Debate: Computers make no difference

The digitization of schools is not about how many students are equipped with computers or tablets, but about a much more profound change. Our children's digital skills will be crucial for their future working life - and for Sweden's opportunities in global competition. Giving teachers and their principals the right tools to lead the school's digital revolution should be a priority in the National Agency for Education's national strategies for IT.

In the spring, the National Agency for Education will propose two national IT strategies for schools, which will contribute to increased goal attainment and equivalence by harnessing the strategic potential of IT throughout the school system. The issue is central to the IT and telecom industry, not least based on its great need for future labor with high digital skills.

In our contribution to the Swedish National Agency for Education's work, we highlight three areas that we see as particularly important to prioritize in order for the national strategies to be successful and have a direct and long-term impact on Swedish skills development and competitiveness:

A digital headmaster boost

IT didactic competence should be mandatory and clearly visible in the national training of head teachers.
Implement a digital principalship, which includes leading a school that integrates modern tools, ways of working and related change processes, and clarifies principals' responsibilities in this area.

Teacher competence

Research and evidence must underpin all training efforts, both for existing teachers and in teacher education.
Carry out training activities on current digital tools and digital working methods, with continuous monitoring and evaluation.
Ensure that teacher education institutions develop and incorporate the use of digital tools and practices, both in theory and in practice, as compulsory and clearly visible parts of the education and training, and that this is written into the degree curriculum.

Students' digital literacy and IT development skills

Clarifies that digital knowledge and skills consist of three different parts:

Ability to navigate the digital world.
Ability to use digital tools and approaches in teaching.
Skills related to developing digital services and systems.

Pay particular attention to the compensatory role of schools in the development of digital knowledge and skills, as many out-of-school initiatives tend to be socially and gender biased.
Consider skills related to developing digital services and systems as a whole, as it involves creative problem solving that is applicable to most school subjects. Programming and computational thinking are important elements, but they should not be treated in isolation!

Within each area, a number of activities are listed through which we can contribute; mentoring programs for principals, courses in programming and digital creation, collaborative projects between schools and working life where students get to meet digitized workplaces and professionals, and much more. The IT and telecom industry has solid knowledge of how we best take advantage of the opportunities of digitization and is more than happy to assist the Swedish National Agency for Education in their important mission!

Fredrik von Essen, Industry policy expert, IT&Telecom companies
Örjan Johansson, National Business Unit Manager School, Atea
Joke Palmkvist, Business Area Manager School and Higher Education, Microsoft
Lars Wiigh, Business Development Manager Public Sector, IBM
Carina Wiman, Business Developer, Tieto
Thomas Godawszky, Business Developer, Olingo Consulting
Elin Wallberg, Corporate Citizenship Officer, Samsung