The study explores three challenges: the gap between theoretical education and practical training, the lack of digital didactics in teacher education, and the tension between offering meaningful leisure time and achieving educational goals in SAEC. The study explores how SAEC teacher students can be prepared to design scientifically based hybrid learning activities. Grounded in Design for Learning theory, students participated in theoretical and practical lessons and designed hybrid learning activities at a SAEC center. Data from written reflections and interviews show that students were able to connect theory to practice and expressed a willingness to design similar activities in their future careers, as they viewed these activities as a way to integrate planned learning activities with pupils’ interests. These findings highlight the importance of preparing SAEC teacher students, both theoretically and practically, to design hybrid learning activities.

Studien tar avstamp i tre kända utmaningar: 1) det av lärarstudenter upplevda glappet mellan den teoretiska utbildningen på universitetet och den praktiska utbildning de möter på skolor 2) bristen på digitalt inriktad didaktik i många lärarutbildningar och 3) spänningen mellan fritidshemmets uppdrag att erbjuda meningsfull fritid och samtidigt bedriva undervisning som bidrar till måluppfyllelse. Syftet med studien är att utforska hur fritidshemslärarstudenter kan förberedas för att designa läraktiviteter med digitala verktyg (hybrida läraktiviteter) på vetenskaplig grund, vilket kan minska de ovan nämnda utmaningarna. Studien utgår från teorin Design för Lärande (DfL), där undervisning och lärande ses som multimodal design. I studien deltog fritidshemslärarstudenter i teoretiska och praktiska moment på universitetet samt två dagar på ett fritidshem där de designade hybrida läraktiviteter. Empirin består av studenternas skriftliga reflektioner samt semistrukturerade intervjuer. Genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys identifierades, tolkades och kategoriserades meningsbärande enheter i empirin. Resultaten visar att flera studenter gjorde explicita kopplingar mellan teori och praktik. Vidare uttryckte de en vilja att designa hybrida läraktiviteter i sitt framtida yrke, då dessa ansågs vara ett sätt att kombinera barns meningsfulla fritid med planerade läraktiviteter. Dessa resultat belyser vikten av att förbereda studenter, både teoretiskt och praktiskt, för att designa hybrida läraktiviteter på fritidshemmet.

Detta projekt syftar till att undersöka hur lärarstudenter som har deltagit i både teoretiska och praktiska moment vid universitetet och i verksamhetsförlagd utbildning resonerar kring att designa teoretiskt grundade läraktiviteter som inkluderar digitala verktyg. En vanlig utmaning i lärarutbildningen är den upplevda klyftan mellan den teoretiska utbildningen vid universitetet och den praktiska utbildningen ute i skolor. Dessutom finns en brist på digitalt orienterad didaktik i lärarutbildningen. Detta är problematiskt eftersom ICILS 2024 visar att fyra av tio elever i årskurs 8 saknar grundläggande digital kompetens. Samtidigt visar en internationell forskningsöversikt att elever som kommer från socioekonomiskt utsatta områden, som har ett annat modersmål än svenska eller som har funktionsvariationer, gynnas särskilt av att använda digitala verktyg i undervisningen. En medveten användning av digitala verktyg skulle alltså kunna vara en väg att överbrygga ojämlikhet i skolan och främja alla elevers digitala kompetens. Därför är en central utgångspunkt i detta projekt att elever tidigt ska ges möjlighet att utveckla digital kompetens för att kunna vara aktiva medborgare i ett digitaliserat samhälle. Digital kompetens är även en förutsättning för att kunna delta i och påverka demokratiska processer, exempelvis genom att kritiskt granska digital information och själva uttrycka sig i digitala miljöer. För att möjliggöra detta behöver lärare göra vetenskapligt grundade didaktiska val som främjar elevers lärande och utveckling. Studien utgår från det teoretiska perspektivet Design för lärande (DfL), som betraktar undervisning och lärande som en form av multimodal design. Inom DfL är modellen Learning Design Sequence (LDS-modellen) central för både analys och design av läraktiviteter och den låg till grund för projektets design samt lärarstudenternas arbete med att designa hybrida läraktiviteter. Lärarstudenterna som deltog i projektet tillhörde tre olika program och projektet omfattade undervisningssekvenser i fyra kurser. Datamaterialet består av 294 lärarstudenters skriftliga reflektioner samt intervjuer med 23 studenter. Empirin analyserades genom kvalitativa innehållsanalyser för att identifiera kategorier relevanta för projektets syfte. Resultaten visar att flera studenter gör explicita kopplingar mellan teori och praktik och uttrycker hur kursmomenten hjälper dem att tillägna sig en didaktisk modell som är användbar för att designa hybrida läraktiviteter på vetenskaplig grund. Vidare uttrycker studenterna en vilja att arbeta med hybrida läraktiviteter i sitt framtida yrke och förklarar varför och hur sådana aktiviteter kan iscensättas i undervisningen. En central slutsats från projektet är att studenter behöver förberedas, både teoretiskt och praktiskt, för att designa hybrida läraktiviteter som stödjer elevers lärande, digitala kompetens och demokratiska delaktighet.

