Umeå municipality

Sofia Andersson works as a development manager in Umeå municipality. Together with IT educator Rickard Erlingsson, school absence coordinator Robert Larsson and Karin Arnqvist, they make up the team that administers AV1 in the municipality.

They explain that all head teachers were given the opportunity to apply for an AV1 right from the start of the project, so that the robots could be quickly sent out to schools once the funding was in place.

"We managed to get all five robots out before the start of school in autumn 2021 and were already up and running in the first school week. Similarly, we succeeded with the five new school robots that we acquired six months later. We sent out information in November and they were all up and running after New Year," says Sofia."

Key lessons learnt after the first semester

In the first phase, Umeå focused primarily on helping students with long-term school absences. The team quickly realised that they had started the intervention in a challenging area, which led to some frustration when they later had to report the project's results after the first semester. They thought that school attendance would be the main evaluation parameter, as it is generally a success factor that the student is actually in school. But the team has had to rethink.

We have realised that we need to think more broadly than that. Not many students had come back to school, but we saw benefits in that many had participated in education in a way that they would not have done otherwise. We have had pupils back in education, who have achieved goals and received grades. It's great fun and a fantastic result," conclude both Sofia and Rickard.

Sofia says that there were also a couple of students who were absent due to somatic illnesses and that AV1 was very successful for them.

This spring, the AV1 team conducted a new evaluation that points to many lessons learnt.

We have realised that we need to take a few steps back when thinking about what constitutes success. Participation in lessons is an important factor, but it is also important to maintain or create a good relationship with someone in the school, with a teacher or, at best, with the class. Achieving goals is also a success factor or that the student felt joy around the teaching, says Sofia.

AV1 as early intervention and focus for the future

The team is now focusing on trying to learn when to deploy AV1. Rickard says that AV1 needs to come in at an early stage and that the team has worked to clarify the application processes for schools, so that they better meet with the school robot as an intervention.

"It is important to see the AV1 robot intervention in a wider perspective. What have we done before for this student? Can we work with other interventions or adaptations before we deploy AV1? Could we have adapted in the classroom instead? Questions like this are important for us to ask ourselves," says Sofia.

The AV1 team is now testing AV1 on a larger scale for pupils who are in school but have problems coping with being in the classroom. They will not use the school robot as a first intervention, but as an earlier intervention they are trialling it so far.

Can AV1 help to de-dramatise the classroom situation so that the pupil can be taught by their regular qualified teacher? When do we get a good effect from AV1? Where and when can we deploy it? We are curious to learn more about this," says Sofia.

They also say that the aim this term is to be clearer about the fact that each intervention runs for a limited period and that they quickly check whether AV1 is the right adaptation or whether they need to think differently for the specific pupil. As the application is made in the common documentation system for pupils, they have a good insight into which adaptations have been tested previously, which makes it easier to determine whether AV1 is the right intervention.

Successful AV1 work

Rickard and Sofia point out that there are many reasons why the AV1 work has been successful in Umeå. They quickly found a way to support the schools and Sofia points out that Rickard has offered first-hand support and given the schools a lot of his time.  

"It's been very much appreciated and the schools feel supported," says Rickard.

The team also has regular check-ins with each school to see how the work is going.

"We have two to three meetings per term and use the Admin portal to monitor the robots' activity. If we see that a robot is not active, we quickly contact the school. If it turns out that the school robot is not the right intervention, we bring back AV1 and redistribute it," says Sofia.

Engagement at the school is also important and that the dialogue with the school works well. Rickard explains that they have organised two meetings where schools could share their experiences and tips with each other. Sofia points out that there is also a great deal of interest in the municipality in how things are going with the robots, both from the management and the committee. Something the team really appreciates.

Sofia and Rickard's final advice to other municipalities:

"It's just a matter of getting started as quickly as possible and getting the robots out into the organisations. Dare to test! You have nothing to lose. You gain knowledge by testing. We have learnt an incredible amount in just one year.