Education in Estonia:
PISA & digital turn
Mart Laanpere, PhD
Head of the Centre for Educational Technology
Tallinn University
Estonia: facts & figures
O Population: 1,3 million
O Tallinn: 400 000
O Area: larger than
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the Netherlans
Estonian is the mother
tongue: 65%
In NATO: since 2003
In EU: since 2004
In Schengen: since 2007
EURO currency: since 2011
520 K-12 schools, 14 000
teachers, 148 000 pupils
Teacher’s salary
PISA results
2006
World / Europe
2009
World / Europe
2012
World / Europe
Maths
14
6
17
7
11
3-6
Reading
13
8
13
5
11
3-6
Science
5
2
9
2
6
1-2
PISA results
O Results in Russian-speaking schools have
improved, but still lagging behind
O Gender differences: boys are much worse in
reading, but slightly better in maths
O Equal opportunities: socio-economic status
does not affect the results, school
compensates
O The share of low-performing students is the
smallest in Europe
In addition
O Estonian pupils are the most active users of eO
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school and school web site
Only 66% of Estonian pupils feel happy at school
Only 14% on the level 5-6 in maths (55% in
Shanghai)
Students have generally positive attitude
towards school
Qualified, but ageing teachers (avg 47 y), radical
gender imbalance among teachers
Reflecttion
O What could be the explanation of our PISA
success?
Internet
arrives
Estonia
IT in schools:
Estonian Juku
computers
1986
Graduated
teachers’
college
New
national
curriculum
E-mail projects,
PCs for schools
1989
1993
Became school
principal
Tiger Leap
Foundation,
1st strategy
1997
In TLF regional
committee
WebCT
arrives
Estonia
Miksike,
Teachers
portal
1998
New nat-l
curriculum,
Moodle
E-uni, IT
Foundation
TigerLeap +
Intel TTF,
Digital content
CNC, anima,
variety of
trainings
2001
IT in teacher ed,
VIKO, MA Educ.
multimedia
2002
Tiger in Focus,
IVA,
DigiDidaktika
2004
TiF 2, study on
IT & school
culture
E-VET
Havike
New nat-l
curriculum,
iPads
TLF strategy,
indicators,
SITES, iTEC
Nat-l strategy
of lifelong
learning 2020
3rd
strategy:
Learning Tiger
2006
Calibrate,
LeMill, TATS,
PETS, Deer Leap
2008
2010
Koolielu portal,
MA EdTech, OER,
EduFeedr
2013
Dippler,
TEL@workplace
DLE, DigiComp
IEA SITES 2006-2008
Vocabulary shifts in national
ICT strategies for education
O 1986: programming is the second literacy for
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each citizen of the Soviet Union!
1997: school computerisation, use of IT
2001: ICT integration in schools & curricula
2006: e-learning environments, methods
2012: learning and teaching in the digital age
2014: digital turn towards 1:1 computing,
educational cloud, e-textbooks, e-schoolbag
Tiger Leap: ups & downs
O Success factors:
O Flexibility, support for innovators, agility
O IT managers in schools, infrastructure upgrades
O Well designed and managed teacher training
O TLF: small team (no IT experts), NGO, funding, PR
O Failures:
O Collaboration with different partners
O Little research, no evidence-based policies
O Moore’s chasm not crossed
O Loss of vision, replacing with indicators
No clear paradigm
O Programming as the second literacy?
O Key skills for today’s jobs?
O Improving access to learning resources?
O Modernizing the learning environment?
O Catalyst for wider educational change?
O Looking for “silver bullet”, that can provide
measurable success, understandable by
laymen (politicians), within 4 years
How to measure the impact?
O Conference in Astana: scientific proof needed!
O Tiger in Focus, SITES and other studies: no impact on
grades, school budget, minor impact on paradigm shift
O Tiger Leap commissioned a whole-class 1:1 laptop study,
teachers: no need to change, students: take them away!
O OLPC & Inter-America Bank: 2.5million laptops later, no
or marginal effect on learning outcomes (math test
scores)
O Systemic approach is needed: infrastructure, services,
educational technology support, staff training, leadership,
curriculum reform, research-based decisions, room for
experimentation and failures
3 generations of TEL systems
Dimension
1.generation
2.generation
3.generation
Software
architecture
Educational
software
Course
management
systems
Digital Learning
Ecosystems
Pedagogical
foundation
Bihaviorism
Cognitivism
Knowledge building,
connectivism
Content
management
Integrated with
code
Learning Objects,
content packages
Mash-up, remixed,
user-generated
Dominant
affordances
E-textbook, drill &
practice, tests
Sharing LO’s, forum
discussions, quiz
Reflections, collab.
production, design
Access
Computer lab in
school
Home computer
Everywhere –
thanks to mobile
devices
National Lifelong Learning
Strategy 2014 – 2020: rationale
O “Use of ICT” model, based on computer labs, has
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reached its limits
PPT/IWB is not enough, does not change learning
E-learning (Moodle) model did not take off, does
not suit primary and secondary schools
No good ideas for e-textbook model in current
settings (1 computer lab per school)
Ergo: learning in the digital age, 1:1 and BYOD
model, digital learning ecosystem
LLS2020: Action Plan
O Digital turn in formal education system: digital culture into
curricula, bottom-up innovation, sharing good practice,
educational technologists in schools
O Digital learning resources: digital textbooks, OER, quality
management, recommender systems
O Digital infrastructure for learning : 1:1 computing, BYOD,
interoperable ecosystem of services, mobile clients, schoolwide digital turn (first in 20 pilot schools, then in others)
O Digital competences of teachers and students:
competence models, self-assessment tools, mapping with
course offerings and accreditation procedures, updating
initial teacher education curricula
MA Programme: Ed. Technology
O Intake: 15 experienced teachers enroll every year,
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based on competence-based e-portfolio
Envisaged jobs: educational technologist, technology
integration specialist, instructional designer, HRD
Blended learning: blog-based Personal Learning
Environment + contact hours: every second weekend
Duration: 2 years, 120 ECTS
Structure: general courses 8 ECTS, specialisation
courses 66 ECTS, free electives 16, thesis 30 ECTS
Instructional design; Learning environments; Digital
learning resources; Knowledge management;
Innovation management; Learning analytics …
Thank you!
O Questions?
Teacher education in Estonia
O Initial teacher education: on the Masters’ level, 120
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ECTS (incl. thesis)
Tallinn University and University of Tartu are the
largest providers, others are teacher colleges in
Narva, Rakvere, Haapsalu, also music and arts
academies as well as Tallinn University of Technology
Successful “Teach First” programme
In-service teacher education: teachers are expected
to attend 160 hrs within 5 years, funded by MoER
A dedicated 80 hrs programme “Teacher of the
Future” based on ISTE NETS-T standard
Teacher education: innovation
O Centres of Educational Innovation in Tallinn & Tartu
O Curricula renewed to meet the new teachers’
professional qualification standard, more and earlier
practice in schools
O Experimental curriculum for science teachers
O New portal eDidaktikum.ee, created by the
consortium of teacher education institutions
O Educational technology: DigiTurn programme for
school teams in TLU, sponsored by Samsung
Thank you!
O Questions?