scholarly journals Digital transformation in Swedish schools – Principals’ strategic leadership and organisation of tablet-based one-to-one computing initiatives

Seminar.net ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-187
Author(s):  
Eva Mårell-Olsson ◽  
Peter Bergström
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Strategic Leadership ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
One To One ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Empirical Material

This paper reports on a research study about principals’ strategic leadership and organisation of schools within established tablet-based one-to-one computing initiatives. The aim was to investigate how principals lead and guide one-to-one computing initiatives in K–12 education. The research questions focused on principals’ expressed intentions and their strategic leadership and organisation when implementing tablet-based one-to-one computing initiatives in Swedish schools. The empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews with seven principals in five municipalities where the schools had used tablets for more than six months within a one-to-one computing initiative. The findings are organised by themes concerning one-to-one computing as a strategy to change teaching and working methods, using technology for adapting teaching and learning to every pupil’s needs, and strategies for organisation. The findings show that marketisation of schools (e.g. the school-choice reform) in combination with the annual presentation of national rankings have had an impact on the financial situations of schools because they receive a voucher for every attending pupil. The participating principals’ strategic leadership concerning their intentions and applied strategies on how to lead and organise the digitalised school are an attempt to meet the demands that the marketisation and digitalisation of Swedish schools requires.

scholarly journals Competencies, Culture, and Change: A Model for Digital Transformation in K-12 Educational Contexts

2021 ◽  
pp. 203-218
Author(s):  
Angela Elkordy ◽  
Jessica Iovinelli
Keyword(s):  
Technology Implementation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Interconnected Systems ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
The People ◽  
Order Change ◽  
Second Order Change ◽  
K 12

AbstractOn the surface, adopting technology presents itself as a technical issue. Yet, the real challenge of digital transformation in educational contexts necessitates a second-order change to disrupt and realign interconnected systems. A significant component of digital transformation in K-12 schools is an understanding of the unique affordances of digital tools and technologies and how these can be leveraged to align with learning goals and targets to impact teaching and learning in new ways. While there are several models for innovation diffusion and technology adoption in K-12 contexts, they fall short, particularly in describing the nature and interactions of these interconnected systems. These aspects of technology implementation remain a mystery. As a result, efforts to enact change in K-12 organizations often fall short due to a lack of understanding of context, inadequate goal-setting, insufficient professional development and personalized supports to build capacity, and a failure to evaluate progress. In K-12 educational settings, the people, the competencies, and the culture, alongside the strong leadership, resources, and organizational context, are all essential to effect sustainable change. We propose a model for digital transformation that considers all of these factors and interconnected systems.

Improving K-12 Online Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Ntuli ◽  
Lydia Kyei-Blankson
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
The Common ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Online Sources ◽  
Classroom Use

Research indicates the need for teachers to be able to locate, evaluate, and use Internet resources in their teaching and learning processes. In addition, the Common Core State Standards require that students are able to think critically and know how to search and use alternative views and perspectives in their assignments. These skills are imperative for teachers and teacher candidates. This article reports the results of a study that sought to examine strategies used by teacher candidates when using Internet search engines, their ability to integrate the information they find into their own assignments, and use the acquired skills for future classroom use. The study employed a mixed-method approach in the collection and analysis of data gathered from a sample of 45 teacher candidates. Data sources included a survey, class assignments that required documentation of the search process as well as the located sources, and semi-structured interviews. Findings from the study revealed the need to teach teacher candidates how to conduct searches effectively, critically evaluate the sources, and integrate the information acquired from the online sources into professional and academic writing that models such behavior for their students. Suggestions for improvement of practice offered in this paper were piloted in one instructional technology course.