This study is part of the project Exploring Six-Year-Olds’ Meaning-Making in Different Subjects through Multimodal Teaching and Their Creation of Digital Animations. A central premise is that an equitable school system should offer all children the same opportunities to participate in education, express themselves, and develop their learning identities. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate how pupils in multilingual classrooms use various resources in group activities focused on multimodal text creation. The study draws on the theoretical perspective of Designs for Learning (DfL), in which teaching and learning are conceptualized as forms of multimodal design (Selander & Kress, 2010). By designing learning activities that incorporate both analogue and digital resources, teachers create conditions for six-year-olds’ meaning-making and support their right to express themselves in multiple ways—a core aspect of the school’s democratic mission. The following research questions guide the study: · Which resources do pupils use in the group activities when creating multimodal texts? · Which resources appear to constrain or support pupils’ opportunities to make meaning in the multimodal text-creation activities?

Developing a strong learning identity and confidence in one’s abilities early on is crucial, as these factors influence children’s opportunities for lifelong learning and active participation in democratic practices both in and outside of school. Some children risk falling behind as early as the first year of compulsory schooling. Research has identified tensions between children’s literacy practices at home and in school, particularly regarding the use of digital tools, and these contrasts may negatively affect young children’s learning identities (Livingstone & Sefton-Green, 2016; McTavish, 2009). The empirical material consists of video recordings of pupils’ group-based multimodal text creation, involving both analogue and digital resources. The analysis shows that analogue resources, such as paper figurines, enable pupils who have not yet mastered the school language (Swedish) to demonstrate their understanding of the fairy tale The Three Billy Goats Gruff by retelling it with the support of these materials. In the process of creating the digital animation, the pupils show a high degree of engagement: they interact more with one another than when working with analogue resources, negotiate, ask questions, and contribute in various ways to the shared multimodal text. The preliminary findings highlight the importance of teachers providing access to both analogue and digital resources, as this allows pupils to draw on different competencies and abilities in their meaning-making. This appears to create conditions for democratic learning in which every pupil has the opportunity to express themselves and influence the shared outcome.

This study contributes to current discussions by highlighting the pedagogical potential of digital platforms within School-Age Educare Centre (SAEC) contexts and how multimodal, collaborative learning can be supported through digital–physical hybridity. However, debates persist in Sweden and internationally regarding children’s screen time and the role of digital technologies in education. As a result, digital tools are sometimes absent from SAEC activities. This study takes as its premise that SAEC can offer safe digital environments, such as Minecraft Education, where all participants are known to teachers and peers, and where diverse learning opportunities can unfold. Previous research shows that hybrid learning activities can extend children’s social, digital, and subject specific competences, with more knowledgeable peers supporting others in navigating both digital and physical spaces (Wernholm et al., 2025). Research further indicates that pupils’ participation increases when they engage in activities that allow multiple forms of expression (Patron et al., 2026). 

This study aims to explore how pupils express their learning experiences and demonstrate competencies during teacher‑designed building activities in MinecraftEdu within SAEC settings. The following research questions guide the study: 

-     How do pupils use different competencies when engaging with MinecraftEdu?

-     How do pupils express their learning experiences from engaging with MinecraftEdu? 

This study draws on Designs for Learning theory and a social semiotic perspective on multimodality, viewing teaching and learning as multimodal design (Selander & Kress, 2010). The field work was conducted at a Swedish SAEC center with 52 pupils aged 8–10. The pupils were video recorded while constructing buildings in MinecraftEdu, and focus group interviews were conducted with 24 of them. Preliminary results show that pupils draw on a range of competencies, including subject competence. For example, constructing a pyramid in MinecraftEdu requires mathematical understanding; some pupils recognized errors in their design and revised their structures by identifying that the base had to be square. Pupils also described solving problems either through trial and error or by consulting more knowledgeable peers. The most prominent finding is the central role of social competence: collaborating successfully in this hybrid activity required communication, negotiation, and coordinated action. A preliminary conclusion is that both experienced and inexperienced Minecraft players participate actively and remain highly engaged during the activity, which creates conditions for the further development of these competencies.

