Education in Estonia:PISA & digital turn

Mart Laanpere, PhDHead of the Centre for Educational

TechnologyTallinn University

Estonia: facts & figuresO Population: 1,3 millionO Tallinn: 400 000O Area: larger than

the NetherlansO Estonian is the mother

tongue: 65%O In NATO: since 2003O In EU: since 2004O In Schengen: since 2007O EURO currency: since 2011O 520 K-12 schools, 14 000

teachers, 148 000 pupils

Teacher’s salary

PISA results

2006World / Europe

2009World / Europe

2012World / 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 resultsO 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 additionO Estonian pupils are the most active users

of e-school and school web siteO Only 66% of Estonian pupils feel happy at

schoolO Only 14% on the level 5-6 in maths (55%

in Shanghai)O Students have generally positive attitude

towards schoolO Qualified, but ageing teachers (avg 47 y),

radical gender imbalance among teachers

Reflecttion O What could be the explanation of

our PISA success?

IT in schools:Estonian

Juku computers

E-mail projects, PCs for schools

1986

Tiger Leap Foundation, 1st strategy

1993

Internet arrives Estonia

New national curriculu

m

19971989

Graduated teachers’ college

Became school

principal

In TLF regional

committee

Miksike, Teachers

portal

TigerLeap +

Intel TTF,Digital content

1998

CNC, anima, variety of trainings

2002

New nat-l curriculu

m,Moodle

E-uni, IT Foundatio

n

20042001

IT in teacher ed, VIKO, MA

Educ. multimedia

Tiger in Focus, IVA,

DigiDidaktika

TiF 2, study on IT & school culture

WebCTarrives Estonia

3rd strategy: Learning Tiger

TLF strategy,

indicators, SITES, iTEC

2006

Nat-l strategy of

lifelong learning

2020

2010

HavikeNew nat-l curriculum, iPads

20132008

Calibrate, LeMill, TATS, PETS, Deer

Leap

Koolielu portal, MA EdTech,

OER, EduFeedr

Dippler, TEL@workpl

aceDLE, DigiComp

E-VET

IEA SITES 2006-2008

Vocabulary shifts in national ICT strategies for education

O 1986: programming is the second literacy for each citizen of the Soviet Union!

O 1997: school computerisation, use of ITO 2001: ICT integration in schools &

curriculaO 2006: e-learning environments,

methodsO 2012: learning and teaching in the

digital ageO 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, agilityO IT managers in schools, infrastructure

upgradesO Well designed and managed teacher trainingO TLF: small team (no IT experts), NGO, funding,

PRO Failures:

O Collaboration with different partnersO Little research, no evidence-based policiesO Moore’s chasm not crossedO Loss of vision, replacing with indicators

No clear paradigmO 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 shiftO 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: rationaleO “Use of ICT” model, based on computer

labs, has reached its limitsO PPT/IWB is not enough, does not change

learningO E-learning (Moodle) model did not take off,

does not suit primary and secondary schools

O No good ideas for e-textbook model in current settings (1 computer lab per school)

O Ergo: learning in the digital age, 1:1 and BYOD model, digital learning ecosystem

LLS2020: Action PlanO 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, school-wide 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. TechnologyO Intake: 15 experienced teachers enroll every year,

based on competence-based e-portfolioO Envisaged jobs: educational technologist, technology

integration specialist, instructional designer, HRDO Blended learning: blog-based Personal Learning

Environment + contact hours: every second weekendO Duration: 2 years, 120 ECTSO Structure: general courses 8 ECTS, specialisation

courses 66 ECTS, free electives 16, thesis 30 ECTSO Instructional design; Learning environments; Digital

learning resources; Knowledge management; Innovation management; Learning analytics …

Thank you!O Questions?

Teacher education in EstoniaO Initial teacher education: on the Masters’

level, 120 ECTS (incl. thesis)O 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

O Successful “Teach First” programme O In-service teacher education: teachers are

expected to attend 160 hrs within 5 years, funded by MoER

O A dedicated 80 hrs programme “Teacher of the Future” based on ISTE NETS-T standard

Teacher education: innovationO Centres of Educational Innovation in Tallinn

& TartuO 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?