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As reported by DN, the School Platform, the City of Stockholm’s IT investment for the school, continues to receive strong criticism. Not least of parents. But even from a teacher’s point of view, the system is described as very poor.
In an interview, Lena Holmdahl, the city’s education director, said she receives fewer complaints today about the School Platform and that it now works, if used correctly.
Anna Whitlock High School teacher Katarina Lycken Rüter is one of those reacting to the statement.
– It is as far from my reality as you can imagine.
She describes how the simplest task, like judging students, can work:
– A teacher can send an evaluation, then they leave. Once grades are set, students suddenly can’t see them. So some can see them, but others can’t. They come back, then disappear again. There is an instability in the system, it is not about whether I do the right thing or not.
– Last Friday I had a student who stood up and cried because she had missed two weeks of work.
The Stockholm School Platform has been criticized from various sectors.
Photo: Nicklas Thegerström
To print the submitted job 198 clicks and about 25 minutes of work are required for a class of 33 students because the systems are very tough, according to Katarina Lycken Rüter’s calculations.
– The system works, but it’s such a sick interface.
You agree, to some extent, that the system has improved since it launched in 2018.
– I share that image to the extent that basically nothing worked at first. Now things work often. There is a big difference, but for me as a teacher it is not enough.
The Director of Education affirmed that the number of complaints is now lower, it may be because the criticisms do not arrive.
– As no one asks and there is no channel for us, it seems that information about what is happening is not available in the education administration. At the same time, they cannot be completely deaf to reality.
Problems have teachers to improvise with other tools, outside the School Platform, such as sending emails to parents or storing files in the Google service. This is what Katarina Lycken Rüter and others at the school that DN has been in contact with say.
Ragnar Sjölander, president of the National Union of Teachers in the city of Stockholm, hears similar testimonies from union members.
– Teachers are obliged to duplicate work a lot. You need to post both your plans and documentation on student study results to make them available on the School Platform, but in many cases the information still needs to be emailed.
Ragnar Sjölander, President of the National Union of Teachers of the City of Stockholm.
Photo: Jonas Eriksson
According to the National Union of Teachers The documentation requirements of many schools have increased in relation to the introduction of the School Platform, at the same time that state documentation requirements have decreased. When the IT system doesn’t deliver what is needed, the administrative burden becomes enormous, says Ragnar Sjölander.
– I still don’t see any sensible program where I can document what students have done and achieved. I use, like most teachers I know, my own Excel document for that.
Something that has worked better with the computer system is distance education.
– We have not had any major criticism of the systems used by teachers in distance education and it has been our little happiness during the pandemic.
What do you want the city to do now?
– A screening and evaluation of what teachers really demand in teaching in terms of digital support.
