Last Tuesday the Focus Group “Technological Visions of the Future” was held in Viladecans. As part of LEA project, the main goal of this session was envisioning Public Demand LEARNTECH in year 2030 as well as contributing to the elaboration of the LEA ROADMAP 2030 document.
LEA (Learning Technology Accelerator) project is a European project within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme. It seeks to serve as an accelerator of learning technology while fostering innovative public procurement practices. The project project is made up of 3 universities, 7 procurers from 6 EU countries (Halmstad, Sweden; Region of Gothenburg, Sweden; Konnevesi, Finland; Region of Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; Turin, Italy; Braga, Portugal and Viladecans), and 6 supporting entities.
WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THE FOCUS GROUP?
By autumn 2019 each LEA procurer is required to hold one focus group discussion in their respective countries which should consist of 5 to 10 participants from the following groups: teachers, ICT personnel, principals, technology teachers/staff, students, education policy makers and procurers. In Viladecans the group was formed by three teachers and three principals, a representative from the Education Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya and two representatives from the city council.
ENVISIONING PUBLIC DEMAND IN LEARNTECH 2030
The strength of a Focus Group Discussion relies on allowing the participants to agree or disagree with each other so that it provides an insight into how a group thinks about an issue, about the range of opinions and ideas, and the inconsistencies and variation that exists in a particular community in terms of beliefs and their experiences and practices. After watching an inspirational video, participants -in groups according to their roles- had to discuss and present their positions in relation to 3 key questions:
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What are your technological visions for the school in 2030?
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What are the main challenges you want to take on/solve until 2030?
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What are your goals for schools in 2030?
Participants in Viladecans Focus Group discussed on future (and still distant) learntech but also other learntech that can be available in schools soon, that is, introducing existing technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence or Virtual Reality, into the learning methodologies. Several challenges were also pointed out, apart from the lack of economic resources and teacher training and devices obsolescence, Viladecans Focus Group pointed out the need develop some digital ethics, for students (to know how to use technology properly), for teachers, but also for all those (private) entities that might possess students’ learning data.
The seven LEA Focus Group Discussions, that apart from Viladecans, will also be organised in Sweden (2), Finland, Germany, Italy and Portugal, will help to gather the insights and opinions of stakeholders on the demand side of learning technologies (teachers, ICT personnel, principals, technology teachers/staff, students, education policy makers and procurers) and produce a document at EU level on demand recommendations within Learning technology.
