The Future of ICT in
Norwegian Education –
with a Nordic Glance
Øystein Johannessen
Deputy Director General
Norwegian Ministry of Education and
Research
Øystein Johannessen about Øystein
Johannessen
Øystein Johannessen holds a Masters degree
in Contemporary German Literature from
universities in Norway and Germany. He has
worked in Norwegian education since 1989. In
1997, he took part in the start-up of the
Norwegian School of Film and Television at
Lillehammer. Johannessen has worked in the
Norwegian Ministry for Education and
Research since 1999, now heading the ICT
Strategy Team in the Ministry. His international
experience includes working with the OECD,
the European Commission, the European
Schoolnet (EUN) and The Norwegian Agency
for Development Cooperation (Norad).
2 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Today’s issues
• National ICT Policy for Education
• The Nordic countries
• The Road Ahead:
• Socio-technological
development
• Going the last mile:
Issues
• One for the Road
3 Kunnskapsdepartementet
New Government: Key ICT Issues
• Reinforce ICT initiatives
– Infrastructure
– Competencies
• Access to PCs and Internet for all students
and teachers
• Broadband deployment throughout the
country
• Universal design embedded in all media
development
• ‖Grooming‖ legislation
4 Kunnskapsdepartementet
New National Curriculum from 2006 (”The
Knowledge Promotion”)
• Basic skills as basis for all learning
and development:
– to be able to express oneself orally
– to be able to read
– to be able to express oneself in
writing
– to be able to do arithmetic
– to be able to use information and
communication technology
• Digital skills are more than being able
to master technology itself. Meta-
cognitive skills embedded in subject
matters
5 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Programme for Digital Literacy:
Main Goals
• By 2008, the Norwegian educational system should be
among the foremost countries in the world to use ICT in
teaching and learning
• By 2008, Digital Literacy shall be integrated at all levels
in education and training.
• By 2008, ICT shall be an integrated tool for innovation
and quality at all levels in Norwegian education
• By 2008, Norwegian schools shall be equipped with
high quality infrastructure.Classrooms and other arenas
for learning shall be connected with adequate
bandwidth. The use of ICT in teaching and learning
shall be supported by secure and cost-effective
solutions for infrastructure maintenance.
6 Kunnskapsdepartementet
7 Kunnskapsdepartementet
FEIDE (Federated Electronic IDentity for
Education)
8 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Identity Management is…
• ―Hi! I’m Lisa.‖ (Identity)
• ―…and here’s my NetID / password to prove it.‖
(Authentication)
• ―I want to do some E-Reserves reading.‖
(Authorization : Allowing Lisa to use the
services for which she’s authorized)
• ―And I want to change my grade in last semester’s Physics
course.‖
(Authorization : Preventing her from doing
things she’s not supposed to do)
9 Kunnskapsdepartementet
STRATEGY FOR DIGITAL LEARNING
RESOURCES (DLR)
- Strategy targeting the entire education sector, but
strong emphasis on primary and secondary
education
- Funding for development and purchase of digital
learning resources (50 MNOK) related to the
introduction of the knowledge promotion reform
- National heritage - render archive material
accessible for educational purposes
- Intellectual Property Rights for digital content for
education
- Sharing of content – promotion of interoperability
- ePortfolio – in schools and in higher education
10 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Country policies: Finland (I)
11 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Country policies: Finland (II)
• Current challenges:
– Renewing of computers
– Integration of ICT by teachers and school
leaders
– Indicators -> Monitoring
– Embedding of ICT in mathematics and
languages.
12 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Country policies: Sweden (I)
• Considerable investment in teacher
competencies 1999-2003
• KK Foundation: IT in teacher training: First
allotment late 2005
• White Paper 2005: The goals in the
curriculum do not reflect the requirements of
the Information Society. Future revisions
should pay attention to that.
13 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Country policies: Sweden (II)
• The Swedish Schoolnet and various means
for increasing access to and dissemination
of digital learning resources
• ICT for School leaders
• Support for Private-Public Partnerships
14 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Country profiles: Denmark (I)
• Strategy: IT in primary and secondary education
2004-2007
• Infrastructure issues:
– Knowledge sharing (LMS)
– Computers to pupils in grade 3
– Interactive Whiteboards
• Digital Content
– EMU: Portal for materials for pedagogical use of
ICT
– Access to resources from museums, science
centers etc.
– Digital resources for grades 4-9
15 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Country profiles: Denmark (II)
• Competence Development
– Pedagogical driver’s licence a success.
Will be further developed.
– ‖Junior PC Driver’s License‖ to be
developed.
16 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Digital Youth
Many young people today…are growing up surrounded
by digital technologies and quite extraordinary rich
media content. They take all this for granted because
it’s part of their everyday lives.
….
Today’s under-10s…have no memory of a world before
mobile phones or broadband. …to engage them with
content, including educational content, we will have to
move well beyond fancy graphics, to the development
of really imaginative and motivating environments
for learning.
(Lord David Putnam, London, 10 Jan 2005)
17 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Web 2.0
• Term used to describe a new generation of
web—based services facilitating online
collaboration and information sharing
• ‖Folksonomies‖ -> User-centered tagging of
content. Blurred line between public and
private domain. E.g.: Flickr
• Blogs, wikis etc.
• Google Maps, Geo Tagging, Google Earth
18 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Socio-technological challenges
• Web 2.0 applications enable rapid change
in the socio-technological practice of our
students
• ICT use in schools less advanced compared
to the private domain (ITU Monitor 2003 and
2005)
• Earlier exposure to ICT (Source: SAFT
Norway 2006)
• Bullying in chatrooms
• Naive parents (SAFT Norway 2006)
19 Kunnskapsdepartementet
The Road Ahead: The struggle for ICT
integration
Source: ICT in Schools Survey 2004
20 Kunnskapsdepartementet
Going the last mile
• Competence development does not seem to
have sufficient impact (eLearning Nordic
2006)
• New curriculum will be implemented from
August 2006. Embedding of digital skills
• Access issues
– Broadband connectivity and digital divide
– Still related to income and educational level
of parents
• Adults at risk: Insufficient basic skills ->
Barriers to participation in Knowledge Socity
21 Kunnskapsdepartementet
ICT has come to stay - but don’t forget to
think out-of-box!!
22 Kunnskapsdepartementet