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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Ola J. Lindberg, Anders D. Olofsson and Göran Fransson

The purpose of this paper is to examine Swedish upper secondary school teachers’ and students’ views and use of ICT in education.

7855

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine Swedish upper secondary school teachers’ and students’ views and use of ICT in education.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 25 individual teachers and 39 students in small focus groups were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis was performed using NVivo11. The analysis was conducted in three steps: with each individual teacher, the student groups and the cohort of teachers and students. A comparative analysis was also conducted.

Findings

The teachers’ views and use of ICT are diverse. Teachers and students identify similar challenges when using ICT in education, e.g. time and subject, the shortcomings of a school’s learning management system (LMS) and teachers’ digital competence. Students report an extensive out-of-school use of smartphones and an extensive in-school use of laptops and LMS.

Research limitations/implications

The relatively small number of teachers and students in three schools make generalisations difficult. The examination of teachers’ and students’ views and use in the same context reveals new knowledge.

Practical implications

The study may influence teachers’ use of ICT in education, based on a better understanding of students’ use.

Social implications

The study may lead to a better understanding of teachers’ and students’ different perspectives and a more enhanced and sustainable in-school use of ICT.

Originality/value

The originality is that teachers’ and students’ views and use of ICT in education are examined at the same time. The paper contributes new knowledge about how teachers and students conceptualise and use ICT in upper secondary school practices.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 March 2018

Anders D. Olofsson, Ola J. Lindberg and Göran Fransson

The purpose of this paper is to explore upper secondary school students’ voices on how information and communication technology (ICT) could structure and support their everyday…

7836

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore upper secondary school students’ voices on how information and communication technology (ICT) could structure and support their everyday activities and time at school.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 11 group interviews were conducted with a total of 46 students from three upper secondary schools. NVivo PRO 11 was used for a qualitative content analysis.

Findings

The results show that ICT plays a central role in the students’ schooling, not in terms of “state-of-the-art” technology, but rather as “state-of-the-actual”, by for example supporting the writing process and for peer support, digital documentation and storage.

Research limitations/implications

A relatively small number of students in three schools and three specific programmes make generalisations difficult.

Practical implications

Students’ perspectives on the “state-of-the-actual” could influence teachers’ use of ICT in education, their professional development activities and the development of an in-school ICT infrastructure.

Social implications

The study could lead to a better understanding of students’ expectations and use of ICT at school and in everyday life.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper is the focus on students’ voices about how the basic use and functionality of ICT could structure and support their everyday activities at school.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

Keywords

Abstract

Details

SDG4 – Quality Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-423-1

Abstract

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 56 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 22 November 2019

Abstract

Details

Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-263-8

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 May 2022

Jouni Hintikka, Kyllikki Taipale-Erävala, Ulla Lehtinen and Leena Eskola

The purpose of the study is to clarify Finnish youth’s attitudes toward entrepreneurship and evaluate both regional and background factors influencing those attitudes.

1611

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to clarify Finnish youth’s attitudes toward entrepreneurship and evaluate both regional and background factors influencing those attitudes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a survey of 1,497 students aged 15 to 24 years and analyzed the data using descriptive statistical analysis.

Findings

The study’s results indicate positive attitudes toward entrepreneurship among the youth. One of the notable findings of the study was the number of students who had already worked as entrepreneurs. The study also revealed background factors that affected entrepreneurial attitudes, such as regional aspects, entrepreneurial background and gender.

Practical implications

The results of this study highlight the importance of regional-level entrepreneurial education activities for increasing the vitality and entrepreneurial intentions within remote areas of Finland. This study suggests to develop new teaching methods to further raise entrepreneurial attitudes and expand gender equal entrepreneurial education programs aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, especially in remote areas.

Originality/value

The study results reveal that the attitudes of young Finnish people toward entrepreneurship seem to be at a more positive levels than indicated by earlier studies. In previous Global Entrepreneurship Monitor studies, researchers evaluated Finnish youth’s attitudes toward entrepreneurship. By contrast, this study’s data was based on the opinions of youth in the region with the youngest population in Finland, and they described the entrepreneurial attitudes of themselves and their peers.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 December 2021

Elisa Tattersall Wallin

This article explores, identifies and conceptualises everyday audiobook reading practices amongst young adults.

3822

Abstract

Purpose

This article explores, identifies and conceptualises everyday audiobook reading practices amongst young adults.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Swedish audiobook users aged 18–19. The material was analysed using qualitative content analysis and focused on their audiobook use during an average weekday, as this was the time that they listened the most. The theoretical framework consists of theories on practice, time and everyday routine.

Findings

Five timespaces emerged when audiobook practices were most prevalent: morning routines, commuting routines, school routines, after school routines and bedtime routines. Within these timespaces, several practices could be identified and conceptualised. Three mobile practices were commute listening, exercise listening and chore listening while more stationary practices were homework listening, schoolwork listening and leisure listening. An unexpected finding was how audiobooks routinely were used to aid respondents’ wellbeing. This wellbeing listening was used to alleviate stress, loneliness and help listeners relax or fall asleep. Furthermore, respondents switch between Music, Audiobooks and Podcasts, which is conceptualised as MAP-switching.

