National digitalisation strategy for the school system - 4 things I wish for

Last Friday I took part in a reference group at SKR (Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions) and workshoped around #skolDigiGuide — a support material for school authorities, management teams, principals and similar decision-makers. The support material is linked to #skolDigiPlan, which is the national action plan to achieve what is stated in the national digitalisation strategy for the school system. My personal goal in participating was to press a little extra on a few points I see as crucial for digitalisation in schools — and I thought I’d present those points here.

Aside from it being really nice to meet the other invited participants and representatives from SKR, it was a very rewarding day for me. A full day of reflection, discussion and conversation and some loose ends in my head that were tied together. So first and foremost I’d like to say thank you for letting me participate. After going through the material that was sent out in advance, I had a few things I wanted to push a bit extra while I was there. A few things I personally see as crucial regarding decision-making for how we succeed with digitalisation in schools. I’ll present these briefly here. I’d also be very interested to hear what you consider important for successful school digitalisation.

1. Digitalisation is part of school — not something on the sidelines — and it can’t be opted out of

It’s easy to get the impression that digitalisation in school is an analog-to-digital administrative tool, both for staff and students. Things should be written, emailed, a bit of internet use and documented. Stuff that can actually be done without digitalisation (well, apart from going online to some extent, of course). A perception that digitalisation is something on the side you can attach, which somehow will automatically lead to students achieving higher attainment (read: grades).

It’s important to know that digitalisation is already tightly integrated into school in the form of, among other things, purpose and central content — the subject content that the student shall encounter in teaching — in virtually all subjects.

Digitalisation is therefore not just a tool, but part of the subject matter. And since students shall encounter all central content, you cannot opt out of digitalisation (even if different parts of the central content may receive different amounts of time in teaching). What is crucial is that everyone must understand that it in schools is NOT the same as office-it and cannot be procured and treated in that way.

2. Decision-makers’ competence — School governing documents and processes ahead of digital competence

As a continuation of the previous point, I’d like to add/clarify regarding competence among decision-makers that it’s not just about digital competence. The most important thing is that everyone who sits as a decision-maker above all possesses deep competence in the school’s current governing documents, such as the curriculum and the Education Act, rather than digital competence (which is also important).

We must first know what it is we want to solve with the help of digitalisation before we look at the tools. And since students’ learning is the core of our mission, we must start from what the students should learn, which is already described in the school’s governing documents such as the central content and its commentary material.

We cannot procure tools and hope they work. Some examples of what students shall do and work with digitally in school are: create and edit images, film and sound and music, write text (ordinary and interactive), present, document, communicate in different media, program, search for information and evaluate sources, understand the impact of digitalisation on society, law and ethics, 3D sketches, digital crafts and much, much more. Which digital device or tool is best suited for this, for the different ages?

Start from the students’ learning first. Then build it around that. What should students and staff do? What tools do they need?

3. Efficiency — inventory, evaluation and follow-up

That digitalisation should be used to make operations more efficient and simplify administration is a big and important point. However, there are some caveats. To claim that something should be made more efficient or simplified, it must be measured before and after and be demonstrable. If, for example, a new absence-management system is to be introduced, all processes must first be measured, for instance how long things take. The new system that replaces the old one must then allow faster work overall, based on the processes that affect the most people — in this case the teachers.

Therefore it’s also important that all decision-makers have a good knowledge of the processes that go on in the school — for example in a classroom. How long does absence registration take? “Only” 2 minutes? That becomes around 40 hours of lost guaranteed teaching time in mathematics over a student’s schooling.

Measure before — follow up — evaluate. Has it become more efficient? Has it simplified administration? For whom? The needs of the many…

4. Make every part of digitalisation concrete with clear responsibilities and owners

Using expressions like “digitalisation shall be used to improve education and streamline operations” or similar, without linking it to concrete measures or activities, looks good in a plan or strategy. However, it means nothing when it’s to be anchored locally. Here the interesting part is what will be done, how and why. Concrete. Fill the fluff with substance.

Go down to nerd-level and identify all parts of digitalisation. For example, I have so far identified around 130 aspects of digitalisation locally at Årstaskolan.

This way it becomes clear which activities need to be carried out, who will carry them out, what type of competence is needed and the prioritisation of activities and areas. And the priority is always the students’ learning and teaching. Also make sure every part has an owner. If “someone” or no one is responsible, then it’s not important either. \

Wonderful view from the Mallorca room at SKR[/caption]

In conclusion…

…it was a good day at SKR. I also think the strategy itself is good. But there’s a loooong way to go before all of Sweden’s schools and municipalities reach the goal.