Recently, there have been several calls for critical research concerning the “social consequences of digitalisation”. In this case, education is understood not only as a sector influenced by digitalisation but also as important in preparing citizens for informed, critical, innovative and democratic participation in a digitalised society. From such a perspective, the increased inclusion of digital technologies in education and society at large is understood as both necessary to solve educational problems and as an inevitable transformation that demands critical knowledge building (for overviews, Chen, Zou, Cheng, & Xie, 2020; Selwyn, Hillman, Bergviken Rensfeldt, & Perrotta, 2021; Zawacki-Richter & Latchem, 2018). The Centre acknowledges recent evaluations (e.g., by the Swedish Research Council) identifying the lack of research beyond limited empirical, descriptive and evaluative studies of the integration of IT in education. Therefore, the Centre will have to expand and re-innovate current theorising of IT in education and learning as its primary goal. This includes a specific focus on critical theoretical research, closely connected to the design of digital technologies, and positioned in relation to systems and practices in today’s digital-infused education.
General instructions
(a) All participants - there will be a collective space for note-taking and documentation for the whole symposia. Please use that space.
(b) All participants - please prepare your comments and questions for the panel discussions in Day 1 and Day 2.
(c) Senior researchers not members of the GRADEresearch Consortium board and PhD students (GRADE and UPGRADE) - collect your comments and questions from the keynotes and panel discussions as a preparation for the break-out discussions together with our key-note speakers on Day 3.