Bridging Insula Europae

Swedish National Research

Reports of Results and Conclusions

Bridging Insula Europae

Enhancing Pupils Motivation by Developing European Dimension of Learning and the Use of ICT
134214-LLP-1-2007-1-IT-COMENIUS-CMP
Grant Agreement 2007-3435/001-001
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any
use which may be made of the information contained therein.
RESEARCH

This is the first report from the Swedish Project Group working on the Bridging Insula Europae
project and it concerns the first phase of the project – the research phase.

Reported are the Swedish activities undertaken to realize the following goals:

- single out best practice in the involved countries in the Cooperative Learning and
Active Learning field, underlining its strength and weaknesses
- investigation into the use of ICT as learning tools in Swedish secondary schools,
perceptions and reality of the use of ICT
- investigation into the limits and barriers of ODL systems

To realize the first goal, a web-search with reference to Cooperative Learning and Active
Learning in the Swedish language was conducted through the internet, with a total of 157 hits
on various websites. In the analysis of the search, two projects conducted within Swedish
secondary schools based on these assumptions have been identified and described in this
report as good practice.

To realize the second goal focus group interviews with six secondary school teachers was
conducted, as well as an analysis of the latest yearly survey of attitudes towards ICT in schools
conducted by the Swedish Knowledge Foundation from 2006 (KK-stiftelsen, 2006).

To realize the third goal, interviews with two national experts on Open and Distance Learning
was conducted.
Best practice in the Cooperative Learning and Active Learning field

In the Swedish journal “Datorn i utbildningen” (Computer in education) nr 5 2003 Andersson

(2003) reports on the use of Wikis to improve cooperative learning in a Swedish secondary
school. A Wiki is a website in which the user can publish, add, edit and delete the information
presented. Most sites do not have editorial boards or personnel to guarantee the accuracy of
the content, It is more common that the users themselves act as editors. Andersson reports on
a group of Swedish secondary school students using Wikis in a project work on Salmonella in a
school in the Stockholm suburb Tensta. The use of Wikis have been included in the course
concerning project work, courses that aim of develop the students abilities to plan, structure
and to take responsibility for a larger amount of work. In the project work, the working process
is as important as the final product, and all students should write process-logs of the work.
With the support of a wiki, the students in the project groups could easily share information
within the group. All information could be shared in a web-site with no login, which means easy
access. In addition, the web-site became a place where the teachers could easily monitor the
students work and progress. The main disadvantages with wikis are at the same time the open
access. Anyone can access the wiki and alter the content. In Tensta this was not a problem.
With a good manual to follow and a level of ambition developed jointly where everyone is
encouraging each other to publish, students are reported to experience few disadvantages.
Researcher Ove Jobring, IT-university in Gothenburg, is quoted in the article saying that Wikis
are more dynamic than threaded forums, not so hierarchical, and providing more opportunities
for discussion. Another educational advantage with a Wiki is that all editing is visible.

In the report “Samarbetslärande i matematik” (Cooperative Learning in mathematics) Backlund

(2001), gives an account of a project in mathematics in a secondary school based on the
assumptions of cooperative learning. According to the report, the project had the intention to
try out different forms of working in mathematics that was building on cooperation and
communication between the students that also made it possible with individual work. The
model used was close to the “Team Assisted Individualization” model of Slavin, but without the
substantial control-system Slavin describes. The model builds on both cooperative work and
individual work, and that the students take responsibilities for the learning of others. The
students are divided into groups of 4-6, and they are themselves planning their work within
specified timeframes. One of the problems in getting the students to adopt the model, is
related to grading and assessment. How individual knowledge can be assessed in group work is
often questioned by both students and parents. The report claims that through in-depth
conversation with the students in groups, the teacher is given a good view of how the students
progress within the subject. Through the discussions in groups, the students develop their
ability to talk about mathematics. In their attitudes toward cooperative learning, the students
reports on the importance of having a shared level of ambition. They also report on how the
different roles in group-work change and that roles are not permanently given. The main part
of the students are positive to group-work after the project, and are reported wanting to
continue to work in groups. A majority of the students reports that working in groups have
increased their contact with other pupils and many reports an increased sense of community.

Conclusions from best practice in the Cooperative Learning and Active

Learning field.

