When did you last sit at a school desk?

Has anything changed since then? And what will the teaching look like in ten years? Is it floating hologram and virtual reality experiences or regular writing books in paper? We asked Harry van der Veen, CEO of Nuiteq, and Susanne Marklund, area manager for primary schools in the Skellefteå municipality, to tell us what the future looks like. One thing for certain, classrooms will look different.

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Harry, at Nuiteq you work with programs for multitouch screens used in schools. Tell me what it’s like.

Multitouch technology is a touch screen technology where multiple people can interact with a screen at the same time. This means that students can work together in a completely new way. We create the learning program for these screens.

How are the screens used?

There are big and small screens; the larger ones are comparable to the teacher’s board, and the smaller ones with schoolbooks, but with more possibilities. The teacher’s board can, for example, show movies, present children’s work, or feature an education game to learn maths. With their screens, the children can work with the teacher’s screen by displaying pictures or using the learning program.

Will teaching as it seems today disappear?

It will definitely come, but it will take time. Already today, we see a lot of self-learning platforms such as LinkedIn Learning and Udemy. Students no longer need to sit in a classroom to learn, but may well find information on Wikipedia, YouTube, and the like. They can also reach their teachers online. I actually think that the future’s greatest teachers will be those who teach through YouTube. There is also a move from ordinary textbooks to digital tools. Traditional publishers have had their time already. The same thing happens at school. School books are becoming out of date. I recently read a good quote saying, “Technology will not replace teachers, but teachers using technology will replace those who do not.