The Norwegian Education Mirror 2022

Increased turnover of digital teaching aids

Even though surveys show that school leaders believe that their digital infrastructure is good, and that the quality of pupils' devices is high (Bergene et al. 2022), we know little about the actual use of digital teaching aids and tools during teaching. Industry statistics can still tell us something about the scope of digital teaching aids in schools. The Norwegian Publishers' Association publishes sales figures for its members, who make up some of the players on the market for teaching aids.

The Norwegian Publishers' Association overview of sales of teaching aids shows that digital teaching aids made up a little over 40 per cent of turnover in primary and lower secondary schools in 2021 (The Norwegian Publishers' Association 2022). Turnover of digital teaching aids has increased over the past 5 years. However, the turnover of printed teaching aids also increased significantly in 2021, which is related to the transition to the new curriculum.

For upper secondary schools, the turnover of digital teaching aids made up 16 per cent in 2021. This figure, relatively low when compared with primary and lower secondary schools, can be partly explained by the fact that the Norwegian Digital Learning Arena (NDLA) provides open teaching resources for upper secondary school education.

The turnover figures show that nearly half of the digital teaching aids for Years 1-7 are interdisciplinary products which cover more than one subject (The Norwegian Publishers' Association 2022). For Years 8-10, a quarter of the digital teaching aids that were sold in 2021 were interdisciplinary. Even though the figures show a significant turnover of these interdisciplinary solutions, they say little about the actual use of digital teaching aids in schools.

A combination of printed and digital teaching aids is common

Schools normally use both digital and printed teaching aids. When asked what resources are used during teaching, nearly all school leaders state that digital teaching aids (98 per cent) and printed teaching aids (93 per cent) are used in their schools (Bergene et al. 2021). 88 per cent of school leaders say that digital tools are used during teaching, and 52 per cent say that they use digital teaching resources which are not developed for use while teaching.

School leaders (N = 487). Source: Bergene et al. 2021.

National contributions for the development and purchasing of digital teaching aids

In the government's digitalisation strategy for primary and secondary education 2017–2021, one of the sub-goals states that "there must be a rich supply of digital teaching aids that can be adapted to the needs of the individual pupil" (Ministry of Education and Research, 2017, p. 16).

The grant scheme for the purchase of digital teaching aids is a measure initiated by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training to achieve the goal of a rich supply of digital teaching aids that can be adapted to various needs in training. In 2021, the municipalities received NOK 50 million for the purchase of digital teaching aids, and in 2022 this figure was NOK 60 million (the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2022a). This is in addition to the NOK 100 million that was given to the municipalities by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training in 2021 for the purchase of new teaching aids for curriculum renewal (the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2022b).

Over half of schools have mainly purchased new digital teaching aids for the National Curriculum 2020

The type of teaching aids purchased by schools in connection with the introduction of the National Curriculum 2020 varies between different grades (Bergene et al. 2021). Among primary and lower secondary school leaders, 4 in 10 say that they have purchased some printed teaching aids, but mostly digital teaching aids. In upper secondary school, most school leaders say that they have purchased some digital teaching aids, but mostly printed.

In lower secondary school, more than a third of school leaders say that only digital teaching aids have been purchased. Based on the turnover figures and the information from school leaders, it may appear that lower secondary schools mostly invest in digital teaching aids, while upper secondary schools purchase paper-based teaching aids at a significantly higher rate. The low purchase figures for digital teaching aids in upper secondary schools should be seen in the light of NDLA's open teaching resources.

School leaders (N = 386). Source: Bergene et al. 2021

Teachers have a great deal of influence on which teaching aids are purchased

The choice of teaching aids is mainly made on the basis of input from the teaching team and collective processes initiated by school leaders in individual schools (Bergene et al. 2021). In larger municipalities, teaching aids are chosen on the basis of input from individual teachers to a lesser extent than in smaller municipalities.

*The collective processes initiated by the school owner are involving the teachers.

 School leaders (N = 487). Source: Bergene et al. 2021

Increased number of logins through Feide

Digital solutions can provide us with information about pupils' regular school days. One way to measure how much pupils use their digital devices is to examine logins through the Feide system. According to Feide, there are 280 different services, teaching aids and products that can be used as part of teaching. Due to competition in the market, Feide does not publish specific logins with various suppliers.

As of 1st October 2022, 105 million Feide logins by pupils and teachers in primary education have been registered. This is as many logins as on the same date in 2021. This number of logins has increased since 2017, especially from 2019 to 2020. This increased use of digital teaching resources must naturally be examined through the lens of schools closing in March 2020. The increase is also related with the introduction of the new National Curriculum, as well as the fact that more pupils have been given their own digital device for school work.