ICT and Pedagogical Development Programme

This is an advanced International Training Programme on ICT and Pedagogical Development designed for educational leaders and managers who aim to take an active role in developing their educational institution.

Background

Sweden is a forerunner in application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education and public use of digital social media, and for Swedish municipalities, schools and institutions of higher education ICT is an important factor in the process of change. Teachers and students use ICT and internet based resources at an extensive degree as support in teaching and learning. The goal is to give everybody in the educational system access to, and knowledge and skills about ICT, in order to make learning more inspiring, enjoyable, and efficient, thus enabling the students to achieve best possible results.

Sweden has become a world leader in sustainable development through a combination of strong government policies, innovative private sector initiatives, and a commitment to environmental and social responsibility. ICT and digital transformation are important factors contributing to a sustainable development in the society.

LIFE Academy is arranging this advanced capacity development programme on ICT and Pedagogical Development based on Swedish as well as international experience and expertise.

Programme Description

Target group: Leaders and managers at teaching and learning institutions, educational developers and providers or similar functions.

This is a high level international capacity development programme for educational leaders and managers who aim to take an active role in developing their educational institution. The programme will provide knowledge and skills about ICT as an instrument to create improvements in administration, leadership, management and pedagogical development in the educational institution. Participants will be equipped with concrete methods and tools for identifying, planning and implementing a Change Initiative in the educational sector.

This exclusive training programme offers a highly collaborative learning environment where participants explore and learn from each other and from leading experts in the field of ICT and pedagogical development. The programme leans on Sweden’s outstanding position in terms of innovation, ICT development and digital transformation of the society taking sustainability aspects into consideration.

The training programme aims to create action oriented, courageous, and competent educational leaders and managers who have been provided with the right tools, knowledge, skills, motivation, and networks to confidently lead improvements and development of their educational institution in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The specific objectives of the programme are to provide the participants with:

• An overview of how ICT can be integrated in educational policies and strategies based on good practices from Sweden and other countries around the world
• Increased knowledge of using ICT as a tool for pedagogical development and to promote quality education
• Increased knowledge of methods and tools for organisational change in general, and in the educational system in particular
• Expanded international, regional and local professional networks for the exchange of knowledge and experience of ICT in education

The Programme in Short

• 3 months in total
• 3 online webinars in the introductory phase
• 1 week programme in Sweden
• 2 online webinars in the final phase
• Comprehensive online reading and video material for self-paced studies

Methodology

The methodology used is based on the assumption that your organisation wishes to carry out changes and is willing to invest own resources to achieve these changes.

The programme builds upon active participation from the participants and the organisations with a strong focus on the sharing of knowledge, practical experience and expertise. Participants are encouraged to continuously relate theoretical and practical knowledge to the opportunities and challenges faced in their own organisations.

The programme employs a mixture of pedagogical methods such as lectures, group work, forum discussions, case studies, study visits and extensive use of ICT to support active learning. The training programme is based on and will be further adjusted to the context in the participants´ own environment and countries.

CHANGE INITIATIVE

The Change Initiative plays an important role in the programme and should address a relevant problem within the scope of the programme. The initiative should be something the participant and his/her organisation want to implement after the end of programme. It could, for example, be a pilot activity regarding the use of ICT as a tool in pedagogical development or formulation of a policy for the use of ICT in education.

The Change Initiative should be planned in line with the Sustainable Development Goals/taking sustainability aspects into consideration. With the help and guidance of experts the participants will create an Action Plan for how to implement the Change Initiative.

Programme Content and Structure

In the introductory phase participants will get an overview of the latest policy landscape; international, regional and national policies and visions for educational systems and lifelong learning. Specific focus will be on the role of ICT in these policies. The participants will make an analysis and compare policies from various countries and organisations at national and local level.

The Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 will be discussed with special attention to Quality Education and Education for All.

The participants will identify their Change Initiative and be introduced to methods and tools for managing change in education, leadership, processes and evaluation.