According to the examples of best practice, It is a good thing to:

- use technology that affords easy and open access which increases the possibilities
for cooperative and active learning
- use technology that is dynamic and not hierarchical
- use group work to provide for discussion
- let the students be part of the planning of their own learning

It is a good thing to avoid:

- students working with different levels of ambition

- problems with grading by making the grading and examination aspects of
cooperative work clear from the beginning
Investigation into the use of ICT as learning tools in Swedish
secondary schools, perceptions and reality of the use of ICT

Focus group interviews have been conducted with six secondary school teachers working in two
different schools in two different municipalities in Sweden. The teachers represents different
school subjects, with an majority teaching civics but also with teachers involved in e.g.
language, psychology, and media. The interviews lasted for approximately an hour, and the
teachers gave their view on how ICT is have been used in the school, by teachers and students.

From the interviews, it can be said that ICT is used on a regularly basis in both schools. Both
schools have a fairly good and updated infrastructure when it comes to ICT and media. The
schools are equipped with computers, both for students and for teachers use, with internet
connections and modern software both for communication, word-processing and for multimedia
use. Schools seem to use computers for more than students producing texts, and ICT is more
than just computers. Included are also digital cameras, digital video-cameras, and other
equipment used by the teachers to produce materials for educational purposes, and by
students to solve educational tasks.

In one of the schools, which is located in a scarcely populated area, teachers have their own
web-portal, moodle based, for making the courses available for the students at other times
than during daytime. In this school, there are also students combining their studies with
training and elite sports, which means that they are away at camps on a regularly basis.
Without the distance based courses, these students would have a problem in completing their
studies. At this school, teachers have also had professional development courses in teaching
distance based classes.

In both schools, there is a current work on improving the general IT and media skills of the
teachers and the students. Both schools follow a material designed and provided through the
Swedish National Agency for School Improvement, the Practical IT and Media skills (PIM). The
PIM material is designed for helping schools improve their IT and media skills in a structured
way, improving the standard of the school by working towards five different levels of skills.
Through this material, schools go from using IT and media for easy communication, and simple
text processing towards using IT for organizing and producing materials for sharing and
expressing, and for integrating different medias into teaching resources.

In both schools, the students use ICT to communicate with others. Work is ongoing in the
schools in organising field-trips for different groups of students in different countries in Europe
and in the rest of the world. ICT is then a tool for the students to prepare for the trips and the
meetings with others face to face.

Students also use ICT to write and produce texts, to search the Internet for materials and
facts, to broaden the content of the textbooks used, and to organize their work. According to
teachers at both schools, there is a common gaming culture among students, and the teachers
views are that students use ICT at home to large extent. This makes them already acquainted
with the use of ICT and media, and it seems that the school has more of a problem keeping up
with the students skills and way of life.

In the latest yearly survey of attitudes towards ICT in schools conducted by the Swedish
Knowledge-foundation 2006, 1200 students and 600 teachers from the secondary school
system have given their view on ICT use in schools (KK-stiftelsen, 2006). The survey contains
views on their attitudes towards ICT as educational tool, the use of ICT in and outside of
lessons, and their use of ICT for communication.

According to the survey, almost all secondary school students and teachers have access to a
computer in the home. Access to the internet in the home have increased during the 2100th
century, most common is a broadband connection. Many have email in their homes. More than
four out of five secondary school students says that their school has enough ICT-equipment, a
clear increase since 1997. All secondary school students and teachers have access to
computers in the schools, and access to the internet and email is high. Almost half of the
teachers have access to a computer of their own in the school. Seven out of ten teachers have
access to a computer when needed. Almost all teachers have access to an email of their own,
four out of five secondary school students have their own email in school.

According to the survey, secondary school students use their home computer more often than
the teachers, but all groups use computers in the home more than in 2004. Secondary school
students who have internet connections at home use it more frequently than the teachers,
even though internet use has increased in all groups. Students take part in discussion-groups
and order goods and services through the net more often than before. About three out of five
in all groups use the computer at home for reasons related to the school more than one hour
per week. Student use computers in class more often than the teachers, almost one out of five
teachers says that they do not use computers during class. Computers are used by all in the
schools in a high degree to communicate and to seek information. Teachers use computers to
prepare for classes and for administration, students for word-processing.

According to the survey, there is an increased use of the internet in the teaching. About four
out of ten teachers with internet access in the school use it for education. The number of
teachers who feel they have great benefits in using computers as an educational tool has
increased over the years, now almost six out of ten. The survey shows that a vast majority of
the secondary school pupils experience the educational use of ICT as a great benefit. ICT use is
still high in the schools. Seven out of ten students use computers during lesson-time some time
every week or more often. More than half of the teachers use computers some times every
week or more often during lessons. A majority of the students consider the teachers skills in
ICT to be adequate. Half of the teachers consider their skills to be enough. ICT-supported
communication has increased. Seven out of ten teachers communicate with their students
through e-mail. Six out of ten teachers communicate with parents through e-mail. The students
increase their use of ICT for communication related to schoolwork, three out of four use
MSN/Messenger, half of the student SMS for this purpose.

