Teachers Designing for Digital Multimodal Meaning-Making in the Current Reshaping of the Curriculum

Anna Åkerfeldt, Petra Magnusson, Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi

Research output: Contribution to conferenceOral presentationpeer-review

Abstract

Sweden’s digital strategy for schools was redrawn in 2023 by the government. The government is currently in the process of revising the curriculum for both pre-school and compulsory schools, focusing on facts and subject content and downplaying digitalisation in contrast to the goals set up by the EU Digital Action Plan. In the long run, how does this development influence the possibility of inclusion and equality in our educational system and society as a whole? In our research project, where we collaborate with teachers, different ways to address these issues have occurred, which will be outlined in this presentation. The findings are based on an ongoing research project titled "Teachers' Meta-Knowledge and Assessment Practices in Digital, Multimodal Learning Environments" (2022-2024). The project draws on multimodal social semiotics (Kress, 2010), didactic design theoretical perspective (Åkerfeldt, 2014; Selander, 2022; Sofkova et al., 2016), and design-based research (DBR) (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012). Nineteen teacher teams from two schools participated in a workshop where they utilised a tool provided by the researchers to design their lessons. The tool addressed six areas: 1) content knowledge, 2) skills, 3) timeframe, 4) space, 5) resources, and 6) reflection regarding knowledge and skills. The empirical evidence includes lesson plans, workshops, and focus group interviews with teachers. Findings revealed three key themes: a disparity in focus between content and form, a lack of explicit recognition of students' digital competence, and inadequate framing in the planned teaching with digital learning resources. These findings will be discussed in light of the current reshaping of the curriculum and the impact of social futures.
Åkerfeldt, A. (2014). Didaktisk design med digitala resurser: en studie av kunskapsrepresentationer i en digitaliserad skola [Didactic design with digital resources : A study of representations of knowledge in a digitalised school]. Dissertation. Stockholm: Stockholms universitet.
Anderson, T., & Shattuck, J. (2012). Design-Based Research: A Decade of Progress in Education Research? Educational Researcher, 41(1), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X11428813
Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality: A social semiotic perspective to contemporary communication. Routledge. Selander, S. (2022). Designs in and for learning—a theoretical framework. In L.B.Boistrup & S. Selander (Eds.) , Designs for Research, Teaching and Learning. A framework for future education (pp. 1- 22). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003096498-1
Sofkova Hashemi, S., & Spante, M. (2016). Den didaktiska designens betydelse: IT-didaktiska modeller och ramvillkor. [The significance of didactic design: IT-didactic models and frames]. I Kollaborativ undervisning i digital skolmiljö [In Collaborative teaching in a digital school environment] (pp. 125–135). Gleerups.

Conference

ConferenceDesigns for learning conference 2024, Symposium Teachers as Designers of Social Futures:
Co-developing Teacher Leadership and
Student Agency in Diverse Contexts
Abbreviated titleDFL
Country/TerritorySweden
CityStockholm
Period24-08-2824-08-30
Internet address

Swedish Standard Keywords

  • Educational Sciences (503)

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