Technology as Quality Work? Educational Leaders and Teachers’ Use of Digital Technology

Abstract

In January 2017, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research launched the white paper ‘Culture for Quality in Higher Education’, in which they underlined the need for a cultural shift to promote quality in higher education. The white paper outlined five main strategies and a series of actions to enhance institutional ‘quality work’, and identified the use of digital technology as a key driver to stimulate the provision of innovative teaching and learning processes. Leaders and teachers within Norwegian universities and university colleges are expected to enhance their use of digital technology as part of their quality work. This could include innovative teaching and learning methods and student-centered learning perspectives and practices. However, it appears to be a mismatch between national ambitions and the take-up of digital technology within institutional practices in higher educational institutions. In this chapter, we illuminate this inconsistency through the lenses of translational theory and concepts of ‘conflicting logics’ and ‘translational costs’ within higher education institutions. Based on findings from the Quality of Norwegian Higher Education: Pathways, Practices and Performances (QNHE) research project, we analyse how Norwegian higher education institutions have responded to governmental policies on digital technology usage in their quality work.