Education in Estonia:PISA & digital turn

Mart Laanpere, PhDSenior research fellow

Centre for Educational TechnologyTallinn University

Call me MartO I am third-generation mathematics

teacherO Principal of a rural K-12 school 1992

– 1996O Researcher in the Centre for

Educational Technology, Tallinn University since 2003

O Research interests: digital competences, pedagogy-driven design of online learning environments, digital textbooks, online assessment, smart schoolhouse, learning analytics, didactics of informatics

Estonia: facts & figuresO Population: 1,3 millionO Tallinn: 450 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 results2006

World / 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 results 2012O 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

Explaining our success in PISA

O High autonomy of schoolsO Highly qualified teachersO Schools provide equal opportunities,

no difference between urban and rural schools

O More books at homeO Metacognitive learning strategiesO Increase in educational expendituresO Very few new immigrants

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 digital competences

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

O Digital textbooks, eSchoolbag platform

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 …

Your impressionsO Based on your impressions today,

how would you explain the success of Estonian schools in PISA?

O In case you are interested in comparing your national curriculum with the Estonian one: https://www.hm.ee/en/national-curricula

Digital turn in Estonian schoolsTowards 1:1 computing and new

learning paradigm

IEA SITES 2006-2008

Technology generation shiftsIn

shop

In sc

hool ?

National ICT strategies for education in Estonia

O 1986: Juku computers, programming is the second literacy for a citizen of the Soviet Union!

O 1997: Tiger Leap: school computerisationO 2001: Tiger Leap+, ICT integrationO 2006: DigiTiger, e-learningO 2012: learning and teaching in the digital

ageO 2014: National strategy for lifelong learning,

digital turn towards 1:1 computing & BYOD

Action plan for Digital TurnO 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

Old and new pedagogiesTech usePedagogica

l capacityContent

knowledgeMaster required

content

Outcome: Content mastery

Old

New Outcome:

Deep learning

Teacher Pupil

Discover and master content together

Pedagogical

capacity

Create and use new knowledge in

the world

Ubiquitous technology

(Fullan 2013)

Configurations of digital textbook 2.0

Planetary systemmodel

Linuxmodel

Legomodel

Stabile

coreDynamic core

No core at all

Experiences from Samsung Digital Turn project

O Whole-school digital turn: focus on change management and pedagogical innovation (Fullan)

O Every school found their own focus (20 schools)O Learners as creators: Kahoot, Geocaching, Digital

storytelling, learner-created textbooksO Systemic and sustainable change: formative

assessment with e-portfoliosO Leadership: digital language immersion, regional

leadO Digital maturity self-assessment tool, peer-

assessment between schools

Helsinki University: future classroom

Thank you!O Questions?