in Norwegian Education

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Norwegian Education

| The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education

ICT contributes to increased quality, enhanced learning and better learning strategies for pupils, apprentices, students and children in kindergarten.

The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education

• Works for the realization and development of ICT policy in Norway.

• Gathers and develops research about the use of ICT in education and the teaching profession, and makes this available.

• Promotes the development of ICT in the education of teachers.

• Focuses on ensuring the quality of learning- technology solutions and professional service solutions for the education sector, and gives advice on the development of infrastructure for ICT in basic education.

• Analyses and evaluates the educational potential of new technologies and digital media, also in terms of their future potential.

• Gathers information on education and professions and makes this available for support in choosing education and career.

• Strives to enhance the quality of learning technology solutions and professional service solutions for the education sector, and give advice on the development of infrastructure for ICT in primary and secondary education.

• Elaborates on, and ensures the quality of, learning-technology solutions and professional service solutions for the sector and ensures the development of infrastructure for ICT in basic education.

• Follows up the work on a national identity management system for education based on FEIDE – Federated Electronic IDEntity – and participates in the work of identity management in the public sector.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Norwegian Education |

Online guidelines for educators

The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education provides a large number of online guides, reports and fact sheets for use in kindergartens and in the school system by for instance teachers, IT professionals, school administrators and school owners. For example, the Centre gives advice on a wide range of topics related to:• How teachers use blogs or wikis in education.• How schools should organise collaboration

between school and homes.• What criteria schools or the municipality/

county should use when they purchase digital learning resources.

• Safe handling of personal information in school.

• Cloud and external IT services in basic education.

Online services for schools

Utdanning.no is the official Norwegian national education and career portal, and includes an overview of education in Norway and more than 500 career descriptions. Both education and career information have been developed in close collaboration with relevant institutions such as study providers and professional bodies. Utdanning.no also contains interviews with professionals and students, study descriptions and articles that have been designed to help prospec-tive students select courses of study and career.

A virtual mathematics schoolThe Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education has been commissioned by the Education Ministry to plan tests of a virtual mathematics school. The virtual mathematics school is a service and portal that offers lessons, exam practice and other personalised and exciting content for high performing students and high school students who need extra motivation in mathematics.

Dubestemmer.no intends to raise awareness on how to make sensible and safe decisions when using digital media such as internet or mobiles. Children and adolescents discuss issues and solve assignments designed to illustrate the consequences of the actions they take on the web. The teaching plan consists of printed material and the website dubestemmer.no, containing factual information, true life stories, quizzes, film clips and assignments for classes to work through together.

Services

The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education has developed a range of services and products, of which some include:


Delrett.no is a website that provides practical training on copyright for students and educators. Minstemme.no2013 marks the 100th anniversary of universal right to vote in Norway, and 2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution. In relation to these anniversaries, the Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education has been commis-sioned by the Ministry of Education to develop a website aimed at K-13.The website minstemme.no is designed to enhance and expand children’s and adolescents’ knowledge on democracy and democratic institutions and to inspire democratic participation. The content is intended to explain, elaborate and reflect key issues such as equality, justice, human rights and participation. Ovttas.no is a educational portal in three Sami languages and Norwegian that provides a complete and searchable overview of Sami teaching resources. The portal shares images, books, films, audio files and articles on themes related to teaching, and pedagogical tips. It is a resource for kindergarten staff, teachers and others involved in the field of education. Ovttas.no has been developed in cooperation with the Sami Parliament. eTwinning is a living network, a meeting place and a collaboration tool for school projects across national borders in Europe. You can use the network to find partner schools in other countries for collaborative work on large or small projects.

Pupils have the chance to work with languages, natural sciences, culture and other subjects with people of the same age, while teachers have access to fresh inputs and perspectives by working with European colleagues.• A European network community for teachers,

with around 170 000 active participants.• More than 3 200 active collaborative projects

FEIDE is a secure and easy log-in for educators and students, who can use it to access digital learning resources. It is possible to make individual adaptations for each student. As of today, 500 000 pupils and teachers in basic education use FEIDE log-in. One of the centre’s top priorities is the standardisation of learning technologies. Personvernskolen.no is a site designed to help with the interpretation of the Personal Data Act and Regulations. You will find explanations of the Act clauses and questions and answers related to the processing of personal data. The centre operates the site in collaboration with the Centre for Law (SERI).

