This blog-post is co-authored by Anna Åkerfeldt, PhD at Stockholm University, Ifous, and Researcher at Swedish Edtest, a testbed for edtech and Natalia Kucirkova, Professor at the University of Stavanger (Norway), and Founder of Wikit – a network of researchers evaluating edtech.
On the 11th of November 2023, the Nordic group representing the EdTech industry, academia and collaborations met in Modena, Italy, at the Learning More Festival. Professor Natalia Kucirkova from Norway and PhD. Anna Åkerfeldt, one of the panel delegates and researchers within the TIMDA-research network, participated. The group was invited to talk about the Nordic model of education, digitisation and specifically the use of educational technology in schools. Nordic initiatives and the development of quality digital resources and national testbeds were the key focus of the presentations.
The keynote by Jannie Jeppesen, Swedish Edtech Industry, preceding the panel discussion focused on the nature of the digital backlash discussions on a policy level in Sweden and the Nordics. In Sweden, a pioneer in digitalized education systems worldwide, the aftermath of the pandemic has sparked a contentious debate. Three years later, the nation’s education sector is witnessing a dramatic shift, with policymakers reconsidering their national strategy for digitalization in schools. The debate is intense, featuring calls to limit screen time and return to a ”back to basics” approach, often citing Asian schools as an example. The debate is polarized for several reasons, but one is that social media platforms such as TikTok and digital learning resources, such as educational apps, are compared against each other, even though they serve very different purposes.
The heated digitalization discourse has begun to spread across the Nordic countries, prompting concerns and discussions. However, as the panelists highlighted, until now, the countries have shared and discussed their challenges in digitalization rather than mobilizing the knowledge exchange of what works well. Indeed, the common challenge of the Nordic countries is how we move forward to answer important and crucial questions on how we use and develop technology to deliver high-quality education for all. As of now, there is no global or European framework for this complex task.
Edtech- how do we know it works?
In the ever-evolving landscape of education technology, one pressing question reverberates across the Nordic countries and beyond: ”Edtech – how do we know it works? And whose responsibility is it?” This conundrum has plagued researchers, edtech companies, and educators for decades, and it’s time to seek answers. To ensure quality in digital education, how do we ensure digitally competent teachers and digital tools? What does research tell us about the quality of edtech, and how can we measure the quality over time?
Effective testbeds play a pivotal role in obtaining valuable feedback on edtech product development and understanding teachers’ and students’ needs and usage patterns. But what structures are in place for testbeds in the Nordic countries? Edtech companies, often small and nimble, struggle to find their footing in schools with tight budgets and limited teacher time.
The issue of quality in edtech procurement is gaining attention from government bodies, who are calling for research-based criteria. Researchers have developed several frameworks to demonstrate what constitutes quality in this context remains a complex question. The importance of research in determining quality cannot be overstated, but conducting such research is often a costly and time-consuming process. This raises the question of who should bear the financial burden of financing such research. There may be a need for Public-Private Partnerships and cross-border collaboration within the EU and beyond to facilitate the necessary research and development to move forward with confidence in this field.
The Nordics, as small countries and similar governance and views on pedagogy, could, with their long experience in the field, contribute with valuable insights and models. As a group of countries, we need to work together. To be able to deliver insightful knowledge there is a need for a triple helix approach where at least three stakeholders are needed: research (academia), the education system and the developers (industry). Research is expensive, and governments play a crucial role in funding triple-helix collaborations. More funded collaboration is needed.
Panel Participants:
Natalia Kucirkova, Professor at the University of Stavanger (Norway), and Founder of Wikit – a network of researchers evaluating edtech.
Anna Åkerfeldt, PhD at Stockholm University (Sweden), Ifous, and Researcher at Swedish Edtest, a testbed for edtech.
Marjo Kenttälä, Edtech Testbed Helsinki (Finland), a co-creation testbed.
Esben Trier, EEA, representing Denmark (Denmark).
See also previous blog posts by Oystein Gilje, Linda Mannila and Natalia Kucirkova & Italo Marsiello for a Nordic outlook on digitalisation.
TIMDA 