Teachers calling for organizational support to digitalize teaching
International Journal of Information and Learning Technology
ISSN: 2056-4880
Article publication date: 15 July 2020
Issue publication date: 9 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The digitalization of society places new demands on education. It is apparent since most countries have introduced curricula requirements to digitalize teaching. This study examines the organizational support teachers need to digitalize teaching. The study is being conducted in Sweden because they have experienced challenges with the introduction of new national digitalization requirements. Thus, this study explores the following research question: What organizational support do Swedish teachers describe they need to meet the curriculum requirements for digitalization?
Design/methodology/approach
Cultural–historical activity theory and qualitative methods have been used to explore the research aim and answer the question.
Findings
The results show that teachers need organizational support to gain equal and easy access to digital tools. Moreover, digital tools in an organization must be relevantly related to the requirements. Teachers also need support to increase their knowledge as well as the knowledge of the students. Also, organizations must support teachers by distributing the work of digitalization clearly and reasonably. These results, thus, show that teachers cannot be solely responsible for meeting these curriculum requirements. They need organizational support in the process.
Originality/value
The study reveals teachers' recurring problems concerning digitalized education and their need for organizational support. Thereby, the knowledge can be used to avoid similar problems, in organizations on different society levels. This contribution is useful for organizations, politicians, school leaders, principals and teachers who are introducing 1:1 and new curriculum requirements for digitalization of education.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Mariestad municipality for the support during the research.
Citation
Leino Lindell, T. (2020), "Teachers calling for organizational support to digitalize teaching", International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 323-339. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-02-2020-0017
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited