After several weeks of closed schools, hundreds of thousands of students are returning to an everyday life with books, pencils and erasers. But not all. For some school students, the book will be a tablet. And the pencil case will be a tablet. The only learning tool will be square, light up to the touch and weigh around half a kilo. And so it has become without a plan and management. At least according to Tonje Brenna, who criticizes the Conservative Party for leading an uncritical digitization of the school. – What I think Erna Solberg did wrong was not having a plan. When we make changes in the school, we must know that it is in the best interests of the students, says the Minister of Education. With the school on the tablet The teaching material situation has changed a lot in recent years. Tablets have been introduced in several schools in the country in addition to, or instead of, school books. But Øystein Gilje, professor at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research, says that the digitization of schools has been going on for a long time. The new thing, he says, is that many students have been given their own digital device, and the opportunity to work on the screen almost all the time. Professor Øystein Gilje expects a new digitization debate. Photo: UiO – Several parents, students and teachers are concerned about the digital shift. They report that they want printed, physical teaching aids in addition to the digital teaching aids. Do they have reason to be concerned? – It is the parents who worry the most. The concerns are linked to what the parents see their children using the digital learning tools for. But if they see something that worries them, I hope they contact the teacher and ask why their child is using the teaching aid the way they are. – It is also conceivable that teachers and pupils worry about screen use in school, but their concerns are more often expressed through frustration and the feeling of not being able to master the technology. – Uninformed claim from the Minister of Education Much of the digital shift in schools took place under Jan Tore Sanner’s school policy leadership. The former minister of knowledge says that the digital learning tools solve the challenge of school books that expire. But he does not want a fully digital school. – We must have both. We need the printed book, but we also need digital teaching aids where it can contribute to more and better learning. At the same time, Sanner points out that it is the school owners and school management who make decisions about the purchase and use of teaching aids. He expects them to prioritize funds for teaching that ensure pedagogical learning, regardless of whether they are printed or digital. But he does not think it can be managed and secured from above. When asked whether national measures may be necessary to influence or regulate the choice and purchase of learning materials, he replies that we must have trust in the schools and the teachers in the classroom, and reminds that the government has announced a trust reform. – We must have trust in the school owner, school management and teachers. It is those who are closest to the students and who must decide which teaching aids and pedagogical tools are to be used. The former Minister of Education rejects the accusation of a planless digitization of the school. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB scanpix – But Brenna criticizes you for not having a plan for the digital teaching aids in school? – It is an ignorant claim from the Minister of Education. We put in place a digitization strategy and new curricula where we promote digital competence, technology understanding, and not least digital judgment – the ability to be critical of digital platforms and what you read online. New plan and new debate During the winter, the government will present a new plan on digitization in schools. The goal, Brenna believes, is to be able to handle a more digital everyday school life. – I am sure that students need to both read books and relate to screens, but this must be a conscious choice that the schools make, with the pedagogical aspect as the most important in the decision. However, her predecessor believes that the new plan is a matter of course. – We got a digitization strategy for the school in place. It lasted until 2021. Now society and schools have changed, and we have important experience from closed schools during the corona pandemic where the schools largely used digital tools. So it is high time that Brenna renews its digitization strategy for the next four years, says Sanner. The professor from the University of Oslo also expects a discussion about the teaching aids in school. – I think that during the new school year we will have to discuss the relationship between paper and digital again. If you see that digital solutions do not necessarily meet the students’ needs, it is conceivable that we get more paper-based teaching aids together with the digital, says Gilje, before he concludes: – It is this mixture that I believe will provide the best starting point for different types of teachers, in different subjects and at different levels, to put together teaching methods in such a way that the students learn as best as possible.
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– Erna lacked a plan – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