Originality/value

There is a scarcity of research on audiobook use, and this paper contributes with new knowledge on audiobook reading practices, how audiobooks fit into everyday routine and provides concepts to aid further research on audiobook practices.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 78 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 April 2022

Simona Lorena Comi, Mara Grasseni and Federica Origo

The purpose of this paper is to use the two-way fixed effect (TWFE) methodology to estimate the impact of the reform, exploiting its staggered implementation across regions. The…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use the two-way fixed effect (TWFE) methodology to estimate the impact of the reform, exploiting its staggered implementation across regions. The analysis is restricted to graduates from the short vocational track before and after the reform.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper studies the impact on the length of school-to-work transition of a reform that extended from two to three years the short vocational track in Italy in the early 2000s.

Findings

The study finds that the reform had a positive impact and reduced school-to-work transition by around five months (a 24% reduction). Moreover, the new short vocational track proved to be extremely effective for migrants and females, whose school-to-work transition was reduced by 1.4 years and 0.9 years, respectively. In implementing the new short vocational track, some regions adopted a quasi-market organization in which private training institutions competed with public schools. This model proved to be more effective in shortening school-to-work transitions, in particular for migrants.

Originality/value

This study makes an important contribution to the literature on the labor-market effect of vocational education by showing that lengthening the short vocational track, and changing the overall content of curricula, can speed up school-to-work transition.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 43 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 January 2021

Livia Anna Julia Jesacher-Roessler

In the context of professional learning networks (PLNs), there are many studies which address knowledge mobilization (KMb). The majority of these focus on how research is…

Abstract

Purpose

In the context of professional learning networks (PLNs), there are many studies which address knowledge mobilization (KMb). The majority of these focus on how research is mobilized by various actors. This paper explores the concepts of KMb both on an individual and an organizational level and discusses the role of PLN participants and PLNs as catalysts for institutional change (IC). To illustrate this, a model was developed which draws on a concept that depicts the mobilization processes at the various levels.

Design/methodology/approach

The model was developed by drawing on theoretical approaches to both KMb on an individual and an organizational level of schools. The strengths and limitations of the model are then assessed as part of an exploratory study. Interviews of PLN participants (n = 7) from two schools and detailed logbooks of two participants were used to reconstruct experiences of KMb in the PLNs and the process of KMb among schools. By contrasting two schools, the study traces how mechanisms of KMb occurred. Data sources were analyzed using a structured content analysis alongside a deductive–inductive code system.

Findings

The results of the exploratory study show that, although the model is able to map the KMb practices, some refinement is still needed. While the extension of concepts describing the work of knowledge mobilizer (KM) leads to a more theoretically differentiated perspective, the data also showed that PLN participants only partially define themselves as KMs. The connection to concepts of strategies of knowledge mobilizing on an organizational level led to an increased transparency in the theoretical model. The data showed that KMb is influenced by organizational and individual beliefs.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the current knowledge base through a theoretical model that addresses the underinvestigated topic of KMb regarding the link between the individual and organizational levels. With a special focus on individual and organizational levels, a connection between KMb and IC is provided. The theoretical framework and research findings from an additional explorative study can be used to further develop relevant insights into the actions of participants from PLNs that enable IC processes among their schools.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2019

Agneta Ranerup and Helle Zinner Henriksen

Many countries today, especially in Europe, provide publicly funded public services in quasi-markets. As these markets commercialize, agencies of various types are providing…

1436

Abstract

Purpose

Many countries today, especially in Europe, provide publicly funded public services in quasi-markets. As these markets commercialize, agencies of various types are providing technologies that support citizens’ choice of services. Citizens’ use of technologies for service provision is studied as e-government under labels of channel management, e-service uptake or adoption. In contrast, by using actor–network theory (ANT), the purpose of this paper is to focus on the marketing devices that are used to enroll citizens to choose technologies in a context with large penetration of quasi-market arrangements.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a Swedish case study, this paper uses qualitative data from 11 occurrences of technologies to support citizens’ choice (“market devices”) in education, healthcare and public pension in an analysis of the means taken (“marketing devices”) to increase their use. The study formulates a tentative typology of these devices.

Findings

The marketing devices are intended to attract citizens’ attention to the possibility of choice (e.g. catalogs, postcards and commercials), invite interaction (e.g. various social media platforms), improve the technological support in line with user needs (e.g. user participation in development), increase visibility of technological support (e.g. search optimization) or directly connect citizens to technological support (e.g. via links).

Originality/value

The paper contributes to e-government research through a typology of means taken to increase citizens’ technology use based on selected concepts from ANT, and to a discussion of technologies and humans.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

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