References

Selander, S., & Kress, G. (2010) Design for Lärande: Ett Multimodalt Perspektiv. Norstedt

Patron, E., Wernholm, M., Ebbelind, A., Palmér, H., Danielsson, K., & Kjällander, S. (2026). ”Att få kött på benen” – att förbereda lärarstudenter både teoretiskt och praktiskt för att designa hybrida läraktiviteter i fritidshemmet. Nordic Studies in Education. 46 (1). 17-34.

Wernholm, M., Patron, E., Danielsson, K., Ebbelind, A., & Palmér, H. (2025). Hybrida läraktiviteter för att främja sexåringars meningsskapande. Forskning om undervisning och lärande. 13(1), 22-45, https://doi.org/10.61998/forskul.v13i1.25870 

In this study, we elaborate on whether – and if so, how – students’ creation of analog and digital representations, in combination, may strengthen their meaning making in combinatorics while engaging in problem solving. An intervention was conducted in two Swedish preschool classes (six-year-olds) involving 25 students. The results indicate that creating a digital animation did not primarily enhance  problem solving but rather served as an aid for students to redesign their analog knowledge representations, enabling them to further engage with the mathematical content. A conclusion is that the creation of analog and digital representations, in combination, contributed to students’ explorations of combinatorics and that, when integrated into a learning-design sequence, digital animations enhanced students' understanding of combinatorics. This conclusion should be seen in relation to the small scale of the study, which means that more studies are needed in order to generalize the findings.

In mathematics education, student collaboration is often emphasised as desirable. The focus of this paper is on students’ positioning during collaborative problem solving and problem posing on the mathematical content combinatorics. The study utilises the Learning Design Sequence model for lesson design and positioning theory as an analytical framework. In a sequence of lessons, students worked with both problem solving and problem posing, using different ways of representing their solutions, such as pictures, physical objects, and digital animations. Two cases of collaboration between 6-year-old students are used to illustrate their positioning during this sequence of lessons. One conclusion is that, when collaborating, students’ experiences of each other as learners in general and mathematics learners in particular have influence on their positioning which in turn may influence their possibilities of meaning making in mathematics.

This is the third article in a series, emanating from a project that used social semiotics and phenomenography to explore the role visual representations play in the teaching and learning of chemistry. Building on our earlier work that identified five qualitatively different ways that teachers may use to unpack visual representations in their introductory classes at upper secondary school when dealing with intermolecular forces, this article deals with how students describe their experience of chemistry teachers' unpacking of visual representations. The theoretical thematic analysis, grounded in phenomenography and social semiotics, foregrounds qualitative differences in students' experiences of teachers' representational work. The results show that the ways of unpacking that we previously characterized as student-centered were described by the students as being particularly valuable. Here, a key point from a student perspective is that the teacher reflects on how to verbally guide them through the unpacking process in ways that support them in their meaning-making. We use these results to propose that chemistry teacher practice and education can be modified to emphasize the importance of seeing the practice of unpacking from a semiotic perspective. Furthermore, based on our findings and previous research in the chemistry education field, we conclude by suggesting a strategy that can be used in teacher education and by in-service teachers as a basis for planning chemistry lessons and reflecting on them, particularly with respect to the visual representations employed.

Studien är en del av projektet Utforskande av sexåringars meningsskapande i olika ämnen. En central utgångspunkt är att ett demokratiskt och likvärdigt skolsystem ska erbjuda alla barn samma möjlighet att delta i undervisningen, uttrycka sig och utveckla sina lärandeidentiteter. Syftet med den här studien är därför att undersöka hur elever i flerspråkiga klassrum använder olika resurser i gruppaktiviteter med fokus på multimodalt textskapande. Följande forskningsfrågor guidar studien: Vilka resurser använder eleverna i gruppaktiviteterna för att skapa multimodala texter? Vilka resurser tycks begränsa respektive främja elevers möjligheter att skapa mening i de multimodala textskapande aktiviteterna? Att barn tidigt utvecklar en stark lärandeidentitet och tilltro till den egen förmåga är avgörande eftersom detta påverkar deras möjligheter att lyckas i det livslånga lärandet och att delta aktivt i demokratiska praktiker i och utanför skolan. Vissa barn riskerar att halka efter redan i det första obligatoriska skolåret, då forskning visar på skillnader och spänningar mellan barns litteracitetspraktiker i hemmet och skolan, särskilt vad gäller användningen av digitala verktyg. Dessa kontraster kan påverka yngre barns lärandeidentitet negativt. Studien utgår från det teoretiska perspektivet Design för Lärande (DfL), där undervisning och lärande betraktas som en form av multimodal design. Genom att läraren designar läraktiviteter som inkluderar både analoga som digitala resurser skapas förutsättningar för sexåringars meningsskapande och deras rätt att uttrycka sig på olika sätt; en kärna i skolans demokratiska uppdrag. Elevernas multimodala texter formas i sin tur utifrån deras tidigare erfarenheter, kunskaper och uttryckssätt. Det empiriska materialet består av videoinspelningar av elevers multimodala textskapande i grupp, där både analoga och digitala resurser används. Analysen visar att analoga resurser, som pappfigurer, möjliggör för elever som ännu inte behärskar skolspråket (svenska) att visa sin förståelse för sagan Bockarna Bruse genom att återberätta den med hjälp av figurerna. I arbetet med att skapa den digitala animationen framträder en hög grad av engagemang och deltagande: eleverna kommunicerar mer med varandra än i arbetet med analoga resurser, förhandlar, ställer frågor och bidrar på olika sätt till den gemensamma multimodala texten. De preliminära resultaten visar betydelsen av att lärare erbjuder båda analoga och digitala resurser, då detta ger eleverna möjlighet att använda olika kompetenser och förmågor i sitt meningsskapande. Det tycks skapa förutsättningar för ett demokratiskt lärande där varje elev ges möjlighet att uttrycka sig och påverka det gemensamma resultatet. 

