This article presents a literature review focusing on international research concerning distance education and students’ study strategies during the last 20 years. As distance education in higher education is a steadily growing trend and in particular because the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated the transition from campus education to different forms of distance education, knowledge about students’ study strategies and appropriate teaching strategies has become highly important. With this research review, we aimed to identify patterns and trends in research on distance education focusing students study strategies before and after the pandemic. The research synthesis identified and interpreted similarities and differences in the studies’ designs and findings, which we analyzed using integrative thematic analysis. Students’ study strategies seem to have changed to some extent during the pandemic, with more emphasis on their own responsibility and the need for a developed teaching strategy to align with the changing framework related to the emergency provision of distance education. We concluded that students have to develop metacognitive strategies, because self-regulated learning and a more flexible pedagogy seem to be important in teachers’ transitions and competence in digitalization. Therefore, more research targeting these aspects is needed.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the classroom, teacher and student factors distinguishing grade three classes performing at higher levels than expected, in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) and language factors, from classes performing below their potential with regard to the same factors. Data from a standardized reading comprehension test and student and teacher questionnaires covering teacher, classroom and student characteristics were collected. The participants were 1,092 grade three classes and their class teachers, from Stockholm, Sweden. By use of regression and a twin-matching procedure, one group of 94 underachieving classes and another group of 94 overachieving classes were formed for comparison. Data about extended voluntary reading, classroom climate, teacher experience and the use of authentic literature were seen to be the main four indicators discriminating between over- and underachieving classes beyond the impact of SES and language background.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera de literacyaktiviteter som förekommer i fritidshemmets praktik. Literacy ses i denna artikel som den sociala praktik där människor använder läsning, skrivande, meningsskapande och kommunikativa uttryck i samspel med andra, särskilt i vardagens informella sammanhang. Med fritidshemmets aktiviteter som kontext ges många möjligheter för samtal, funktionell språkanvändning och sålunda även goda förutsättningar för flerspråkiga elevers språkutveckling. Observationer gjordes av fritidshemslärarstudenter i 68 fritidshem och deras reflektioner samlades in. Analys av observationsprotokoll och reflektionsprotokoll genomfördes av artikelförfattarna genom tematisk analys, där de öppna svaren intog en viktig roll. Resultatet visar på en stor variation mellan de olika fritidshemmen avseende förekomst av literacyaktiviteter och tillgång till böcker, främst gällande böcker på andra språk än svenska. Vidare framgår att både pedagoger och barn hade en skolifierad syn på läs- och skrivaktiviteter. Vår slutsats är att fritidshemmet har en potential som literacyarena som kan utnyttjas i långt högre grad än vad denna studie visat, framför allt för att väcka elevers läslust. English abstract Literacy in School-Age Educare Centres: A Study on The Conditions for Literacy in Swedish School-Age Educare Centres This study aims to describe and analyze the literacy events that occur in school-age educare practice. Literacy in this article is seen as the social practice where people use reading, writing, meaning-making and communicative expressions in interaction with others, in particular in the informal context of everyday life. With the after-school activities as a context, many opportunities are provided for conversation and functional language use, thus creating good conditions for multilingual students’ language development. Observations were made of school-age educare teacher students in 68 after-school centres, and their reflections were collected. The article authors carried out the analysis of observation protocols and reflection protocols through thematic analysis. The results show a significant variation between the different school-age educare practices concerning literacy activities and access to books, in particular few books in languages other than Swedish. Furthermore, it turned out that both educators and children had a schooled view of reading and writing activities. We conclude that school-age educare centres have the potential as a literacy arena that can be utilized much more than this study has shown, especially to arouse students’ desire to read.