Teachers' Perspectives on Digital Life Skills in Norwegian Schools

Current research in education has shed light on the integration of digital life skills in upper secondary school curricula in Norway. The study, conducted by the University of Oslo, reveals that teachers consider digital life skills essential and connect them to themes like digital detox, digital footprints, and digital responsibility. The findings have pedagogical and didactical implications for teachers, policymakers, and school leaders, highlighting the need to address societal pressures, including mental health, exclusion, and online risks in students' education.

Key Takeaways:

• The introduction of a new curricular reform in 2020 led to life skills becoming a widely discussed topic in Norway, with a focus on young people's technology use and time spent online.
• Teachers interviewed in the study related to digital life skills and considered them important, connecting them to themes such as digital detox, digital footprints, and digital responsibility.
• The study found that teachers aimed to enrich existing research by examining the concept of digital life skills and contributing to the conceptualisation of this concept through their perspectives.
• The research highlighted the need to address societal pressures, including mental health, exclusion, and online risks in students' education.
• The study presented pedagogical and didactical implications of teachers' perceptions and integration of digital life skills into their instructional practices.
• The findings provided valuable insights for policymakers and school leaders, enhancing their understanding of how upper secondary teachers in English and social science in Norway conceptualised digital life skills.

Statistics:

• 13 upper secondary school teachers from general and vocational study programmes were interviewed in the study.
• The study found that teachers related to digital life skills and considered them important.
• 3 themes were identified in the study: digital detox, digital footprints, and digital responsibility.
• The study aims to enrich existing research on digital life skills by examining the concept through teachers' perspectives in Norway.
• The pupils' lives seem intricately dependent on technology and social media, which highlights a need to address societal pressures, including mental health, exclusion, and online risks in their education.

Sources:

• "Teacher perceptions of digital life skills in upper secondary school" (2025) Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education, Vol. 9, Issue 4, doi: 10.7577/njcie.6174
• OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University. (n.d.). Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education. Retrieved from
• NewsRx LLC. (2025, September 3). Researchers' from University of Oslo Report Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Education (Teacher perceptions of digital life skills in upper secondary school). Education Letter, 499.