Concerning the educational use of ICT, one third of the students experience very great benefits
from ICT in their schoolwork. Almost three out of 4 experience great benefits. Only four percent
experience little or no benefits. Nearly six out of ten teachers experience great benefits from
using computers, only a fifth experience little or no benefits. A majority of the teachers and the
students sees several advantages in using ICT in education. More than nine out of ten considers
it to make information-seeking easier. Between seven or nine out of ten sees benefits
concerning computer-use, increased motivation, enhances learning, stimulates writing-
processes, and gives possibilities for simulations. The teachers experience barriers for the use
of internet to a higher degree than the students, examples are funding, to few computers, to
low competence among teachers and that equipment is of low standard. The students sees
barriers in aspects as untrue information on the Internet, to slow computers, Internet abuse
and that student are uninterested. According to half of the teachers, student awareness of
sources has improved through the use of the Internet. A majority says that their abilities to
express themselves in writing have improved through the use of the internet. Almost three out
of four teachers feel that the use of ICT have increased their possibilities to adjust their
teaching in time and space. All agree that the internet have given increased possibilities for
international connections.

Conclusions from the Investigation into the use of ICT as learning tools
in Swedish secondary schools, perceptions and reality of the use of ICT

According to the survey the use of ICT by teachers and students in Sweden could be
summarized in the following points:

- The schools and the teachers seem fairly prepared for the use of ICT
- ICT is more often used for communication and preparing for meetings, than for
actual real-time meetings
- Students skills are often developed outside of schools
- Students use ICT in a more wide variety of ways outside of schools
- The use of ICT in schools and in the homes is fairly common
- Most students and teachers have internet connections both at home and at school
- Students use ICT for communication more than the teachers
- There has been an increase in the communication between teachers and students
and teacher and parent through email
- Teachers use ICT in class fairly often
- A majority of the students feel that the teachers knowledge of ICT is adequate
- A majority of teachers and students experience great benefits from educational use
of ICT
- Students use ICT more and more often for communication that concerns school
issues, e.g. through MSN and through SMS

Investigation into the barriers and limits of ODL systems

Two interviews have been conducted with experts within the field of open and distance
learning. Senior lecturer Anders D Olofsson, Umeå University, working in the field of education
and leading a research group concerned with ICT and education, and senior lecturer Stefan
Hrastinski, Uppsala University, working in the field of informatics with a special interest in
networked learning have been interviewed. They were asked the same questions, their answers
recorded and integrated in a power point. Their answers have been given in Swedish.

The questions were:

- Discussion about problems and troubles caused by the use of ICT to communicate
and socialize – what are the problems? Why are they problems?
- ICT changes the way of thinking and learning. Does this cause critical changes?
- The use of ICT is positive and changes in a positive way the school system, but is
critical as well. Because?
- Going into details describing trouble and critical situations caused by ICT about.
Didactical activities? Relationships between schoolmates?
- Schools would like to introduce ICT, but can’t. Because?

In the following, a short summary of each interview is given.

Anders D Olofsson first reflects upon problems in the use of ICT. One problem he sees for
schools, in particularly in the early years, is anonymity In web-based communities, he
continuous, there is a possibility that people have faked identities It it therefore important that
teachers and other grown-ups make students aware of this. Studies in education has shown
that students themselves develop strategies to avoid such persons. When considering the
question about ICT and whether it is changing how we think and learn, Olofsson says that
this is a question he would like to answer both yes and no to. Changes are crucial in one way,
ICT gives totally new possibilities to search and identify relevant information, process
information and assess, present and interact with others. But, on the other hand Olofsson
continuous, there is always a social human practice in the physical space which affects learning,
thinking and becoming. It seems unlikely to me that any form of ICT can replace this social
practice. Considering positive and critical changes in schools, one negative aspect Olofsson
point to could be that, despite the ambitions from teachers and others, the use of ICT
individualizes and isolates students. Another crucial aspect he mentions is the un-critical use of
information from the net. Here he sees that teachers have a vital function in training students
to assess information. Reflecting on trouble and critical situations caused by ICT, Olofsson
mentions one critical issue concerning the content and the didactical use of ICT. It is often
subordinated to the use of ICT. It is use of ICT, and not content-related use of ICT. Another
critical issue Olofsson says, could be when teachers are using ICT without thinking about the
appropriateness of the ICT tool as a didactical tool.
To often ICT-tools are not designed and developed in accordance with theories in education.
Finally, when considering why not to introduce ICT in schools, Olofsson finds this a question
perhaps not so relevant in Sweden where he says there is a good infrastructure. One problem
could otherwise be related to economy or the possibility to build appropriate environments for
the use of ICT
Another problem he sees is more related to the teachers and could be a question about
collegiality, teachers might not want to change there practice. Or, there might be a problem for
teachers to hand over control to students who often have more ICT-skills, in combination with
the net which might to some teachers seem frightening to use in their teaching.