Services

FITSSpearheads the professionalisation of the ICT workforce in the education marketplace, improves the quality of ICT technical support services through the use of a structured service delivery framework and has a positive impact on teaching and learning experiences and outcomes. IKTplan.no is a web based tool that guides teachers in developing digital literacy among students in education. It also contains a plan for the development of digital skills closely linked with competence goals in the knowledge curricula. The centre supports IKTplan, which is developed by Drammen municipality.

Pedent.no is a digital resource which is made to encourage students in both primary and higher education to use entrepreneurial teaching methods in schools.


Monitor is a Norwegian longitudinal study that charts the digital skills of students in the 7th grade, 9th grade and upper secondary level 2 (Vg2). It covers attitudes to ICT, use of ICT, selection and development of teaching strategies and learning outcomes. The study highlights links between the objectives of “Kunnskapsløftet” (the Knowledge Promotion reform), use of digital tools and learning outcomes for pupils. It also provides added knowledge to teachers, schools, school owners, guardians and authorities regarding the use of ICT and digital teaching resources in schools.

Skolementor.no (School Mentor) is a web based self assessment tool which supports school managers in their work with digital competence. Use of School Mentor helps to strengthen the development plans and strate-gies of the school in meeting demands for digital competence. It has been developed with the aim of ensuring that the school’s investment in ICT, in terms of equipment and the raising of the digital competence level of the staff, is carried out in the context of realistic goals. Larermentor.no (Teacher Mentor)The centre has developed Teacher Mentor in conjunction with the School Mentor, a self assessment tool for teachers which recommends a range of modules tailored to the individual teacher’s knowledge and level based on results.

National assessment tests of digital skillsDigital competence is a fundamental skill that should be integrated in all teaching subjects now. This is the first international, comparative study to measure differences in digital skills and use of digital tools among 8th grade pupils. In addition, it will provide us with knowledge about the contextual differences that exist in education and reveal how such variables may affect the development of digital skills. IEA ICIL 2013During 2013, both the national survey sample of digital skills (four steps) and the comparative international IEA ICIL study (eight steps) are to be implemented, which will help to increase understanding of how digital skills develop in the Norwegian school, and how students in Norwegian schools are positioned in international terms.

Surveys and monitoring

The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education has developed and produced a range of services and products. Some of these are:

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Norwegian Education |

iTEC aims to develop pedagogical scenarios for the classroom of the future. Trials are to be conducted at more than 1 000 pilot schools in selected European countries. The technological components of the scenarios will be made available so teachers can adapt them. The long term benefit will be the development of new and appropriate ways of using technology in Norwegian schools.• Develops pedagogical scenarios• Runs from 2010–2014• Coordinated by European Schoolnet and

partially financed by the EU• Large scale validation through testing in

more than 1 000 pilot schools in selected European countries, including around 100 schools in Norway

Room for LearningThe centre’s headquarters in Tromsø has established a modern learning space. It is an example of design in a learning context with extensive use of ICT. The room is used to test ICT in play, learning and teaching by schools and teacher training programmes in collaboration with the Centre. It also aims to create networks. Its objectives are to develop best practice of ICT in teaching and communication solutions that add value to schools and educators. In 2011–2012 the room was attended by 4 000 participants from the education sector.

Practice BlogRoom for Learning is the learning laboratory for ICT and learning – the physical space is located at our Tromsø office, while the blog can be found at rfl.iktsenteret.no. Here, kindergarten staff, teachers and pupils share their experiences and specific examples of the pedagogical use of ICT. The contributions demonstrate good educational practices related to the use of different digital tools and resources, but also the challenges and barriers to such use. The blog is an important window into the everyday field of practice for the use of ICT in education. Testing of tabletsThe Centre is involved in the testing of tablets at Lower Bekkelaget School. Many schools have started to try out the tablet. There are the many obvious advantages to using tablets: quick start up and closure, longer battery life and light weight compared to PCs. There are several examples of school managers who are considering tablets rather than PCs, to save money and increase mobility, while providing additional educational benefits compared to computers. Framework for basic computer skillsThe basic skills and “basic skills in the use of digital tools” are redefined as “digital skills”. For the first time there is now a formal document that specifies skills at different levels of education.

Testing methods and tools in the classroom

facebook.com/iktsenteret @iktsenteretwww.iktsenteret.no

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Norwegian EducationICT contributes to increased quality, enhanced learning and better learning strategies for pupils, apprentices, students and children in kindergarten.

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