Broad efforts needed to digitize schools
The government has now taken some welcome steps in its efforts to digitize schools. This is a good thing, but more concrete action is needed and the process of digitizing schools must be accelerated.
On 19 June, the Government announced an agreement with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) to promote digitization and digital collaboration in schools and public administration. With this decision, IT Minister Anna-Karin Hatt and the government are taking a step in the right direction, but the digitization of schools must go faster!
The agreement with SKL on accelerating digitalization in schools covers four points:
- Work to promote digitalization and more areas of the digital agenda.
- Develop a framework for the evaluation and development of digitalization in schools.
- Establish a collaborative forum for schools and IT.
- Develop proposals on how to improve digital collaboration between local and national authorities.
SKL will carry out this assignment mainly in 2013, with compensation of SEK 2.8 million. We, the undersigned, are pleased to note that the Minister Anna-Karin Hatt is now taking steps in the right direction, completely in line with the points and demands several of us have made in a previous debate post (Schools must be digitized faster, Dagens samhälle 29 October 2012).
This is welcome progress, but far from enough. A top-level coordination body, for example, is not a major step forward. Sweden needs concrete efforts and broad-based initiatives today.
The establishment of a collaboration forum as a top-level body for gathering experience and feeding it back to the government is good but clearly insufficient. Resources are needed here for broad forms of collaboration for the exchange of experience and development work both nationally (as demonstrated by the Future of Learning and the associated partnership of stakeholders over five years), and locally and regionally. Regional centers for the integration of modern tools and working methods in schools, in teacher training and in principal training are crucial areas for action.
Developing a framework for the evaluation of municipalities' and schools' own development work is a necessary support to the municipalities in their work, in accordance with demands made after the Swedish Schools Inspectorate and the National Agency for Education published evaluations of school IT activities last year. A framework for evaluation is a first step, but continued support in many forms is needed for municipalities to realize the digitization of schools in accordance with the policy documents.
We the undersigned assume that the Government and the Ministry of Education will pursue the initiative and give the National Agency for Education a mandate to support the introduction of modern digital tools and working methods in schools.
In Almedalen, all signatories will hold seminars to highlight success factors and present concrete proposals to accelerate the digitalization of schools.
Peter Becker, Chairman of the DIU Foundation
Alexandra Blomberg, Business Development Manager Netsmart AB
Anne-Marie Fransson, Director of IT&Telecom within Almega
Bo Jansson, Chairman of the National Union of Teachers
Eva-Lis Sirén, Chairman of the National Union of Teachers
Åsa Steholt Vernerson, Chairman of Svenska Läromedel, the campaign More time for learning
Tommy Öqvist, Director of Tieto Healthcare & Welfare Sweden