and the registration of teachers as central components (SOU, 2008:52). This was implemented in 2010-2011. However, the teacher registration issue led to several challenges that later occasioned changes in the legislation. Further, in the middle of 2014 principals’ evaluations of NQTs were scrapped and teacher registration was instead provided on graduation from teacher education. This meant that mentoring became less prioritized, even though there was still an obvious need for it. The presentation ends by concluding that since 2014 the issue of mentoring has largely been submerged by other ‘more important’ issues, even though the legislation for it is still in place.
|
|
| 17. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-
(författare)
-
Mentoring Policies: Possibilities, Challenges and Future Directions
- 2020
-
Ingår i: International Handbook of mentoring: Paradigms, Practices, Programs, and Possibilities. - Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell. - 9781119142959 ; , s. 435-452
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although many mentoring programs are mandated and initiated as part of a policy direction or mandate, and policy is an important element in the development, implementation, and evaluation of mentoring, investigations into the impact of policy upon mentoring initiatives and outcomes, has not been explicitly highlighted in the mentoring research (Fransson & McMahan, 2013). Although the literature on policies and mentoring programs and practices is scarce, there is limited evidence to suggest that policies impact mentoring endeavors in a variety of ways and can have both positive and negative effects (Carver & Feiman-Nemser, 2009; Polikoff, Desimone & Hochberg, 2015). Yet, policy development and implementation can have an extensive impact on mentoring programs and relationships. As these programs continue to grow, it is imperative that the field become more cognizant of the role and impact of policies upon the personal, professional and organizational aspects of mentoring. Against this background, expanding our understanding of how policy is designed, implemented and influences mentoring program development, practice and success is important. The purpose of the chapter is to outline, discuss and problematize policy issues related to mentoring and to offer recommendations for future action. Most of the examples on policy issues are related to adult situations in the educational field. This field offers a policy landscape that illustrates the complexity and multi-layering of mentoring policy. Thus, it is believed that many of the findings can be transferred to other mentoring contexts.The chapter begins with a theoretical overview of how policy and the processes of policy development and policy enactment are conceptualized. Issues such as international policy flows and policy learning are discussed and evaluations as part of policy formation are problematized. This theoretical overview facilitates an understanding of mentoring policy and how it is enacted or played out in mentoring practices. The overview is followed by a discussion about the challenges involved in identifying the field of mentoring policy. As outlined in the overview, different dimensions of policy are emphasized depending on which theoretical perspective is used. This in turn influences which theoretical binoculars are used to identify the field of mentoring policy. Searching databases for the various terms and the challenges associated with this are also discussed. Thereafter, ‘policies for policy development’ are examined. One policy in particular is analyzed more closely in order to highlight the most important aspects of policy analysis. The chapter closes with a concluding discussion about the challenges and possibilities for policy research. A possible new direction in mentoring policy in also discussed.
