Ola J. Lindberg, Anders D. Olofsson and Göran Fransson
The purpose of this paper is to examine Swedish upper secondary school teachers’ and students’ views and use of ICT in education.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine Swedish upper secondary school teachers’ and students’ views and use of ICT in education.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 25 individual teachers and 39 students in small focus groups were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis was performed using NVivo11. The analysis was conducted in three steps: with each individual teacher, the student groups and the cohort of teachers and students. A comparative analysis was also conducted.
Findings
The teachers’ views and use of ICT are diverse. Teachers and students identify similar challenges when using ICT in education, e.g. time and subject, the shortcomings of a school’s learning management system (LMS) and teachers’ digital competence. Students report an extensive out-of-school use of smartphones and an extensive in-school use of laptops and LMS.
Research limitations/implications
The relatively small number of teachers and students in three schools make generalisations difficult. The examination of teachers’ and students’ views and use in the same context reveals new knowledge.
Practical implications
The study may influence teachers’ use of ICT in education, based on a better understanding of students’ use.
Social implications
The study may lead to a better understanding of teachers’ and students’ different perspectives and a more enhanced and sustainable in-school use of ICT.
Originality/value
The originality is that teachers’ and students’ views and use of ICT in education are examined at the same time. The paper contributes new knowledge about how teachers and students conceptualise and use ICT in upper secondary school practices.
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Anders D. Olofsson, Ola J. Lindberg and Göran Fransson
The purpose of this paper is to explore upper secondary school students’ voices on how information and communication technology (ICT) could structure and support their everyday…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore upper secondary school students’ voices on how information and communication technology (ICT) could structure and support their everyday activities and time at school.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 11 group interviews were conducted with a total of 46 students from three upper secondary schools. NVivo PRO 11 was used for a qualitative content analysis.
Findings
The results show that ICT plays a central role in the students’ schooling, not in terms of “state-of-the-art” technology, but rather as “state-of-the-actual”, by for example supporting the writing process and for peer support, digital documentation and storage.
Research limitations/implications
A relatively small number of students in three schools and three specific programmes make generalisations difficult.
Practical implications
Students’ perspectives on the “state-of-the-actual” could influence teachers’ use of ICT in education, their professional development activities and the development of an in-school ICT infrastructure.
Social implications
The study could lead to a better understanding of students’ expectations and use of ICT at school and in everyday life.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper is the focus on students’ voices about how the basic use and functionality of ICT could structure and support their everyday activities at school.
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Anders D. Olofsson, J. Ola Lindberg and Trond Eiliv Hauge
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of blogs as part of a formative assessment practice, to report how reflective peer‐to‐peer learning can be designed and provided in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of blogs as part of a formative assessment practice, to report how reflective peer‐to‐peer learning can be designed and provided in online higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
The research relies on a qualitative approach. The empirical setting comprised an online higher education course in which 23 students were enrolled. All students wrote individual blogs, and the analysis was done using all postings and comments from the blogs. For the analysis the ICE (Ideas, Connections, and Extension) three level classification model was used.
Findings
The designed blog exercise turned into an informal and formative type of assessment that scaffolds the students' learning, providing a reflective peer‐to‐peer technology‐enhanced learning design.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to one online higher education course. Additional research on educational technology and e‐assessment is needed. In particular, research on the informed design of technology‐enhanced learning practices characterized by formative e‐assessment and the role of the designed use of blogs in the facilitating and enhancement of the students' peer‐to‐peer learning.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates that the design and use of blogs embrace a formative assessment approach that cultivates the students' reflective peer‐to‐peer learning.
Originality/value
The paper provides insight into the designed use of blogs in online higher education together with the potential in formative assessment for learning. The ICE three‐level classification model provides a dynamic possibility to analyze online higher educational practices.
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Anders D. Olofsson, J. Ola Lindberg and Ulf Stödberg
The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of students' meaning‐making processes, as they are part of an e‐assessment practice via written blog posting upon their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of students' meaning‐making processes, as they are part of an e‐assessment practice via written blog posting upon their own, and their co‐students' performances, presented online through shared video media.
