This study investigates the question of how Engineering education in the Nordic region responds to the challenge of educating future engineers who are ready for professional practice in a digital world. Particular interest is put on identifying who is responsible for the implementation of digital knowledge and what and how subject content is addressed. Our study draws on Bernstein’s pedagogical device model (Bernstein, B. 2002. “Editorial: Basil Bernstein’s Theory of Social Class, Educational Codes and Social Control.” British Journal of Sociology of Education 23 (4): 525–526). The study focuses on the questions of if/how digital transformation leads to change of engineering education content and/or pedagogical approaches. Narratives of 20 university teachers have been collected and analysed. Findings reveal three areas of consideration; there is a connection between how digital knowledge is valued and how the subject is introduced in engineering education, differences in digital knowledge can be linked to the generation gap and, universities are seldom seen as the driving force for digital innovation. It is concluded that education must reflect on the purpose for which digitalisation takes place, continuous training targeting digital transformation should be offered to senior teachers and, universities need to provide increased focus and dedicated time for educational development.

Teachers' teaching practice plays a key role in the learning process of pupils, and for teaching to be successful, teachers must have knowledge in many different fields. This obviously also applies to teaching the subject technology. However, lower secondary school technology education in Sweden has reportedly been described in terms of teaching not following the curriculum along with widespread uncertainty among teachers regarding how to design their teaching practices. To address this national challenge, we need to understand the existing technology teaching practice. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore the considerations experienced technology teachers make. The study is based on interviews with technology teachers who work in lower secondary school (13--15-year-old pupils). The collected data consist of teacher's statements regarding their own expertise and teaching practice. To visualize the described teaching practice we have analysed collected data through the lens of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The results show both similarities and differences in the teachers' descriptions. Speaking in terms of PCK, the purpose and teaching focus expressed by the respondents, framed within the category `Orientations to teach technology', vary considerably. However, regarding `instructional strategies', the consensus among those experienced teachers is striking. Experienced technology teachers' teaching practices are proven to provide valuable information about the subject's potential, and the findings offer a basis for the future development of the subject of technology as well as future teacher education and professional development courses.

In Sweden, there have been multiple large scale interventions to support compulsory school teachers generally and within specific subjects. Due to the costs associated with such interventions it is critical that interim evaluation measures exist which can indicate potential success. Additionally, evaluation measures which can measure the actual impact of interventions relative to their intended aim are also needed as validation tools. The Swedish regional 'Tekniklyftet' or 'Boost of Technology' project which ran from 2011 to 2013 is presented here as a case study exploring evaluation measures for educational interventions in technology education. Three different evaluation approaches were used as measures of the intended outcomes of the intervention. These included (1) analysing the preconditions which exist in schools for teachers of Technology, (2) analysing the use of local long term technology education planning documents (school work plans) developed during the intervention, and (3) analysing the potential change over time in student performance in Technology based on national grades at the end of compulsory school. The findings gained from each approach indicate that the Boost of Technology project was a success. However, there were shortcomings associated with each approach. They are therefore discussed in the Swedish context with the intention to support future international stakeholders in the evaluation of interventions aspiring to develop technology education.

Computing and computers are introduced in school as important examples of technology, sometimes as a subject matter of their own, and sometimes they are used as tools for other subjects. All in all, one might even say that learning about computing and computers is part of learning about technology. Lately, many countries have implemented programming in their curricula as a means to address society’s dependence on, and need for programming knowledge and code. Programming is a fairly new school subject without educational traditions and, due to the rapid technological development, in constant change. This means that most programming teachers must decide for themselves what and how to teach. In this study, programming teachers’ teaching is studied. With the aim of exploring the connection/possible gap between teacher’s intentions and the teacher’s instructional practice, an expansion of the conceptual apparatus of phenomenography and variation theory is tested. In the article, phenomenography and variation theory and the suggested supplementary theoretical tool (Georg Henrik von Wright’s model of logic of events) are briefly presented and then deployed upon one selected case. Findings reveal that teachers’ intentions (reflected in their actions) include an emphasis (of teachers’ side) on the importance of balancing theory and practice, using different learning strategies, encouraging learning by trial-and-error and fostering collaboration between students for a deeper understanding of concepts. In conclusion, logic of events interpretations proves to be useful as a complementary tool to the conceptual apparatus of phenomenography.

This paper engages with how students use multimodality on mobile devices as support for school assignments. The broader aim of this pilot study is to explore understanding of teachers' and students' expressed experiences of students' multimodal mobile use. Focus group interviews and multimodal analysis have allowed investigation of the following research questions: - What experiences do teachers and students express from students' multimodal mobile use related to school assignments? - Which advantages and disadvantages have teachers and students expressed concerning students' multimodal mobile use as support for school assignments? The results show that students and teachers have many different experiences of students' multimodal mobile use related to school assignments. However, the use is limited in several ways. To a large extent teachers and students have expressed that multimodal mobile resources can be used advantageously by students to support school assignments for several purposes. Among disadvantages identified mobile device multimodality in some respects can be disruptive. The result also indicates that different multimodal mobile media have specific possibilities for supporting students' learning as it is related to school assignments.

Transparency regarding criteria for success in assessment processes is challenging for most teachers. The context of this study is primary school technology education. With the purpose to establish what criteria for success teachers put forward during the act of assessment, think-aloud protocols were collected from five primary teachers during an assessment act. Results are based on content analysis of think-aloud protocols and quantitative measures of reliability in order to ascertain teachers’ motives for decision-making when assessing Year 5 pupils’ multimodal e-portfolios.

Findings show consensus among these teachers, focusing on the execution of the task in relation to the whole, rather than to particular pieces of student work. The results confirm the importance of task design, where active learning in combination with active tutoring is an integral part, including provision of time and space for pupils to finish their work.

This paper engages with how students use multimodality on mobile devices as support for school assignments. The broader aim of this pilot study is to explore understanding of teachers’ and students’ expressed experiences of students’ multimodal mobile use. Focus group interviews and multimodal analysis have allowed investigation of the following research questions: - What experiences do teachers and students express from students’ multimodal mobile use related to school assignments? - Which advantages and disadvantages have teachers and students expressed concerning students’ multimodal mobile use as support for school assignments? The results show that students and teachers have many different experiences of students’ multimodal mobile use related to school assignments. However, the use is limited in several ways. To a large extent teachers and students have expressed that multimodal mobile resources can be used advantageously by students to support school assignments for several purposes. Among disadvantages identified mobile device multimodality in some respects can be disruptive. The result also indicates that different multimodal mobile media have specific possibilities for supporting students’ learning as it is related to school assignments.