IT&Telecom companies' input to the Digitalization Commission's signatory forum on education & skills

Digital inclusion Digitalization Skills supply Public procurement Education and training

Ahead of this afternoon's exercise at the Digitization Commission, we from IT&Telecom companies have made the following input, under the point "School, teaching and education":

It goes without saying that the Swedish workforce of the future must be equipped with world-class digital skills. How else will Sweden as a nation stay at the technological forefront? It is therefore a complete mystery why the government, unlike most governments in the EU, does not see digital tools and learning resources as an obvious means of raising the quality of school education. The minister responsible for education policy is waffling badly on this issue, citing dubious counter-arguments such as the lack of research evidence for the positive effects of IT and problems with source criticism.

Steve Jobs made the bet on the iPhone without having any research evidence. Wikipedia has completely trumped Encyclopedia Britannica as a disseminator of knowledge, despite early objections about the lack of source criticism.

IT&Telekomföretagen fully shares the focus of the four priority areas presented last autumn by SKL, the Swedish Teachers' Union and the other parties behind the award of the Guldäpple prize ("Schools must digitize faster" Dagens Samhälle 29/10 2012): Solid digital skills, infrastructure and accessibility, responsibility for sharing experiences and dialogue with research and development. However, IT&Telecom would like to see even clearer national leadership in these areas, not least to ensure equivalence in the dissemination and use of digital tools and learning resources.

IT&Telecom proposes the following:

  • That the government presents a clear vision of IT in school education. Our proposal: "Sweden should be the world leader in the use of digital tools and learning resources in schools"
  • That the vision is complemented by a national action program,which shall include, inter alia, the following:
    • An initiative to improve teachers' IT skills, with concrete means and a plan to free up time for teachers to acquire these skills. The aim will be for all teachers to reach at least level three of Ruben Puentedura's SAMR ("Change") model.
    • A 1-1 approach for all students AND teachers. The "ones" do not necessarily have to be computers but "relevant digital tools", based on the learning processes developed in the individual case.
    • Create a national resource center on research, methodology development and feedback on the use of digital tools and learning resources