Design/methodology/approach
The research relies on qualitative data to provide an analysis of students' use of the educational technology tool called VoiceThread©. These data were provided by collecting Swedish higher education students' postings and comments in relation to two video clips published in VoiceThread. The formal learning sequence model by Selander together with theories on communication and reflection were used in the analysis.
Findings
The data and the analysis show that shared video media and blogging embrace a potential to facilitate communication and reflection among online higher education students. In addition, the design of the course seems to strengthen the use of formative e‐assessment.
Research limitations/implications
The research reported on in this paper should, preferably, be followed by additional research on educational technology, social software and e‐assessment; informed design of practices of formative e‐assessment; and the role of formative e‐assessment in the facilitating and enhancement of the students' learning and meaning‐making processes.
Practical implications
This paper provides researched‐based ideas of ways in which teachers in online higher education can design their courses, if they want to cultivate the students' communicative and reflective skills.
Originality/value
This paper provides an important insight into the use of shared video media and blogging in online higher education, especially, the way it can be designed for within a formative e‐assessment course approach.
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Anders D. Olofsson and J. Ola Lindberg
With a philosophical stance in relation to education, this paper aims to discuss different understandings of participation in an information and communication technology…
Abstract
Purpose
With a philosophical stance in relation to education, this paper aims to discuss different understandings of participation in an information and communication technology (ICT)‐supported distance‐based teacher education program in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on early results from two studies, both of which involved a group of teacher‐trainees, with one interview and one questionnaire.
Findings
The findings indicate that there is a need to be explicit about the ontological assumptions inherent in the intended use of ICT. The conclusion is that the program in question is built on assumptions of realism and that ICT lays the ground for individual participation and works to tell the students apart.
Originality/value
Helps in understanding how ICT, and its use, can have different effects on different groups.
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Anders Segerstedt and Thomas Olofsson
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue about the construction industry and the management of its supply chains. It aims to discuss and point to some differences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a special issue about the construction industry and the management of its supply chains. It aims to discuss and point to some differences and possible similarities with traditional manufacturing and its supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is mostly a literature review and contains official statistics.
Findings
The market of the construction company is mostly local and highly volatile. The long durability of the construction “product” contributes to the volatility. The product specification process before the customer order arrives shows different degrees of specifications: engineer to order, modify to order, configure to order, select a variant. (The common make‐to‐stock in traditional manufacturing does not exist.) A construction company only executes a small part of the project by its own personnel and capacity. This is a way of risk spreading and risk mitigation and to compensate for an unstable market. If a construction company wants to establish a new concept, from “engineer to order” to e.g. “configure to order”, it must be engaged earlier in the business process and with other than usual customers, which might complicate the process.
Research limitations/implications
Experiences from Sweden and Swedish developments are the main source of information.
Originality/value
The paper introduces the articles that are a source of scientifically generated knowledge regarding various problems and opportunities associated with supply chain management in the project‐based construction industry.
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Anders Nelson, Andreas Ivarsson and Marie Lydell
This study aims to explore a specific case of the alleged mismatch between higher education and employability by investigating long-term work life outcomes for graduates from a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore a specific case of the alleged mismatch between higher education and employability by investigating long-term work life outcomes for graduates from a small university college in Sweden, and the associations between these outcomes and the graduates’ social background, academic achievements and study approach in terms of labour market orientation and agency in studying.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on longitudinal data from initially 2,072 students from bachelor’s degree programmes in 2007–2012. They were surveyed continuously throughout the programmes and then in 2020. Classification and regression tree (CRT) analyses were conducted to identify which subgroups within the population based on the independent variables (e.g. students’ background and study orientation) that were associated with the dependent variables (work life outcomes).
Findings
Neither graduates’ social background nor their academic achievement and study approach was associated with employment rate or income. Some dimensions of high labour market orientation and agency in studying were positively associated with holding a senior position at work. Several aspects of high levels of agency and labour market orientation were positively associated with subjective work life outcomes, such as for example perceived mastery of work.
Originality/value
This study contributes to further understanding of alleged mismatches between higher education and employability by using longitudinal data from a university college in a country with low graduate unemployment rates and low earnings dispersions.
