ICT in Schools – What can we learn from the Finnish experience? The goal of this session is to learn from the Finnish Experience…

During the period of there has been major investments in ICT in comprehensive schools and there are a number of interesting “showcase”-projects introduced during this period. However, Minister of Education has recently, summarised this period by saying that

”The international comparisons concerning the educational use of ICT show that Finland, which has earlier been one of the top countries in this field, has now fallen to a mediocre position in Europe and is the last one within the Nordic countries.” – Henna Virkkunen, – The Minister of Education and Science

While analysing the situation the expert group of the ministry identified several bottlenecks. They are listed here together with the corresponding goal statements printed at the beginning of the period.

1999 “The Finnish solution to raising the level of knowledge is the wide application of information and communication technologies in education and research. This not only means the integration of technology with traditional modes of operation but also the establishment of an entirely new operational culture. A key factor is the implementation of new, interactive teaching and study methods.” (1)

2010 Lots of resources have been allocated for computer devices and broadband connections in the Finnish schools. Schools have not, however, changed their teaching methods and adopted ICT in educational use in any larger extent. (3)

1999 Cooperation between experts in education, administration, and technology will be intensified in all educational establishments. They will evaluate their present curricula and draft a strategy for the use of information and communication technologies in education by (1)

2010 Headmasters and other decision makers do not in large extent set a high priority on the development of the use of ICT as an administrative tool or in teaching. (3)

1999 Units providing teacher education will systematically develop strategies for the educational use of information and communication technologies. The training of trainers in the educational use of information and communication technologies will be increased. (1)

2010 The level of skills future teachers attain during their studies varies greatly between universities and the objectives of a number of universities are lacking in this domain. Students of the teacher training units do not have daily access to the technological infrastructure of the training units. (3)

1999 Learning environments will be developed increasingly towards a functional learner network and self-directed learner groups. Thus learners form a network of experts whose objective is to utilise distributed information in learning. From the point of view of educational planning this means the development of new student-oriented network-based steering and evaluation systems and networking skills. (1)

2010 Research on the media culture of the schools shows that differences between schools in the everyday use of ICT are large. The autonomy of the teachers does not necessarily lead to wide use of new technology. (3)

1999 The target of the development of the infrastructure is that the ICT devices, software and communication networks are both quantitatively and qualitatively at adequate level and enough technical and pedagogic support is available. (2)

2010 The flexible use of ICT systems in education is challenging. (3) Sources: Education, Training and Research in the Information Society: A National strategy for Education, Training and Research in the Information Society: A National strategy for (Project Plans) en.pdf (2010) en.pdf

What was done? Major projects Ope.fi Virtual School Investment Support Edu.fi Leading by information

Ope.fi – Teacher training Ope.fi I - The first phase covered the basic mastery of ICT-tools (word processing, , web-browsers) Ope.fi II - The second phase covered the pedagogical and technical level needed by the schools and networks of schools. Deepening and diversification of pedagogical use.

Ope.fi – Teacher training Ope.fi III In the advanced level (phase III) the in-service training facilitated the revision of development strategies and curricula in the educational establishment. Source: oc/infonational2004.pdf oc/infonational2004.pdf

Ope.fi resources by NBE EurosParticipants Cost/Participant Ope.fi I-III € Ope.fi II-III € Ope.fi II-III €

The virtual school portal “The Virtual School project is part of the national Information Society Programme. The Virtual School project was launched in 1999 with the aim to develop the flexibility and diversity of the Finnish school system making use of information and communications technologies (ICT). “

The virtual school portal… ”A channel to disseminate best practices and offers information about study opportunities and learning materials. The Virtual School portal is part of the online Edu.fi service maintained by the Finnish National Board of Education.” Ella Kiesi, Marianna Nieminen, Anja Balanskat

Development projects “ As well as producing the portal, the Virtual School project consists of several extensive development projects carried out in co-operation between education authorities, education providers and schools in order to develop and produce study modules, support services and learning materials. These projects also aim to find solutions to problems arising from new forms of study and to embed new methods as part of school practices.” ibid.

2000 (€)2001 (€)2002 (€)2003 (€)2004 (€) Compulsory education Special needs education Swedish language projects Sum Government support for the Virtual School Project

Just Trying To Understand… (1) Developing the Finnish schools Global Education Reform Movement Focus on knowledge and learning Focus on effective teaching Flexible and versatile teaching Standardised teaching and learning Curriculum - local solutions to national goals Curriclulum - centrally prescribed Focus on Broad and Deep LearningFocus on Literacy and Numeracy Responsibility and professional ethicsTest-based Accountability Trust and supportStrict control of teachers and schools Source: Sahlberg, Pasi, 2009 Sahlberg, P. 2009

Just Trying To Understand… (2) “The teacher in a classroom is like the captain on a ship or God in heaven. In general his or her independence is not challenged by the headmaster.” Opettaja (Teacher), The Journal of Trade Union of Education in Finland

Just Trying To Understand… (3)

Just Trying To Understand… (4) How do you get someone who is an expert in his or her job to adopt new ways of doing things? By offering convincing argumets for new approaches By demonstrating working solutions with proper pain/gain -ratio

Just Trying To Understand… (5) By showing that someone is supporting these new ways of doing things so that it is worthwhile to invest time in them. By offering training opportunities so that the experts can reach their ”comfortability zone” for working with the new methods.

Just Trying To Understand… (6) Failing to separate DESIRABILITY / FEASIBILITY / VIABILITY Desirable – something that is desirable has qualities that make you want it, used for saying that you would like something to happen Feasible – the quality of being doable, possible or likely to succeed Viable – capable of being done in a practical and useful way, likely to become part of a sustainable practice