A European and Swedish perspective on ICT – policies and strategies in education. National and institutional pathways: crossings, blind alleys and uphill slopes
Henrik Hansson, Carl Holmberg
This paper aims at answering the following questions:
1. What general goals do politicians in Europe express in national policy documents for the integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in their education systems? To develop that theme further we explored the situation in our own country Sweden as a case. 2. What policies and strategies for ICT in education do leaders of Swedish higher education institutions develop? 3. How do Swedish national priorities and academic institutional interests match?
The globalisation of education forces different value systems to meet. There is on the national level highly different political values on what kind of education system to prefer – the Scandinavian model and the American model are two extremes. There are also very different values inherent in higher education institutions, the academia, - compared with the values and visions held by the political leaders. These value differences between and within countries are elaborated and discussed. A Swedish, Scandinavian and European perspective is adopted, but a wider international outlook is also given. It is suggested that the value conflicts, often not explicit, understood or recognised, are one of the major inhibitors for systemic change. The direction of change cannot be taken for granted – the driving forces pull in opposing directions. Different visions of the future struggle to be fulfilled. Full Text
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