Subject-specific perspectives on teaching qualities in Nordic connected classrooms

Digitalization of education is a multifaceted process that affects infrastructures of teaching, use of learning material and terms for classroom interaction. Not least, there seems to be differences in how digital technology comes into play in different school subjects. The aim of this presentation, based on a longitudinal video-ethnographic study in four Nordic countries in Connected Classroom Nordic project, is to compare subject specific dimensions of teaching quality in digitally rich lower secondary classrooms in the Nordic countries. Theoretically the study departs from a media-ecology approach, and on the distinction made by Fenstermacher and Richardson (2005) that teaching qualities consist of both successful teaching in terms of student outcome and of value-based arguments for what is good teaching from logic, psychological and moral standpoints. With such an approach we are interested in identifying aspects of teaching qualities, in a plural sense, as teachers and students navigate and make use of digital technology in everyday classroom interactions. The analyses in this study build on data from a video ethnographic study in four lower secondary schools in different Nordic countries. Based on data from 78 lessons in L1, mathematics and social studies, teacher profiles were constructed to make visible how different teachers made use of digital technology in their teaching including implicit and explicit gains and challenges in the teaching. As a next step, all teaching profiles from respective subjects were analyzed in order to distinguish how digital technology seemed to afford and constrain different aspects of subject content, literacy practices, possibilities for student engagement and conditions for equity in each subject. Preliminary findings from the on-going analysis indicate some subject specific differences concerning how content is recontextualized, visual aspects of representation of and engagement with content, literacy practices in different subjects and conditions for student participation and equity between students.