Educational Technology in Estonia

Notas del editor

1. 1. Estonia is this tiny country right below Finland with a population of 1,3 million. Independent from the Soviet Union since 1991, it’s not widely known by the world, but for the few ones who do know, the country has been tited and titles itself „E-Estonia“... 1.
2. 1. ... and technology really is widely used in all the citizens’ everyday lives. ID-cards and mobiles are used to sign documents, vote online on national elections, file taxes, access bank accounts and e-services on different state-level platforms. Everything in Estonia is online...
3. 1. ...and so are the schools. 97% of Estonian schools have their own wifi network and more than 99% of students have good everyday access to internet.
4. 1. The most widely used e-service in Estonia is eSchool, a nation-wide school administration system used daily by all teachers, students and parents to give homework assignments and feedback, review grades and communicate.
5. Today, every Estonian school has at least one computer classroom and most schools are also equipped with laptops, tablets and interactive boards in addition to many smaller devices.
6. There is also a very wide variety of e-learning environments and teaching materials online for teachers to choose from and the majority of teachers claim that they often use these opportunities.
7. 1. Estonian National Curricula (2011) sets goals for three major ingredients of education: subject field learning outcomes, general competences and cross-curricular themes. Technology is a part of all of them and according to the curricula, every student from grade 7 onwards should...
8. .1. „be able to think and act innovatively while using new Technologies for problem-solving and coping with the rapid changes in living, learning and working environments“ . And while it’s true that students are regarded as skillful technology users by teachers, the teahcer themselves are not ready for it
9. It Since is means that policy makers are expecting the implementation of 3rd generation technology enhanced learning systems in every single classroom at a time where schools and teachers are still adapting to the 1st and 2nd generation TEL systems
10. 1. International research suggests that Estonian teachers’ computer usage is below EU average and devices are mostly present in special technology classes and not so much in the learning process in general.
11. 1. There is also a big difference between primary and secondary school since ICT is mainly used for additional work or for fun., where students’ technological literacy sometimes surpasses the teachers’ and therefore does not create a comfortable environment for a teacher to use it.
12. This is partly due to the aging of Estonian teachers and the non-popularity of the profession. Additionally,
13. 1. The usage of technology in teaching and learning is very dependent on the teacher’s understanding and competence in the field of technology. ICT studies have been part of teacher training programs for more than a decade, but we still lack a paradigmatic approach to using it effectively and efficiently in the learning process.
14. 1. Almost half of teachers’ most wanted in-service trainings are about flipped classroom, one-on-one computer usage and „bring your own device“ opportunities, but they rarely make their way to the classroom.
15. My experience!! visiting schools
16. My experience!! - school and university
17. 1. Technology in schools is therefore something like a „visiting marriage“ – they’re kind of together, but only occasionally. If I was to boldly generalize, for most teachers, educational technology in action means powerpoint supported lessons or whatever the ICT teacher does in computer class.
18. But this was how things have been and might be right now, but we are moving forward in the framework of Estonian LifeLong Learning Strategy that defiines Estonia’s goals in education by 2020
19. Modern digital infrastructure is used effectively and efficiently in teaching and learning and access to the new generation of digital infrastructure is ensured, digital skills improved. And what they are going to to for it...
20. ...e-learning materials and quality assurance, minimum digital infrastructure requirements, BYOD facilitation, need-based support system for those who can not afford, assessment tool of digital competence, in-service trainings with implementation and evaluation