In most parts of the world, minors’ access to education is guaranteed, resulting in most of their time being spent in the school building. Similarly, school staff spend a relatively long time in the same building. This unique setting requires both groups to stay inside the school walls throughout the working days, which might negatively affect their well-being. Studies show that low indoor air quality might negatively affect well-being. Moreover, school staff and students mention other problems, such as worrisome declining students’ attendance, motivation, social relations, safety, stress, and pressure, among others. Technological solutions, such as IoT-based systems, might be one way to tackle the well-being issue at schools. However, most of the existing solutions focus on the quality of the indoor environment, disregarding the needs and pains of school inhabitants. In the current article, we present an investigation of how IoT-based solutions could extend beyond solely environment-measuring tools and fulfill the needs of school inhabitants. Through an interview study with eleven IoT experts guided by user (school inhabitants) requirements identified in the previous research, we assess functional and non-functional system requirements that such systems should build on. These are discussed against the five-layer IoT architecture model. Moreover, the study identifies barriers and benefits of IoT-based solutions, which are discussed in the context of existing scientific and legal frameworks. The exploratory findings presented in the paper could be used as a guide for decision-makers at schools to ensure that the students’ and staff’s well-being is maintained, as well as by IoT suppliers to produce holistic or compatible solutions that could be easily integrated into the unique contexts of school.

Background: Stakeholders in health and social care are implementing digital solutions to facilitate person-centred care for citizens. One problem is choosing which digital solution to implement. Ordinary cost-benefit analysis implicates the measurable parts of the value, leaving the immeasurable without any trace in an analysis. Results: We used design thinking to design a framework that implicates what to add as valuable factors on individual, organisational, and governmental levels. The design is based on empirical material from workshops and literature reviews on systems thinking, quality management, and value factors. The valuable factors at an individual level could include independence, autonomy, and empowerment, and the factors at the organisational level accessibility, competence, and independence. On a central level, the factors are related to person-centred care and its value proposals, such as autonomy and independence. Conclusions: While conducting a cost-benefit analysis, focusing on a standard definition of the value concept is essential. The designed framework needs to be dynamic due to the broad range of welfare technology. The created rubrics cube model, including strategic, organisational-operational and individual levels, should be used by decision-making groups as a flexible foundation. Forthcoming research will test this framework, including the proposed scale for measurement and focusing on welfare technology for older citizens.

Stroke is a globally increasing disease and speech and language deficiencies are common in stroke survivors. To facilitate medical caregivers in their professional work and to improve patients’ quality of life, technology can play an important role. However, the use and acceptance of technology are uncertain and more research is needed in this direction. This study evaluates the technology acceptance and adoption of an online speech and language assessment application. The evaluation-focused Design Science Research strategy was adopted for that purpose. Two physiotherapists, one occupational therapist and three speech therapists participated in the study. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was used as the theoretical base for interview questions formation and data analysis. The study findings show that the suggested application is useful and easy to use; however, it should be better synchronised with speech therapists’ daily work routines. The speech therapists stressed that the functionalities of the application should be designed in close collaboration with them, and it should be compatible with the already existing systems and services in place. Due to impairments after stroke, the patients have some specific preferences for software and hardware; such as a tablet with a touch pen is the preferred hardware. Additionally, the interface should have bigger text fonts and pictures, and highly contrastive colours in the graphics should be used for patients’ convenience. The user’s privacy and security, the patient’s current health, and their previous knowledge and experience with technology were also found important determinants for the intention to use the given technology.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a source of knowledge about the surrounding environment and people in such an environment. The insights collected by IoT can provide the knowledge needed to improve people’s health and overall well-being. Schools are one environment where IoT is scarcely applied, yet, it is expected that this is where children and teenagers spend most of their time. Drawing on previous findings, this paper presents preliminary results from qualitative inquiry investigating how and what IoT-based solutions could support health and well-being in elementary educational settings.

In this short paper we describe the implementation of an IoT test-bed in an elementary school. We argue that by adding additional IoT senors to an existing IoT system it is possible to evolve an indoor climate control system into a indoor milieu control system aimed at improving the health and well-being for both pupils and staff who spend their days working in the school environment. Lastly, we call for multidisciplinary action as the domain IoT for health and well-being spans across several different knowledge domains.

Regarding the ongoing digitalisation in the knowledge society, professional development seems more crucial than ever. The need for upskilling and reskilling is described as continuous lifelong learning, which must be combined and synchronised with the life of full-time working learners. Content, pedagogical models and instructional design in university courses are often created for students in Bachelor's and Master's programs instead of tailored for adults working full-time. This study describes and discusses andragogy as a potential knowledge base for redesigning professional development courses on digital transformation. Evaluations from two instances of a course for professionals on digital transformation showed that the course participants overall are satisfied with the course. However, only a few course participants take the exam to get credits. Therefore, the research question that guided this study was, "What redesign options for increased pass rates and learner satisfaction in professional development for adult learners can be identified using andragogy as a theoretical lens?" The course is on distance and contains four modules with synchronous and asynchronous learning activities, resulting in five European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The empirical material consisted of course participants' check-in presentation before the course started, mid-term evaluation, final evaluations, and a learning diary containing 58 entries. The data was deductively analysed using the theory of andragogy as an analytical lens. The findings imply that instructors should put effort into how different parts of the course are connected, supporting learners' need to know. Further, to enhance the course participants' prior experience as a resource for learning by adding learning activities, they exchange experiences and examples with each other, adding to their learning process and networking. The pedagogic parts of understanding the theoretical course material could be split into pieces through exercises where the participants apply conceptual models and concepts to real-situation problems. The learning diary could help the participants align the new knowledge with their prior knowledge with a focus on professional roles and work situations. The identified redesign options create opportunities to increase pedagogical parts like readiness, orientation, and motivation to learn according to the current higher education system.

