Between school and work: Vocational students’ experiences of using digital multimodal logbooks as boundary objects

Ann-Britt Enochsson; Nina Kilbrink

doi:10.3384/njvet.2242-458X.2515527

Authors

Ann-Britt Enochsson Karlstad University, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7214-1716
Nina Kilbrink Karlstad University, Sweden https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3440-8074

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3384/njvet.2242-458X.2515527

Keywords:

vocational students, vocational teachers, boundary objects, educational technology, boundary crossing

Abstract

The aim of this study is to illuminate the way learning across workplace and school is shaped, by focusing on students’ experiences of their teachers’ efforts to work with subject-specific vocational knowledge at school. The study builds on theories of boundary crossing, and in this specific example, the students use a digital multimodal logbook as a boundary object connecting the two learning arenas school and workplace. Four teachers from an upper-secondary vocational programme and their 14 students were interviewed and a multilevel boundary crossing framework was used for the analyses. The results show that, compared to their teachers, the students understood the purpose of the digital logbook differently and did not see its connection to learning outcomes. When confronted with this purpose at the end of the interviews, the students presented their own ideas on developing the logbook. Most disagreements occurred at an interpersonal level, that is, teachers and students did not engage in enough discussion to understand each other’s views. A conclusion drawn from this result is that a more fundamental discussion is needed between teachers and students on the purpose and use of logbooks in order to exploit their full potential.

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