Stefan Hrastinski, PhD in informatics, says when reflecting on the potential problems related to
the use of ICT that he is basically very positive about the use of ICT. His view on the picture of
problems related to ICT is that there are more problems in the conceptions of the use of ICT.
One conception that might be a problem according to Hrastinski is viewing students using ICT
as isolated – when they in fact often are engaged in highly social contexts. One challenge
Hrastinski sees, which may be a problem for teachers and researchers, is to get to know this
world, to sort out what the possibilities for education are. A problem Hrastinski refers to that
must be avoided to use ICT in a good way, is the view of the teacher as lecturer. According to
Hrastinski it is equally important for teachers to know how to build personalized learning
environments in which students learn from each other. Hrastinski also reflects upon the
question whether ICT is changing how we think and learn. He sees this as a central question for
many, does ICT lead to better learning? His answer is short– of course not. But he believes ICT
as a tool can provide good conditions for learning. Having the tools, together with some
technical skills and some language skills, Hrastinski believes the next thing is to focus on the
communication. Regarding positive and critical changes in schools, ICT have already affected
education in Hrastinskis view. Students already use ICT and thereby it is already in schools. In
our lives, he continuous, we will communicate more and more in net-based arenas for work and
for other interests. The question for schools is how to use ICT pro-actively. Hrastinski says that
the lecturing teacher may find this difficult, taking all the advantages for communication that
ICT gives, into education. But as he sees it, earlier didactical approaches may seem insufficient.
A crucial point regarding this is to increase teacher competence in the area. When asked
whether there are trouble and critical situations caused by ICT, Hrastinski answers that ICT
may be used in good and in bad ways, it is often associated with the mass-production of
education. And sure, he continuous, in some cases there is a point in giving access to lectures
and other productions that might reach many, as a complement it is important to consider how
we can use ICT to support communication and social relations and encourage knowledge
building in cooperation. Nowadays he says, we talk about the web 2.0, how the web has
changed and users active production of the content on the web, I think education needs to
follow. And here there are early experiments using e.g. blogs, wikis, instant messaging and
such tools, this can be an exciting development.
When Hrastinski considers the reasons why not Introducing ICT in schools, his answer is that in
a longer perspective, all education will benefit from the web, whether we want to or not. As he
explains it, students live there lives on the net, they will use it in education as well even though
teachers don’t. Fact is, he continues, this is happening whether the individual teacher want it or
not. For Hrastinski the question is not if to use ICT, but how to use ICT pro-actively?

Conclusions from the Investigation into the barriers and limits of ODL
systems
According to the interviews, ODL systems have the following barriers and limits worth to
consider:

- One barrier and problem is anonymity

- ICT cannot replace the social aspect of humans, it works within this social fabric
- One issue is how to assess the information received through ICT
- Another issue is how to use ICT in a didactical way, in accordance with educational
theory
- One problem could be collegiality and conceptions of teaching
- Students use is other than teachers
- Using ICT pro-actively is central
- Conceptions are more of a barrier than ICT itself
- ICT is better for communication than transformation

References

Andersson, B. (2003). Wiki – enkelt för samarbete [Wiki – easy for cooperation]. Datorn i
utbildningen, nr 5. (www.diu.se)
Backlund, P. (2001). “Samarbetslärande i matematik” [Cooperative Learning in mathematics].
Rapport Gudrun Malmers stiftelse.
(dspace.mah.se/dspace/bitstream/2043/2310/1/Rapport_Malmer_backlund.pdf)
KK-stiftelsen (2006). IT i skolan. Attityder, tillgång och användande [ICT in schools. Attitudes,
access and use]. Rapport från KK-stiftelsen.