The introductory phase will provide knowledge of using ICT to promote new pedagogical approaches in the transition from teaching to learning, as well as knowledge about how to use leadership and communication skills to handle change in the organisation. We will discuss change management and what kind of leadership the sustainability transition requires as well as monitoring and evaluation processes.

The programme includes a phase in Sweden where participants will dive deeper into the various aspects of ICT use in education and pedagogical development. It will be an intense week of exclusive visits to educational institutions with practical examples of ICT integration, presentations from leading educational and sustainability experts, collaboration, group work, discussions, and social activities. The week will strengthen networking in the group, deepen learning and expand the opportunity for collaboration with Sweden and Swedish organisations and educational institutions.

Sweden is ranked #1 in the Global Sustainability Rating (2022), #2 in the Global Innovation Index (2023), and #4 in the Global Connectivity Index (2022).

Examples of what the week in Sweden is planned to consist of:

• Introduction to the Swedish Educational System
• Study visits to universities in Stockholm
• Presentations and visit to Active Learning Classrooms
• How to run a mathematics course online with 100 000 students
• Learning analytics and IT usefulness in education
• AI, digital transformation and sustainability
• Video studios, Supervision, the ThesisPro-system & AI-supervisor
• Study visit to a lower level school
• ICT in Kindergarten
• Useful software for teaching, learning, leadership and management
• Groupwork on Change Initiative
• International and comparative education
• Widening participation and inclusive teaching in higher and lower education

The final phase will be a forward looking phase where the focus is on gathering all the knowledge and insights from the introductory phase and the visit in Sweden and using it to create a strategic Action Plan for implementing the Change Initiative in the participants’ organisations. The plan should integrate sustainability aspects and change management.

More presentations, group work and self learning online modules on selected topics, such as:

• Open Educational Resources (OER) and Creative Commons
• Digitalization – needs, opportunities and challenges
• Global Smart Villages in Achieving Sustainable Development – Successful Case Studies.

The final phase will include networking for future interaction and collaboration as well as a programme evaluation and feedback.

“This training programme aims to create action oriented, courageous, and competent educational leaders and managers who have been provided with the right tools, knowledge, skills, motivation, and networks to confidently lead improvements and development of their educational institution in line with the Sustainable Development Goals”

DIPLOMA

Participants who complete the programme will be awarded a diploma. In order to receive a diploma, the following criteria must be met:
a) participation in all phases of the programme,
b) accomplish assignments in due time to the deadlines.

Practical Information

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

The ICT and Pedagogical programme will be organised and conducted in English. Fluency in English is therefore required.

HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

Owing to the fact that the programme consists of international travels and work away from home in a new environment, good health and full working capacity is conditioned.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

In order to participate fully you need internet access and a computer/smart phone. You will be invited to the online learning management system LIFE Network where you will be required to use certain software to access reading material or video lectures, such as a PDF Reader, Microsoft Power Point presentations, Word, Excel, and YouTube. We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser as we have found that this is the best browser for the platform. For our online webinars we will be using Zoom.

COSTS

The programme fee is 3 900 USD per person and covers full programme training, study visits and expert coaching activities as well as study programme literature, video lectures and documentation. During the week in Sweden the following is covered:

• Single room accommodation (7 nights)
• All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning and afternoon coffee/tea)
• Local transportation in Sweden
• Sightseeing, networking events and social and cultural activities

What is not included?

Travel to and from Stockholm, Sweden, visa fee, travel and medical insurance are not included in the programme fee and are expected to be arranged and covered by the participant or their employer at own expense.

We can tailor make a programme specially designed to suit the needs of your organisation and provide a quotation for this. You are welcome to contact us for further information on the programme design and pricing.

VISA

Participants are responsible for obtaining visa if needed for Sweden Week.

INSURANCE

Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel and medical insurance for Sweden Week.

CONTACT

If you want to learn more about the programme you are more than welcome to contact us by email on info@life.se.

Management and Experts in the Programme

The training programme is carried out under the management of LIFE Academy, Karlstad, Sweden. The team of organisers and experts include Swedish and international experts, all with extensive experience within their respective fields.

Quotes from LIFE Academy Alumni