Docent Eva Mårell-Olsson works at the Department of Education, Umeå University. Her research concerns the implementation and use of ICT in the society regarding a pedagogical perspective. More specifically, her research interest concerns the implementation and use of digital technologies in various professional areas and its impact on an individual level as well as the organization level with regard to opportunities and challenges, for example, in teaching and learning and, when working methods are changing in working life due to digital transformation. She has many years of experience in competence development initiatives that are supported by digital technologies in foremost the education sector and the dental health care sector.
In this presentation she will present research projects she has carried out in recent years with a special focus on the use of technologies such as AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the area of teaching and learning. For example, studies about the use of AR and VR technology in chemistry teaching in higher education for enhancing students’ conceptual transition from a 2D representation of a molecule to a 3D structure visualized using AR and VR glasses (i.e., spatial ability), and studies about using gamification as a teaching strategy in K-12 education in combination with the use of different types of digital technologies (e.g., computers, tablets, mobile phones and smart glasses) for fostering students 21st century skills. She will also present a research project just recently funded by the Swedish Research Council investigating how AI-based technology can be developed for supporting and fostering, from a pedagogical perspective, interactions and sense of inclusion among schoolchildren who are suffering from long-term illness and staying in hospital for longer treatment periods.