Chemical bonding is a concept that students often find challenging, not least due to the phenomenon being invisible to the naked eye. In order to visualize invisible chemical phenomena, various visual representations are used, such as ball and stick models, structural formulas, chemical equations and energy diagrams. Previous research shows that many of the challenges that students face when trying to achieve a disciplinary understanding of chemical bonding emanate from the ways in which it is represented by teachers and in textbooks. This study aims to explore how undergraduate chemistry textbooks represent theories of chemical bonding at this level. The study is theoretically framed within a social semiotic perspective, which focuses on how people communicate and make meaning with a variety of semiotic resources (i.e., representations) in particular social settings. As a first step, we performed a semiotic audit of the presentation of chemical bonding in three textbooks. Next, we performed a deeper analysis of how diagrams representing this process are unpacked in the textbooks. The semiotic audit showed that all textbooks mainly used symbolic and submicroscopic diagrams. These representations have a high disciplinary affordance, i.e., they represent specialized disciplinary meanings. It may be necessary to unpack these representations for students in order to make the intended meanings more accessible. In this respect, five different categories of unpacking of diagrams were identified. We conclude that the ways in which a visual representation is unpacked potentially affect students’ disciplinary understanding.

A common challenge in teacher education is the perceived or created gap between theoretical education at the university and practical training at schools (Ebbelind & Helliwell, 2024). Additionally, there is a lack of digitally oriented didactics in teacher education (Papavlasopoulou et al., 2023). This is problematic as many children live in hybrid realities where analog and digital experiences are so intertwined that they cannot be separated. At the same time, some children lack these experiences. This study explores how school-age educare (SAEC) teacher students, who have engaged in both theoretical and practical elements at university and practice schools, reason about designing theoretically based learning activities that include digital tools. The specific research questions are:

In what ways do students perceive that the university course activities prepare them to design hybrid learning activities?

What emerges as central in students’ reasoning about designing SAEC teaching activities that include digital tools?

A central premise of this study is that pupils should develop digital competence early on to be able to become active members of a digitized society. To achieve this, teachers need to make scientifically based didactic choices to promote pupils’ learning (Wernholm, 2024). This study focuses on preparing SAEC teacher students to make such choices regarding the use of digital tools in their teaching practice. Internationally, Swedish SAEC is unique due to its close collaboration with compulsory schools and its combination of teaching, recreation, and meaningful leisure time. However, previous research identifies tensions between what SAEC teachers consider good practice and children’s perspectives on meaningful leisure time (Elvstrand et al., 2023).

This study is theoretically grounded in Design for Learning (Selander, 2008), which views teaching and learning as a form of multimodal design. The study’s design and the SAEC teacher students’ design of hybrid learning utilized tools developed within Design for Learning as part of a university course. SAEC teacher students participated in a teaching sequence with theoretical and practical elements at the university and two days at a practice school.

Data consists of 17 teacher students’ written reflections and two interviews; one individual and one group interview. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes relevant to the study’s purpose and research questions. Preliminary results indicate that several students make explicit connections between theory and practice and express how the course elements help them acquire a theoretical model useful for designing hybrid learning activities in SAEC. Furthermore, the SAEC students express a will to work with hybrid learning activities in their future profession. They explain why and how hybrid learning activities are suitable for SAEC teaching, as they combine planned learning activities with pupils’ interests, making them meaningful. These results highlight the importance of preparing students, both theoretically and practically, for designing hybrid learning activities in SAEC.