Following the government's decision in the quarantine period to develop online teaching, most students - but also teachers - found themselves unprepared , without access to a computer or the Internet, and without the necessary skills to adapt. with online learning and platforms for realizing such a learning process. Such a phenomenon was not only seen in our country, but also in some other countries, where online learning is not a common practice of the learning process. However, Estonia excelled and not in vain.
Long before the virus spread, Estonia gave national priority to digital capabilities, high-speed internet and sophisticated IT infrastructure. In 2001, it was one of the first countries in the world to consider internet access a human right.
Estonian schools have been using digital study materials and electronic school management systems for years, so when the pandemic hit forced the government to close schools in the capital Tallinn, the children had no major problems.
Prior to Covid-19, children at the Tartu Erakool Private School had their own iPad which was managed by the school and used as a routine to teach. There are definitely some additional benefits to being part of a private school, however since Estonia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country's leaders have considered the creation of a digital state as one of the priorities of education.
Prior to the pandemic, most schools in Estonia routinely used digital study materials, including a digital book platform called Opi dhe and electronic school management systems such as eKool, which connect students, parents and teachers.
Not every child in Estonia has access to a computer and tablet, but during the pandemic, schools, local authorities and volunteer organizations intervened to solve every problem.
Estonia is increasingly considered one of the countries with the best education system in Europe, surpassing Finland in the international tests of the Student Assessment Program (PISA).
Source: Guardian