Surviving at the Street Level: How Counselors’ Implementation of School Choice Policy Shapes Students’ High School Destinations

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj ◽  
Jennifer L. Jennings ◽  
Sean P. Corcoran ◽  
Elizabeth Christine Baker-Smith ◽  
Chantal Hailey
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
New York ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Street Level ◽  
School Choice Policy ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Choice Policy

Given the dominance of residentially based school assignment, prior researchers have conceptualized K–12 enrollment decisions as beyond the purview of school actors. This paper questions the continued relevance of this assumption by studying the behavior of guidance counselors charged with implementing New York City’s universal high school choice policy. Drawing on structured interviews with 88 middle school counselors and administrative data on choice outcomes at these middle schools, we find that counselors generally believe lower-income students are on their own in making high school choices and need additional adult support. However, they largely refrain from giving action-guiding advice to students about which schools to attend. We elaborate street-level bureaucracy theory by showing how the majority of counselors reduce cognitive dissonance between their understanding of students’ needs and their inability to meet these needs adequately given existing resources. They do so by drawing selectively on competing policy logics of school choice, narrowly delineating their conception of their role, and relegating decisions to parents. Importantly, we also find departures from the predictions of this theory as approximately one in four counselors sought to meet the needs of individual students by enlarging their role despite the resource constraints they faced. Finally, we quantify the impact of variation in counselors’ approaches, finding that the absence of action-guiding advice is associated with students being admitted to lower-quality schools, on average.

One-to-One Technology in the K-12 Classroom

Education ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea H. Parrish
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Computing Device ◽  
Access To Technology ◽  
One To One ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

In Toward a New Learning Ecology: Teaching and Learning in 1:1 Environments (cited under General Overviews), one-to-one learning environments are described as classrooms in which every student has access to a personal computing device (such as a laptop or a tablet) and continuous access to the Internet. This model for student computing was first discussed in educational research beginning in the 1980s, most notably in the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project, a research collaborative among public schools, universities, and research teams funded by Apple and outlined in The Evolution of Teachers’ Instructional Beliefs and Practices in High-Access-to-Technology Classroom: First-fourth Year Findings (cited under Origins of One-to-One Technology: Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow [ACOT]). The original premise, based on the work of computer scientist and mathematician Seymour Papert, is rooted in the idea that ubiquitous access to technology can create more dynamic learning environments. In recent years, the proliferation of mobile technology has caused a renewed interest in one-to-one computing, as the improved portability and functionality of technology tools coupled with advances in wireless Internet capability makes one-to-one computing attainable for many schools and districts. Despite the continued debate about the impact of technology on learning, the U.S. Department of Education elevated the concept of a one-to-one technology ratio from unique innovation to moral imperative in its document, Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update (cited under Resources). Even before this, the prevalence of one-to-one computing initiatives increased, both in the United States is discussed in The New Digital Learning Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students’ Activities and Aspirations (cited under General Overviews) and around the world in Large-Scale 1:1 Computing Initiatives: An Open Access Database (cited under International Perspectives on One-to-One Technology). The growth of these initiatives has been accompanied by an increase in peer-reviewed research and evaluation reports that document the impact of one-to-one technology on teaching and learning. A topic that was once dominated by white papers and evaluation reports now boasts a growing body of peer-reviewed studies, research syntheses, and government reports. The references cited in this article provide a cross-section of these various forms of literature that depict the use of one-to-one technology in K-12 classrooms, including implementation resources for districts and key empirical findings.

Barriers in Digital Transformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Simin Sigari ◽  
Adnan Altunyurt ◽  
Lazar Rusu
Keyword(s):  
Research Study ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Digital Processes ◽  
A Company ◽  
Transformation Processes ◽  
Executives And Managers

In recent years, companies in almost all the industries have been exploring new ways to use digital technologies to generate value from digital investments. However, many companies are struggling to realize the digital transformation due to various existing barriers. They face many obstacles in the development and implementation of new digital processes. In cases where the companies fail to reflect upon these barriers, digital transformation processes carry the risk of not being realized successfully. Therefore, this study has looked to identify the barriers in digital transformation, in a company in the IT sector in Sweden. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the team members involved in digital transformation and from the company's documents, and then thematically analyzed. The findings of this research study are that there are 28 barriers in digital transformation from which 15 are new barriers that could support executives and managers who are planning a digital transformation in their organizations.

