Lennart Karlsson

My research interests essentially follow two main lines. On the one hand, I devote considerable thought to what “digitalisation” actually does to us, both as individuals and as a collective. This is the line of inquiry that I pursue in my dissertation project.

The second line of inquiry is more instrumental and concerns pedagogical questions related to the web, with a particular focus on social media and artificial intelligence, and their potential for online collaborative learning, as well as factors such as asynchronous and synchronous presence. An important question to address is how these factors may influence how teaching can and should be designed to create favourable conditions for learning and development. Much of this relates to the interplay between society, the individual, technology, and learning.

Another significant area of interest concerns questions of learning and knowledge in relation to the digital information society in which we live and operate. Here, my focus lies on issues of literacy and competence in relation to information, information processes, and digital media.

Another significant area of interest concerns questions of learning and knowledge in relation to the digital information society in which we live and operate. Here, my focus lies on issues of literacy and competence in relation to information, information processes, and digital media.

On Digitalisation and Schooling: Understanding • Approaches • Practices

In my dissertation project, which is now entering its final stage, I focus on digitalisation in relation to the Swedish school system under the working title above. At the core lies the question of what digitalisation does to the school, but also the reverse — what the school does to digitalisation. An important consequential question becomes: What is digitalisation? I am also interested in aspects related to how, why, and under what conditions digitalisation takes shape.

My aim is to be able to articulate how policy is produced across different arenas and levels within the Swedish educational system, as well as how digitalisation is understood, constructed, and reconstructed through local cultural productions.

Reviewed conference contributions:

Cooper, Ami & Karlsson, Lennart (2022, Jun 1–3) . Developing a Participatory Methodological Toolbox for the Study of Local Understandings of School Governance, Management and Leadership. Presented at NERA, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Karlsson, Lennart & Enochsson, Ann-Britt (2016, Aug 23–26). Direct Measures of Proficiency within IST – Utilizing a Mobile IRT-Laboratory. Presented at ECER, Dublin, Ireland.

Karlsson, Lennart & Enochsson, Ann-Britt (2015, Sep 8–11). Bring the Backchannel Upfront: Learning Through Open Supportive Environments and Collaborative Artefacts in a Formal Backchannel Focusing Collective Knowledge Transitions. Presented at ECER, Budapest, Hungary.

Karlsson, Lennart & Enochsson, Ann-Britt (2013, Sep 10–13). Upgrading  theclassroom: Bring the backchannel upfront using the cloud.  Presented at ECER, Istanbul, Turkey.