Schools In Digital Transformation: Measuring Digital Maturity and Quality of Online Teaching

Ulla Harmaala, MA (Education) and online teacher, works as a Pedagogical Coordinator at Etäkoulu Kulkuri, i.e. Kulkuri School of Distance Education in Finland. Kulkuri is part of The Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation, Kvs.

Ulla teaches online expatriate children and is also responsible for developing online teaching and learning at Kulkuri in collaboration with her colleagues. Her specific fields of expertise are teaching and learning in digital environments, distance education, and in-service teacher training.

Papa Youga Dieng works for the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) as Coordinator of the Initiative francophone pour la Formation à Distance des maîtres (IFADEM), in Institut de la Francophonie pour l'Education et la Formation , based in Dakar (Senegal), since 2017. IFADEM is a distance learning program for the capacity building of teachers in 15 francophone countries in Africa, Haiti and Lebanon.

Former Board member of Open Education Global, Dieng has a rich and long experience in the development and implementation of e-learning programs in Africa and across the Francophonie.

Prior to Join IFEF in Dakar, Dieng works in OIF’s Headquarter in Paris, was project Manager of the NEPAD e-Schools Initiative in the e-Africa Commission in Pretoria (South Africa), and Inspector General of National Education, responsible for ICT in Senegal. He is a former Professor of Physics and Chemistry, a trainer in the Senegalese in-service training institution (SFC), Head of the Science and ICT office in the Ministry of Education, and he was also the Coordinator of RESAFAD.

Papa Youga Dieng is a citizen of Senegal. He holds a D.E.A. (Master’s) in Education from Rouen University, France, the DUTICEF, Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, (now a Master’s in ICT in Education), a certificate for teaching in secondary schools, FASTEF University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal, an a B.Sc. in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal

Igor Balaban is Associate Professor at FOI and Head of Laboratory for advanced technologies in e-learning. He participated in several European and national projects, coordinated two of them (LLP, Erasmus+) and locally coordinated Horizon 2020 project.

He authored and co-authored 30+ scientific and professional papers and cooperates with European Commissions’ Joint Research Centre as an external expert for DigComOrg & DigCompEdu frameworks and SELFIE tool. He organized and conducted dozens of workshops, talked at several dozen conferences, and was invited speaker at some of them. He is also a reviewer for several highly respected journals such as Computers & Education, International Journal of ePortfolio and International Journal of Information Systems.

His main field of interest is technology supported learning with special focus on adaptivity and personalization in learning environments and digital transformation of educational organizations. He also has a traceable scientific record in assessing the successful implementation of information systems.

Frank van den Ende has broad experience in education as a teacher, innovation manager, designer, and educational scientist. Frank's mission is to find the right balance between the needs of learners, society, technology, and the professional field.

Frank is the author of the book "Redesign the school" and one of the founders of the Educational Design Expedition. Both focus on supporting teachers in taking ownership of their own educational design.