Improving K-12 Online Learning

2019 ◽  
pp. 1377-1391
Author(s):  
Esther Ntuli ◽  
Lydia Kyei-Blankson
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
The Common ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Online Sources ◽  
Classroom Use

Research indicates the need for teachers to be able to locate, evaluate, and use Internet resources in their teaching and learning processes. In addition, the Common Core State Standards require that students are able to think critically and know how to search and use alternative views and perspectives in their assignments. These skills are imperative for teachers and teacher candidates. This article reports the results of a study that sought to examine strategies used by teacher candidates when using Internet search engines, their ability to integrate the information they find into their own assignments, and use the acquired skills for future classroom use. The study employed a mixed-method approach in the collection and analysis of data gathered from a sample of 45 teacher candidates. Data sources included a survey, class assignments that required documentation of the search process as well as the located sources, and semi-structured interviews. Findings from the study revealed the need to teach teacher candidates how to conduct searches effectively, critically evaluate the sources, and integrate the information acquired from the online sources into professional and academic writing that models such behavior for their students. Suggestions for improvement of practice offered in this paper were piloted in one instructional technology course.

scholarly journals Teacher observations of programming affordances for K-12 mathematics and technology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Humble
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Teacher Teams ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Teacher Observations ◽  
Programming Tools ◽  
Computing Skills ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
K 12

AbstractWith future shortage of professionals with programming and computing skills, many countries have made programming part of kindergarten – grade 12 curriculum (K-12). A possible approach is to make programming part of an already existing subject. Sweden has chosen this approach and in 2017 programming was integrated in the subject content of K-12 mathematics and technology. Integrating programming is at the expense of extra workload on teachers. Teachers affected by these changes will face new challenges in their teaching and learning activities. The aim of the study is to examine K-12 teachers’ use and perceived affordances of programming as a tool for teaching and learning activities in mathematics and technology. Data were collected through focus group discussions with three teacher teams in mathematics and technology from three K-12 schools in the mid Sweden region. 21 teachers participated in the study. Thematic analysis with a mixture of deductive and inductive coding were used to analyse the data. Theory of affordances was used to structure findings in themes of interests and answer the study’s aim and research questions. Results show that the teachers use a variety of programming tools in their teaching and learning activities. The use of programming in mathematics and technology can be understood in five main perceived affordances: 1) Play, 2) Discovery, 3) Adaptation, 4) Control, and 5) Freedom; which relate to both student motivation and subject content. Teachers also perceive obstacles and opportunities in using programming, that relates to different programming tools’ ability to support teaching and learning activities. The findings of this study can be drawn upon by teachers and other stakeholders in the integration of programming in K-12 education, and in the design of teaching and learning activities with programming.

scholarly journals Power and control in the one-to-one computing classroom: students’ perspectives on teachers’ didactical design

Seminar.net ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-173
Author(s):  
Peter Bergström ◽  
Eva Mårell-Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Power And Control ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Student Focus ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
One To One ◽  
The One ◽  
And Control

This paper reports on a research study that scrutinised the student perspective on teachers’ different didactical designs from lessons in the one-to-one computing classroom. Specifically, the aim was to describe and understand three different clusters of didactical design in the one-to-one computing classroom from the student perspective. Each of the three clusters represents different interactions between teachers and students. The research questions embrace how the teachers or students, through the didactical design, will have an advantage over the other. The empirical material was based on student focus groups interviews, enhanced through the method of stimulated recall where different photographs of teaching and learning situations from the one-to-one computing classroom were shown to the students. The results demonstrate three empirical themes: students’ learning in class, students’ learning outside class, and classroom assessment. From a theoretical lens of power and control, the students’ reasoning demonstrates approaches to how teachers regulate students and to how students can make decisions in their learning process. For handling students’ demands, specifically in pedagogical plans, the one-to-one computing classroom becomes one component for making students’ learning processes smoother regarding when to study and how to study.

Affirmation, validation, and empowerment: Influences of a composition competition on students’ self-concepts as musicians

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Albert
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Constructive Feedback ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Case Design

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a composition competition influenced four K–12 students’ self-concepts as musicians. Research questions explored motivations for these four students to enter into a composition competition, influences of the competition on students’ self-concepts as musicians (if at all), and effects of the competition besides those of self-concept as a musician (if at all). Data sources for this multiple case design study included semi-structured interviews, journals, and wiki interactions. Findings determined that acceptance to the competition, performance of students’ works, and the reception that students received validated and strengthened their self-concepts as musicians. Suggestions for teaching practice include providing constructive feedback from competition adjudicators, creating face-to-face and online experiences for student composers to network, and offering non-adjudicated composition festival experiences for students.

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