Responsible digitalisation

Technological innovations pose complex questions about rapid changes in knowledge, learning, and skills. Within the field of Innovative Learning, the research program Responsible Digitalisation (ReDigital) addresses new perspectives on what education is, can be, and how it can support ongoing transformations.

The EU has set ambitious goals: by 2030, 80% of all citizens should have basic digital skills, including safe and creative ways to create, collaborate, and communicate. Additionally, 20 million people should have advanced digital expertise. Achieving these goals requires extensive and versatile efforts. The research program Responsible Digitalization tackles these challenges by exploring how we can navigate societal and digital transformations through innovative technical, theoretical, and methodological approaches.

One of the most pressing challenges of society's digitalization is the high energy and resource consumption that comes with advanced technology. The program therefore prioritizes research on sustainable and responsible innovations. The goal is not only to meet the future needs of digitalization and education but also to propose both innovative and ethically grounded ways to achieve this. By addressing these challenges, the Responsible Digitalization research program aims to create a more sustainable digital future where creativity and integrity can go hand in hand.

Overall research questions

  • How can future skills be achieved in an innovative, responsible, and sustainable manner for individuals, groups, and society?
  • How can unintended consequences of minor and major technological innovations be taken into account in the organization and development of education?

These questions highlight societal challenges within a dynamic field for various research disciplines such as educational science, social work, pedagogy, didactics and subject didactics, business administration, health science, media and communication studies, and computer science. The Responsible Digitalization research program therefore builds interdisciplinary collaborations relevant at regional, national, and international levels.

Research project

Responsible digitalisation involves collaboration as well as several of the University of Gävle's research groups, such as IT in Learning and Governance and Technologies of Education (GATE). Here is a selection of research projects within the programme.

The project aims, among other things, to develop the ability of small and medium-sized enterprises to function as learning organizations with their own capacity for sustainable digital transformation in Region Gävleborg.

More information about STRIM

With a focus on educational research, the project aims to develop, test and evaluate methods for professional conversation training using Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI-controlled avatars act as interactive interlocutors in sensitive topics, giving students the opportunity to practice leading and analyzing conversations in their professional practice.

We collaborate with the company Fictive Reality, with whom we develop our own cases for conversation training that train important skills as an integral part of teaching in some of the University's programs for student teachers and social work students.

The main questions of the project revolve around what professional digital competence means in pedagogical work with children. How do newly qualified teachers develop their professional digital competence? How does professional digital competence contribute to children's learning and development?

Preschool is key to Sweden's ambition to be a world leader in harnessing the opportunities of digital technology. Today, however, there is no definition of what professional digital competence is or can be. The project examines professional digital competence in both preschool and early primary school.

How can the practicum component of teacher education be facilitated by digital technology? The research investigates an application for multimodal documentation and reflection that students, practicing teachers and teacher educators can use for the clinical placement. Longitudinal tripartite conversations are conducted where all actors' perspectives, professional understanding and professional language can be expressed and studied.

Doctoral research projects

  • Amelie Elm, PhD student in UPGRADE. Digital systems in preschools’ quality work.
  • Linus Ellström, PhD student in STRIM. The learning processes of organizations undergoing digital transformation.

Exploratory Learning Lab - lab for collaboration

The Exploratory Learning Lab at the University of Gävle serves as a central hub for the Responsible Digitalization research program. The lab offers an innovative environment with a focus on game-based learning and welcomes school classes, work groups, community actors and other interested visitors for collaboration and development.

More information about the Exploratory Learning Lab

Publications

Here you can find a selection of publications from the researchers working on Responsible Digitalization

Masoumi, D., & Bourbour, M. (2024). Framing adequate digital competence in early childhood education. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12646-7 External link.

Mörtsell, S. (2024). Mutual capabilities: Digital platforms in unpredictable pedagogical encounters. Pedagogy, Culture & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2024.2382893 External link.

Elm, A., Bergström, P., & Pettersson, D. (2024). The introduction of a software application intended for quality work in four Swedish preschools. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-12803-y External link.

Mozelius, P. & Humble, N. (2023). Educational Game Design for Girls and Boys. European Alliance for Innovation (EAI), Endorsed Transactions on Creative Technologies, 10, (1-10). https://doi.org/10.4108/eetct.4043 External link.

Humble, N. & Mozelius, P. (2022). The threat, hype, and promise of artificial intelligence in education. Springer, Discover Artificial Intelligence, 2 (1), 10.1007/s44163-022-00039-z External link.

Kontakt

Sara Mörtsell, profilbild

Sara Mörtsell

Lecturer, PhD in Education

Contact Sara Mörtsell for questions about the research program or read more about her research and see her publications in the research presentation.

Davoud Masoumi, profilbild

Davoud Masoumi

Associate professor and excellent teacher

Please contact Davoud Masoumi for questions about the research program or read more about his research and see his publications in the research presentation.

Graduate schools and GRADEresearch consortium

Responsible digitalization (ReDigital) collaborates with the GRADEresearch consortium, a network of nine universities organizing three national graduate schools.

  • The Graduate School for Digital Technologies in Education (GRADE)
  • Teacher Education and the Digitalization of the School System (UPGRADE)
  • The Graduate School for Learning, Interaction and Knowledge in a Digitised World (LIKED)

More information about GRADEresearch and the graduate schools External link.

This page was last updated 2025-01-31