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Improving construction supply chain collaboration and performance is central for achieving short‐term business objectives as well as long‐term competitive advantage. Lean thinking…
Abstract
Purpose
Improving construction supply chain collaboration and performance is central for achieving short‐term business objectives as well as long‐term competitive advantage. Lean thinking is an approach that has been adopted in many different industrial settings as a means for improving supply chain performance. In the project‐based construction industry, lean thinking has, however, not yet been widely adopted. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of how various aspects of lean thinking can be implemented in a construction project and how they affect supply chain actors and their performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Action research was performed in a case study of a lean construction pilot project. Empirical data were collected through three surveys and follow‐up workshops, document studies, and interviews of 12 project participants.
Findings
The findings show that many of the lean‐related aspects identified in the literature review were utilized in the pilot project. These aspects have mostly focused on increasing the cooperation among supply chain actors, for which reason the pilot project is very similar to a partnering project. Hence, much work remains in order to obtain full‐fledged lean construction, but the pilot project may serve as a starting point for continuous improvements and development of lean construction in future projects.
Research limitations/implications
The research results are based on one empirical case study for which reasonable generalisations could be made, albeit cautiously.
Practical implications
The frame of reference can serve as an illustration of important aspects and core elements of lean construction and the case study findings show how various lean related aspects can be implemented and how they affect supply chain actors and their performance in a construction project context.
Originality/value
The action research approach based on both qualitative and quantitative data collection in a lean construction pilot project provides a valuable opportunity to study both the process of implementing lean construction and its outcomes.
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Anders Nordvall and Tobias Heldt
Hallmark events can be very beneficial for host communities, not least due to their potential in attracting tourists. The Peace & Love music festival was the hallmark event of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Hallmark events can be very beneficial for host communities, not least due to their potential in attracting tourists. The Peace & Love music festival was the hallmark event of the Swedish city Borlänge. In 2013, the event organization declared bankruptcy and canceled the forthcoming festival. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the factors that caused the failure of the 2013 Peace & Love festival.
Design/methodology/approach
The case of the Peace & Love festival is analyzed using three data sources: interviews with the former members of the event organization; secondary data describing the Swedish festival industry; and festival visitors’ perspectives represented by comments on social media. An organizational ecology perspective frames the analysis.
Findings
The results of the study reveal that the failure of the event can be understood by a combination of three components: an organization in a vulnerable position, a strong new competitor entering the Swedish festival market, and uncertain visitors searching for the new place to be.
Originality/value
Very few studies have researched event failure, although the subject is a recommended priority within the field of festival studies. This study presents a thorough examination of a hallmark event failure, which contributes to this area of knowledge and provides relevant information for organizations and host cities.
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Pierre Hadaya and Robert Pellerin
The purpose of this paper is to measure the influence of two categories of determinants – those tied to the characteristics of the organization and those tied to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the influence of two categories of determinants – those tied to the characteristics of the organization and those tied to the characteristics of its supply chain relationships – on construction firms' use of web‐based interorganizational information systems (IOISs) to support interorganizational processes with their key suppliers.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical evidence is gathered through an electronic survey conducted with 67 senior managers of Canadian construction companies.
Findings
Findings indicate that both categories of determinants strongly influence each of the facets of construction firms' use of web‐based IOISs to support interorganizational processes with their key suppliers. Findings also indicate that the two facets of the use of web‐based IOISs to support collaborative processes are influenced by the same characteristics of supply chain relationships while the use of both types of web‐based IOISs are not influenced by the same characteristics of the supply chain relationships.
Practical implications
This study shows construction managers that a supply chain approach may facilitate firms' adoption of IT to support their interorganizational processes with their suppliers. This research also exposes practitioners to the different ways web‐based IOISs can be used by construction firms to support their relationship with suppliers and emphasizes the need for managers to consider the characteristics of their supply chain relationships and not only technological factors while developing and implementing their web‐based IOISs strategy.
Originality/value
This study is amongst the few empirical studies on the use of information technology to support supply chain processes between construction companies and their suppliers. By proposing an approach to web‐based IOISs measurement comprising five facets, this research also makes a theoretical contribution to the field of IOISs.