Åsa Zetterberg

Schools have a responsibility to prepare students for the future

Digitization Skills supply
Swedish Education Minister Lotta Edholm has warned that digitalization in schools has gone too far. In the debate, she pits digital learning materials against analog ones and screen time against teaching time. This is a simplified view of reality and the importance of digitalization for learning and schools. 

Children and young people growing up in today's society have a whole new opportunity to learn different things in a way that suits them, and when it suits them. This is thanks to access to the internet, the world's knowledge and smart digital solutions. Digitalization in schools makes it possible to personalize learning and adapt it to individual needs. For many pupils, digital tools are an important, and sometimes crucial, support for learning. Often, digital solutions are used in combination with analog learning materials. It is rarely either/or. 

With digital resources in education, schools are also preparing students for the technology-driven future where digital literacy and digital skills will be indispensable, both in everyday life and in the labor market.   

According to the Education Act, "pupils must have access to the learning tools needed for an up-to-date education. Digital tools need to be a natural part of the educational work of preschools and schools." Schools also have an important mission to get more people, especially girls, interested in digitization and programming, where many of the future jobs are located. 

Despite the many benefits of digitalization in schools, there are challenges. Not least the knowledge of how to use the tools to contribute to increased learning, problems that arise if they do not work or when they are used in a frivolous way. TechSverige wants to see a responsible development of digitalization in schools. An important prerequisite for achieving this is to proceed with the national digitization strategy, which the Swedish National Agency for Education has proposed, and to rally for the appropriate use of digital tools to improve teaching and learning in schools.  

Technology development will not stop. Rather, we will see more and more intelligent and digital solutions, which schools - like all other sectors of society - will need to respond to. It will be a matter of finding good ways to benefit from new technologies while addressing any challenges. One such example is the AI bot ChatGPT (a text-generating chatbot based on artificial intelligence), which opens up new opportunities for enhanced learning, while challenging certain ways of working. In these times of rapid digital development, there is a need for increased focus on the issues and increased digital skills among politicians and school leaders as well as teachers and students.  

Access to digital skills is a matter of democracy, and schools have a responsibility to equip students for today's and tomorrow's society and labor market. There is always a need for reflection and learning about how we best take advantage of the opportunities of digitization, both in the school world and in society in general.The tech industry can contribute with best practice, smart solutions and knowledge. We look forward to a constructive dialogue with the Minister of Education, with the aim of moving forward with the digitization strategy and further development.

 

Åsa Zetterberg
Association Director, TechSverige

Link : Minister warns: Digital education may have gone too far - tv4.se