Access to digital technologies largely affects the way we communicate, how society develops knowledge and how people acquire competence. In Norway, it is common for schools to equip each student with an iPad, PC or Chromebook. This gives them access to enormous amounts of information and provides students and teachers with new arenas for learning, interacting, communicating, and documenting.

 

Digital resources can potentially be used to engage students in learning, make teaching and tasks relevant for todays’ society and working life, and adapt learning well to students' needs and academic interests. However, it requires teachers with overview over- and skills to use digital and analogue resources that are appropriate in various learning processes; teachers who can frame students' choices and guide them; teachers who can participate in developing up-to-date knowledge about how to help children and young people steer clear of the many learning and social challenges that are emerging in a digital environment.  Teachers must also know how to teach students to identify credible information, cite sources, protect their own intellectual property, produce their own digital resources etc. They also need to be aware how digitalization impact epistemic practices and ethical values in schools and society.

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In the LUDO project, USN focused on preparing student teachers for these issues. A series of competence and structural measures were implemented to promote both students’ and teacher educators' professional digital competence (PDC). The measures were developed and implemented in close collaboration between the faculty's management, teacher educators from the campuses and the field of practice, students, and stakeholders from Larvik-, Kongsberg-, Notodden-, Porsgrunn- and Drammen municipality. In close collaboration, we responded to the competence needs of future teachers as digitalization radically changes the premises for knowledge work in various ways.

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We still work with this challenge. For instance, the editorial board presented below (gathering a media consultant, a student teacher, two schoolteachers and two educational researchers) engage various stakeholders in sharing experiences, dilemmas, and knowledge of relevance for teacher educations and schools on this webpage.