|
|
| 18. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-
(författare)
-
Practice-based research and Virtual Realities (VR) in a Digital Learning Lab
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Innovative schools and learning environments in Germany and Finland. Research and findings of comparative approaches. - Munster : Waxmann Verlag. - 9783830941699 - 9783830991694 ; , s. 208-209
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An innovative, nationwide, government-supported, explorative project was launched in Sweden for the period 2017-2022. The project aims to develop and test different models for cooperation between researchers and actors regarding joint practice-based research in the education system. The initiative is called ULF (an acronym for Utveckling, Lärande, Forskning; in English Development, Learning, Research) and is inspired by the healthcare sector’s ALF agreements giving ‘practitioners’ like doctors access to infrastructure and funding for research (Uppsala University, 2020). The idea behind the ULF project is to develop infrastructure, culture and cooperation amongst researchers and ‘practitioners’, so that funding can be channelled towards joint practice-based research. The goals of this kind of research are a positive impact on school development and the strengthening of teachers’ and preschool teachers’ knowledge bases.One example of innovative practice-based explorative research carried out in the spirit of the ULF project comes from the University of Gävle. A Digital Learning Lab has been set up at the university to bring people together for training, collaboration, explorative work and research on cutting-edge digital technologies. An explorative project was also launched in which two researchers and six upper secondary school teachers of history explored applications for immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiences for history education in upper secondary schools (Fransson, Holmberg, Westelius, 2020). The teachers visited the Digital Learning Lab to explore wired and mobile head-mounted displayed virtual reality (HMD VR) and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of VR apps in the teaching and learning of history. Also in focus were the contextual, organisational, institutional and practical prerequisites, challenges and opportunities for enacting HMD VR in history education. During the project the teachers borrowed some head-mounted VR devices from the university so that they could test the apps. The researchers were also present when the students tried out the VR apps in the teaching situation. The teachers and students were then interviewed so that they could share their experiences of and ideas about the challenges and possibilities of using VR apps for the teaching and learning of history.Some of the conclusions drawn in the project are that if VR technologies and apps are to add value to the teaching and learning in history, they need to be more affordable and easier to find, use and integrate into the regular teaching. Further, there is a need for VR apps that are suitable for teaching and that add value to historical situations, events and the content taught. The development of the technology is also quite rapid. Teachers need to deal with the technical aspects of using VR (or at least have access to technical support) and have professional digital competence in order to use VR effectively in the teaching context.This collaborative practice-based research project in the ULF spirit has helped teachers to inform and influence the development of VR technologies in school. As teachers become more involved in identifying and evaluating their needs, views and perspectives, they develop the ability to specify their educational needs and evaluate suggested technologies and applications. This, in turn, makes it more difficult for the EdTech industry to push new technologies into the educational sector without showing how they might (or might not) bring added value to teachers’ work and students’ learning. In this way teachers would be able to add value to the EdTech industry, empower themselves and further develop their professionalism.
|
|
| 19. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
Student teachers´ experiences of an immersive Virtual Reality bullying simulation.
- 2020
-
Ingår i: <em>ICICTE 2020 Conference Proceedings</em>. - 9789995719425 ; , s. 121-131
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, 19 student teachers (of years 7-12) experienced a three-minutelong VR simulation offering a first-person perspective of bullying bymultiple ‘classmates’. Their experiences were observed and afterwardsfive focus group interviews were conducted, with 3-4 student teachersper group. The results show that they experienced the VR simulation asimmersive, albeit to varying degrees depending on their previous experiencesand personality traits. Issues related to what they experienced,learned and reflected on, their thoughts about the potential educationaluses of VR, and the challenges and opportunities with using VR in differentsubjects are discussed.
|
|
| 20. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
-
The challenges of using head mounted virtual reality in K-12 schools from a teacher perspective
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Education and Information Technologies. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1360-2357 .- 1573-7608. ; 25, s. 3383-3404
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of head mounted displays (HMDs) to experience virtual realities (VR) hasbecome increasingly common. As this technology becomes more affordable,immersive and easier to use, it also becomes more serviceable in educationaland training contexts. Even though the technology, content and feasibility forK-12 school purposes are still being developed, it is reasonable to expect thatthe call or ‘push’ to use HMD VR in K-12 schools will increase, especially asthere is now a greater economic interest in the use of digital technologies ineducational contexts. This article aims to inform the process of implementingHMD VR in K-12 contexts by researching the preconditions and challenges of usefrom a teacher perspective. It does this by analysing the organisational, institutional,contextual and practical challenges and opportunities in the implementationof HMD VR in K-12 school contexts. The data draws on (a) interviews, informalconversations and observations of teachers testing HMD VR and different VRapplications in a Digital Learning Lab (DLL) and (b) data from a project involvingupper secondary school history teachers discussing the planned implementation ofHMD VR in their teaching and being in the DLL. The main findings are relatedto: (a) economy and technology, (b) initial learning barriers, (c) organisation andpractical enactment for teaching and learning, (d) curricula, syllabuses and expectedlearning outcomes and (e) teachers’ competences, professional developmentand trust. The consequences for educational contexts and possible waysforward are also discussed.
|
|
