e-pro – Web Development & IT in Örebro on e-pro – Webbutveckling & IT i Örebro

Learning Requires Effort

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 5 in the series The Brain, the Screen and the School

We have been all the way around. How tech companies design their products , sleep , digitalisation policy , the brain’s basic needs .

Now we come to the core of it. How does the brain actually learn? And what does that mean for how we use screens in school?

The house with the shelves

Sissela Nutley uses an image that sticks: learning is like a house.

The Brain's Plate

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 4 in the series The Brain, the Screen and the School

In the earlier parts I have written about the tech companies’ design, sleep, and Sweden’s digitalisation strategy.

Now I am turning the question around.

What does the brain need to thrive?

Sissela Nutley uses an image most people recognise: the plate model. Not the one with proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables, but a mental version. Seven segments that together make up the brain’s basic needs.

Sweden Digitalised Without Asking the Brain

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 3 in the series The Brain, the Screen and the School

Mats-Olof Liljegren on a school visit. An example of computers being used well in the classroom.

In the two previous parts — 1 and 2 — I wrote about how tech companies design for the oldest parts of the brain, and how phones in bed sabotage sleep.

But there is a story that needs to be told about how Sweden, with the very best of intentions, digitalised its schools without asking how the brain actually learns.

Music Is Important for Your Health

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The other day I sat in Betelkyrkan in the heart of central Örebro.

It was the venerable Betelkören , founded in 1868 and one of the country’s oldest church choirs, that together with the somewhat younger choir Capella Nova performed Martin Åsander’s mass “I evig tid” (In Eternal Time) under the direction of Kersti Esselwall Smårs.

Kersti introduces the congregational songs for the mass.

Kersti and I were classmates at Örebro School of Music once upon a time and we share both music and faith. It is always wonderful to both talk and make music with Kersti. I am so glad that she now leads a couple of the choirs at Betelkyrkan.

The Sleep We Stole from Our Children

Sun, 10 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 2 in the series The Brain, the Screen and the School

In the previous part I wrote about how tech companies design their products to trigger the oldest structures of the brain, and why the mobile phone ban in schools is right. But there is an arena where the battle for children’s brains takes place every single night — and where we adults often do not even know we have already lost.

Your Brain Can't Keep Up!

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Part 1 in the series The Brain, the Screen and the School

I recently listened to neuroscientist Sissela Nutley give a lecture. Nutley holds a PhD in cognitive neuroscience from Karolinska Institutet , serves as scientific lead for the school programme Det Syns Inte and is the author of Distraherad (Natur & Kultur, 2019/2022). She is one of the Swedish researchers who most clearly connects neuroscience with what is happening in our classrooms and our children’s bedrooms.

State schools require a state you can trust

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mats-Olof Liljegren in Leeds via the Comenius programme 2002

I was a student teacher when Göran Persson (S) pushed through the decision in 1989, and a newly qualified teacher at Virginska School — as it was known then, now Virginska Upper Secondary School — when the municipalisation took effect in 1991.

The parliamentary vote was taken on 8 December 1989, with a result of 162–157. From 1 January 1991, schools became the responsibility of the municipalities.

Last night in Örebro: Joel Halldorf on power, the sacred and the church's role in democracy

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

At Immanuelskyrkan here in Örebro, where Johan Arenius , pastor and senior minister, interviewed Joel Halldorf about his latest book.

Joel Halldorf on fine form at Immanuelskyrkan

Halldorf is a professor of church history at Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm and one of Sweden’s sharpest voices at the intersection of faith, culture and society. His new book “Makten och det heliga” — Power and the Sacred — was the evening’s point of departure.

Örebro's schools are not adequately funded

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We have adopted the budget for primary education in Örebro. I suspect the governing coalition is quite satisfied. Much is pointing in the right direction according to them, and the budget is full of words like equity, quality, pupil welfare and early intervention. But do not be fooled — this is a cuts budget, again. The budget variance has now reached 50 million kronor, and the solution is an action plan after the fact. That is not governance; it is fire-fighting. How is quality supposed to improve when the finances are already in free fall?