Education in Estonia: PISA & digital turn Mart Laanpere, PhD Head of the Centre for Educational Technology Tallinn University

Estonia: facts & figures Population: 1,3 million Tallinn: 400 000 Area: larger than 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 2012 Maths 14 6 17 7 11 3-6 Reading 13 8 5 Science 2 9 1-2

PISA results Results in Russian-speaking schools have improved, but still lagging behind Gender differences: boys are much worse in reading, but slightly better in maths Equal opportunities: socio-economic status does not affect the results, school compensates The share of low-performing students is the smallest in Europe

In addition Estonian pupils are the most active users of e-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 What could be the explanation of our PISA success?

Internet arrives Estonia New national curriculum IT in schools: Estonian Juku computers E-mail projects, PCs for schools Tiger Leap Foundation, 1st strategy 1986 1989 1993 1997 Graduated teachers’ college Became school principal In TLF regional committee

Miksike, Teachers portal TigerLeap + Intel TTF, Digital content New nat-l curriculum, Moodle WebCT arrives Estonia E-uni, IT Foundation Miksike, Teachers portal TigerLeap + Intel TTF, Digital content CNC, anima, variety of trainings 1998 2001 2002 2004 IT in teacher ed, VIKO, MA Educ. multimedia Tiger in Focus, IVA, DigiDidaktika TiF 2, study on IT & school culture

New nat-l curriculum, iPads Havike E-VET New nat-l curriculum, iPads 3rd strategy: Learning Tiger TLF strategy, indicators, SITES, iTEC Nat-l strategy of lifelong learning 2020 2006 2008 2010 2013 Calibrate, LeMill, TATS, PETS, Deer Leap Koolielu portal, MA EdTech, OER, EduFeedr Dippler, TEL@workplaceDLE, DigiComp

IEA SITES 2006-2008

Vocabulary shifts in national ICT strategies for education 1986: programming is the second literacy for 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 Success factors: Failures: Flexibility, support for innovators, agility IT managers in schools, infrastructure upgrades Well designed and managed teacher training TLF: small team (no IT experts), NGO, funding, PR Failures: Collaboration with different partners Little research, no evidence-based policies Moore’s chasm not crossed Loss of vision, replacing with indicators

No clear paradigm Programming as the second literacy? Key skills for today’s jobs? Improving access to learning resources? Modernizing the learning environment? Catalyst for wider educational change? Looking for “silver bullet”, that can provide measurable success, understandable by laymen (politicians), within 4 years

How to measure the impact? Conference in Astana: scientific proof needed! Tiger in Focus, SITES and other studies: no impact on grades, school budget, minor impact on paradigm shift Tiger Leap commissioned a whole-class 1:1 laptop study, teachers: no need to change, students: take them away! OLPC & Inter-America Bank: 2.5million laptops later, no or marginal effect on learning outcomes (math test scores) 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 “Use of ICT” model, based on computer labs, has 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 Digital turn in formal education system: digital culture into curricula, bottom-up innovation, sharing good practice, educational technologists in schools Digital learning resources: digital textbooks, OER, quality management, recommender systems 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) 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 Intake: 15 experienced teachers enroll every year, 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! Questions?

Teacher education in Estonia Initial teacher education: on the Masters’ level, 120 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 Centres of Educational Innovation in Tallinn & Tartu Curricula renewed to meet the new teachers’ professional qualification standard, more and earlier practice in schools Experimental curriculum for science teachers New portal eDidaktikum.ee, created by the consortium of teacher education institutions Educational technology: DigiTurn programme for school teams in TLU, sponsored by Samsung

Thank you! Questions?