Digitalization in Teaching and Learning

Changing school culture calls for digital competence and the development of new pedagogical practices for teachers. The Digitalization in teaching and learning—DigiGo! project (2017-2019) is a common pro-ject amongst the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Education, Centre for Media Pedagogy and Teacher Training School, and the Lapland University of Applied Sciences. During the project a provincial network and activities to support digital learning will be created. Moreover, information and communications technology skills and multi-literacy of teachers and students will be developed.

The purpose of the project is to locate and map requirements for building a provincial coordination unit for local learning centers in Lapland. The unit will be coordinated by the Faculty of Education, University of Lapland in cooperation with the Teacher Training School of the University of Lapland. The focus is on in-vestigating provincial arctic pedagogy and strengthening it in a changing school culture as part of primary education, secondary education and the transition from compulsory school to secondary education. The aim is to find solutions for questions concerning education and enhance educational equality in northern Finland.

Moreover, provincial digital tutor education of teachers and mentor digital tutor education will be piloted. Online teaching and practices will be developed for teaching multi-literacy and media skills in a secondary level. Digital tutors are key persons who mentor other teachers in the network. They will play a crucial role in implementing networked activities and cultural changes within schools in Lapland. The pedagogical purpose of the pilot is to develop and strengthen the information and communication technology skills of teachers. This will offer teachers models for building multidisciplinary learning modules and developing the multi-literacy of students required by the new national core curriculum of basic education. In tutor education, participants familiarize themselves with different technological learning environments and equipment and their pedagogical use and theoretical background, such as play pedagogy, programming logic and robotics.

The project is coordinated by the Faculty of Education, University of Lapland and led by Professor Tuija Turunen. Lapland University of Applied Sciences acts as a partial executor. The project is funded by the European Social Fund. A total of 13 municipalities and primary and upper secondary general schools from all over Lapland are involved in the project.

Hankkeen tuloksena syntyy maakunnallinen yliopiston koordinoima verkosto, jossa jaetaan tietoa, osaamista ja kokemuksia ja luodaan yhdessä pohjoista oppimisen kulttuuria. Verkosto tukee haja-asutusalueiden koulutuksellisten mahdollisuuksien tasa-arvoisen saavutettavuuden lisäksi oppilaiden siirtymiä toisen asteen oppilaitoksiin.