Professional development is more crucial than ever, especially in supporting ongoing digitalisation in the knowledge society. The need for upskilling and reskilling is described as continuous lifelong learning, which must be combined and synchronised with the lives of full-time working learners. Content, pedagogical models and instructional design in university courses are often centred on students in their early twenties with little to no work experience instead of tailored for experienced professionals working full-time. One such course is the foundation for this study: a course on digitalisation and digital transformation targeting professionals with at least two years of work experience in digital transformation. Therefore, the research question that guided this study was: "How can a distance course for professionals be redesigned to facilitate lifelong learning?" The redesign aims to increase satisfaction with the course and the number of participants taking their exams.

 The course contains four modules with synchronous and asynchronous learning activities, resulting in 5 ECTS credits (the European Credit Transfer System). The analysed empirical material consists of course participants' check-in presentation before the course started, mid-term evaluation, final evaluation, and a learning diary containing 58 entries. The empirical material was inductively and iteratively analysed following the main steps of thematic analysis. Two of the researchers conducted the first steps of the analysis individually. The following steps were a joint coding procedure to reach a consensus. This part of the analysis included several discussions with the other researchers. The inductive analysis identified 70 initial codes that reflected issues related to course design, learning activities, course information, and instructions. The initial codes were clustered into seventeen more abstract themes based on similarities. The themes related to strengths and weaknesses/challenges with the course. The strengths were analysed as, among others, discussions with course participants in other domains, recordings introducing scientific articles, focused and direct instructions on the learning management system (LMS), and the course is held online at the same weekly time. Perceived challenges were, for example, reading scientific articles and understanding and transferring the content to their work situation, lack of correspondence among the modules, not all modules being published simultaneously on the LMS, and the general problem of mixing work and studies.

 Despite that, the material showed satisfied course participants, where only a few ended the course by taking the exam to get their credits, which is one of academia’s ways to quantify learning. Based on the data analysis, course and learning activities will be redesigned and developed to be tested and evaluated in a forthcoming course instance in autumn 2023.  

This study presents the results from a demonstration of a tool for self-estimation of digital competence for nurses and assistant nurses. The data was gathered from twelve participants working as leaders of older care homes. The results show that digital competence is of importance in health and social care, that the dimension of motivation is of utmost importance and that the presentation of the survey results should be flexible.

Föreliggande rapport beskriver kravställning, design, test och utvärdering av en modell för mätning av individers digitala kunskap – något vi här valt att kalla ”operationell digital mognad” – inom vård- och omsorgssektorn. Begreppet operationell digital mognad ska tolkas som individens kunskap om digitala hjälpmedel ur ett sociotekniskt perspektiv,”Kraven på modellen var att den skulle kunna användas repetitivt för att mäta den digitala mognaden ur ett sociotekniskt perspektiv, det vill säga att digitala hjälpmedel används för att stödja en organisation och att individer ska nyttja hjälpmedlen för att utföra sina arbetsuppgifter.

Underlaget för modellen har varit Pentagonmodellen, framtagen av Schiefloe (2003), som innehåller följande dimensioner: formell struktur, teknik och infrastruktur, sociala relationer och nätverk, interaktion samt kultur och kompetens. För att få fram digital mognad, har vi även valt att lägga till dimensionen personlig motivation. Modellen översattes sedan till en enkät med påståenden kopplade till digitala hjälpmedel och miljöer. Påståendena i enkäten kunde besvaras på en skala som gick från ”Jag är enig” till ”Jag är helt oenig”. Resultatet från enkäten, både från 2021 och 2022, visar att motivationen för att använda digitala hjälpmedel är hög. Respondenterna hade även god kunskap om den formella strukturen. Kultur och kompetens, teknik och infrastruktur samt interaktion fick också relativt höga poäng

Utvärderingen av modellen visar att det är viktigt med operationell digital mognad även för vård- och omsorgspersonal. Vi fick även bekräftat att modellen innehöll intressanta dimensioner för att mäta operationell digital mognad, med undantag för dimensionen sociala relationer och nätverk. Vi kunde också konstatera att resultatet från enkäten behöver innehålla jämförelser med tidigare mätningar, eftersom målet för operationell digital mognad förändras över tid, och gå att bryta ner på olika detaljnivåer. Resultatet behöver även kopplas till utbildningsåtgärder. För att uppnå en iterativ process med att mäta operationell digital mognad föreslås ytterligare utredning kring dimensionen sociala relationer och nätverk, möjligheter att omvandla enkäten från deskriptiv till prediktiv samt fler presentationsmöjligheter.