The concluding lecture at the end of the Euneos Best Practice Benchmarking course, at Tallinn University, April 20, 2018

1. Education in Estonia:
PISA & digital turn
Mart Laanpere, PhD
Senior researcher
Centre for Educational Technology
Tallinn University

2. Call me Mart
O I am third-generation mathematics
teacher
O Principal of a rural K-12 school 1992 –
1996
O 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
mart.laanpere.eu

3. Population: 1.3 Million
Size: 45 227 km²
Capital: Tallinn
Language: Estonian
Ethnic Estonians: 69%
Member of EU: 2004
Currency: Euro (2011)
GDP per capita: 29 543 USD
Public debt: 9% of GDP
Unemployment: 6%
Exports: machinery 21%,
wood 9%, metals 9%,
furniture 7%, food 4%

4. INFORMATION SOCIETY INDICATORS
O Over 80% of families have at home computer
and broadband connection, independent to their
SES
O 95% of income tax declarations submitted
online, 99% bank transfers made online
O Online elections since 2005, over 30% e-voted
in 2015 parliamentary elections
O iBanking, eHealth, ePolice, ePrescription,
eSchool
O eResidency: https://e-estonia.com/e-residents
O Internet as a human right, free public wifi (500+
access points provided by municipalities) e-estonia.com

5. 30%70%

6. Educational statistics (OECD)

7. Succes in OECD PISA
2009
World / Europe
2012
World / Europe
2015
World / Europe
Maths 17 7 11 3-6 9 2
Reading 13 5 11 3-6 6 3
Science 9 2 6 2 3 1
The place of Estonia in the PISA ranking list (global and EU level)

8. PISA results 2015
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

9. In addition
O Estonian pupils are the most active users of e-
school and school web site
O 90% of Estonian pupils feel content with their
life
O Only 14% on the level 5-6 in maths (55% in
Shanghai, yet OECD average is 8%)
O Students have generally positive attitude
towards school
O Qualified, but ageing teachers (avg 47 y),
radical gender imbalance among teachers

10. Explaining our success in PISA
O High autonomy of schools
O Highly qualified teachers
O Schools provide equal opportunities, no
difference between urban and rural
schools
O More books at home
O Metacognitive learning strategies applied
O Increase in educational expenditures
O Very few new immigrants

11. Your impressions?
O Based on your impressions today and
yesterday, how would you explain the success
of Estonian schools in PISA?
www.hm.ee/en/activities/statistics-and-analysis/pisa
O In case you are interested in comparing your
national curriculum with the Estonian one:
www.hm.ee/en/national-curricula

12. Digital turn in
Estonian schools
Towards 1:1 computing and new
learning paradigm

13. Technology generation shifts
InshopInschool
?

14. Old and new pedagogies
Tech
use
Pedagogical
capacity
Content knowledge
Master required
content
Outcome:
Content
mastery
OldNew
Outcome:
Deep
learning
Teacher Pupil
Discover and master content together
Pedagogical
capacity
Create and use new
knowledge in the
world
Ubiquitous technology
(Fullan 2013)

15. Helsinki University: future
classroom

17. eDidaktikum.ee

18. .net
Online tool for visualising and spreading innovative learning scenarios

19. Digital
Mirror
Self-assessment:
• By the principal
• By digi-team
• By peer team
Data-driven
decision-making:
• Benchmarking
• Strategic goals
• Action plan
• School-owners’
digital strategy
Digital Mirror: Self-assessment of
school’s digital maturity,
Creating digital strategy

20. DigiMina: an online tool for self- and
peer-assessment of teachers digital competence

21. Thank you!
O Questions?
O Evaluation form:
www.surveymonkey.com/r/Benchmarking17-18
Shortlink: bit.ly/2wIJImF
https://www.slideshare.net/martlaa/education-system-in-estonia-pisa-and-digital-turn
Tomorrow:
guided tour with James
Gather by 10:00
in front of the Old Town Hall

22. Group disuccsion
O Reflect upon your experience regarding the
training and school visits during this week
(both in Finland and Estonia), draw in
conclusion:
O 3 innovative things you learned and would like
to implement in your school
O 3 things that would be impossible to copy in
your school
O 3 things that were strikingly in similar in
Estonian, Finnish and your own school