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When the Swedish National Agency for Education presented its proposal for a new digitization strategy a year ago, Education Minister Lotta Edholm responded by sending it for referral – and then in the trash.
She thought there was a lack of a scientific perspective on how screens affect learning and children’s brains.
Since then, the school system has found themselves in limbo without clear guidelines for how they should work with digital teaching aids.
Now the government has given the Swedish National Agency for Education the task of drawing up new guidance, a strong recommendation, for how printed and digital learning materials should be used in teaching.
The use of screens in preschool and school must be well thought out, and one must be very restrictive in the young ages, according to the government. “It’s actually hugely important,” says Education Minister Lotta Edholm. Photo: Thomas Karlsson
The Swedish National Agency for Education can choose how the guidelines are to be designed. But in the assignment, the government formulates the framework. For example, it writes that “the accumulated science shows that basic skills such as relational abilities, attention and concentration, and the ability to read, write, and count are best acquired through analog activities in analog environments.”
The government also writes that “the focus in the younger ages should be on analogue learning tools”, and that “digital learning tools can be used to a greater extent and produce good effects as the age increases”.
But “only under the condition that it is done selectively, based on clear scientific support and documented educational added value”.
– This means that the use of screens must be well thought out, and that you must be very restrictive in the young ages. It is actually hugely important, says Education Minister Lotta Edholm to DN.
It is also important from an equality perspective that there are common guidelines for how schools should look at learning materials from a knowledge perspective, she believes.
The use of screens in school must be well thought out, says Lotta Edholm. Photo: Christine Olsson
– The goal is not for everyone to do the same. But to a greater extent than today, teachers themselves must make an assessment based on the knowledge that exists, for example about the problems that screens can cause and how young children learn best, says Lotta Edholm.
Therefore, in the new assignment, the Swedish National Agency for Education must also produce support material for teachers and schools, depending on what learning tools are used.
– For teachers to get help in their work. They have a big responsibility to choose teaching materials, says Lotta Edholm.
Digitization in Swedish school has gone far too fast, and it has been done on a very shaky scientific basis, she believes.
– There is so much research that shows that the book is unmatched in many ways, especially in the younger ages.
The government risks creating a false contradiction between analogue and digital teaching aids, says the chairman of Sweden’s teachers, Åsa Fahlén.
– There are also other perspectives, such as that screens are disruptive in lessons, that they are used for other purposes than what the lesson is about, she adds.
In December, Lotta Edholm also expects that the Riksdag will vote through a bill which means that already by summer there will be strict legislation that defines what teaching aids, textbooks and learning tools are for.
The law must also state that students have the right to this in their teaching.
Does this mean that the School Inspectorate should be able to intervene against schools that cheat with the teaching materials?
– Yes, you might think it’s strange that it wasn’t in the school law before, says Lotta Edholm.
The chairman of Sweden’s teachersÅsa Fahlén, tells DN that the government in its eagerness to criticize digitization risks creating a false opposition between analogue and digital teaching aids.
For example, when the shoe minister announced last week that the preschool curriculum “must be essentially screen-free”.
Among pre-school teachers, it is rather the lack of teaching materials that is the problem, not that they use the digital opportunities available, says Åsa Fahlén.
– There are really good programs that provide fantastic opportunities that analogue books cannot provide. For example, you can read a book and at the same time get a translation into many different languages, which is extremely valuable in groups of children where you have several mother tongues, says Åsa Fahlén.
A mobile with different apps. Photo: Jeppe Gustafsson/TT
Lotta Edholm states that she has a different image when she is out meeting teachers and preschool teachers.
– It is rare that I get as many positive reactions as I have received this year and which is about this change in approach, says Lotta Edholm
Many teachers say that they experienced enormous pressure with digitization, that those who really insisted on using paper and pencil were not rewarded for that work.
– So my overall picture is that this is long-awaited.
Read more:
The government is tearing up the Swedish National Agency for Education’s plan for digitization in schools
New advice: Young children should not use screens at all
Facts. The assignment to the National Education Agency
The government commissions the Norwegian School Board to produce:
● General recommendations on the selection and use of learning tools and support materials.
● Use should be based on scientific support and educational added value.
● Views must be obtained from relevant actors who partly have knowledge of children’s and pupils’ learning and health in relation to use, and partly have basic digital competence.
● The Swedish National Agency for Education must be responsible for disseminating the recommendations to the groups concerned.
● And also conduct an ongoing dialogue with the Ministry of Education and report the results by January 15, 2025 at the latest.
● The term teaching tools includes textbooks, teaching aids, printed or digital works as well as equipment and materials used in teaching, for example computers and learning tablets.
Source: Ministry of Education
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