The digital revolution in Estonia aims to implement modern digital technology more efficiently and effectively in learning, teaching, research and to improve the digital skills of the entire nation. For example, it includes ensuring that every student receives the necessary knowledge and skills to access modern digital infrastructure for future use.
Estonia’s success in the digital revolution can be seen in the educational landscape since twice as many students pursue IT careers in Estonia than the average in other OECD countries.
The Estonian Education Information System (EHIS) is a state database that brings together all the information related to education in Estonia.
The database stores details about education institutions, students, teachers and lecturers, graduation documents, study materials and curricula. How to use all the personal and statistical data from the education information system is described in the EHIS personal and statistical data use guide.
This service is intended for anyone in education, whether students enrolled in general, vocational, higher or hobby programmes, or the teachers and academic staff providing that education. It is also possible to access information on the qualifications and further training completed by teachers and academics. EHIS is also part of monitoring the education system so that the authorities can make sure it prepares people for the labour market of the future. Higher education is free in Estonia at public universities.
EHIS stores data entered since 2005, so detailed information on general education levels across the population from school to university is available on request. Applying for university studies by simply transferring your details to the desired university is the most common use of the EHIS database.
Read more about EHIS here.
The two most widely used web applications for schools in Estonia are eKool and Stuudium. These innovative tools provide an easy way for parents, teachers and children to collaborate and organize all the information necessary for teaching and learning.
The system provides an array of functions for its various users:
Estonian Research Information System (ETIS) is a national information system that concentrates information on research and development institutions, researchers, research projects and various output in Estonia. Estonian Research Information System is also a tool for submitting, reviewing and processing grant applications and for submitting and reviewing project reports.
It’s an information channel and a tool for researchers as well as R&D institutions. Researchers can use the ETIS as a place, where they can submit applications for grant competitions, publish their CV-s, introduce their research output and read field related news. R&D institutions can submit through the Estonian Research Information System applications and introduce their research projects, services and results more widely. Several R&D institutions use ETIS also as their internal research information system. Research funding organisations use ETIS for evaluating research institutions and processing applications, giving feedback, signing funding agreements and reviewing reports submitted by the grant awardees.
Estonian Research Information System has been established by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and is operated by the Estonian Research Council.
Detailed information at ETIS homepage.
e-Schoolbag is a portal for digital learning materials, developed by Ministry of Education and Research.
The portal contains materials for basic, general and vocational education, comprising digital learning material arranged by keywords on the basis of the curriculum. The primary purpose of e-Koolikott is to allow accessing digital learning materials from a single point – the user no longer needs to search for materials in different portals.
A national system of metadata has been developed for assigning keywords which is based on the structure and characteristic of curricula, the topics addressed, etc. Learning materials can be searched for based on general competencies, cross-cutting topics, classes, educational levels, subject syllabus topics and types of learning materials.
The functionalities of e-Schoolbag:
Opiq
Is it not contradictory that young people who are still getting to know the world need to carry a heavy backpack like a punishment for curiosity and good grades, especially in the times where we use our phones for banking, parking, class journals, social media, etc.?
Opiq was created to make learning – the most important job of young people – easy, efficient and exciting. The objective of Opiq is to provide instant access to everything students learn throughout their time in school. Unrestricted access allows everyone to find materials that are easier, more complex, or connected to other subjects. It weighs nothing and is always with you! Opiq changes our understanding of textbooks. Read more here.
ELIIS
eKindergarten ELIIS is an online software solution that provides innovative and digital solutions for pre-schools and kindergartens to organize their daily work. ELIIS is easily manageable to people otherwise not so familiar with computers. The environment is fully protected against non-authorized users and the access for teachers and parents to see and manage the data can be specified in each section by the staff of each organization.
The system in use at 50% of kindergardens in Estonia. The experience and feedback so far has been very positive: kindergarten teachers have been freed from filling in large amounts of daily paperwork, especially reports, in order to dedicate more time for the children. Parents are happy because of the comfortable and quick feedback about their children and overall activities done in the preschool or kindergarten. Mutual communication has become more convenient, accurate and fast.
Foxcademy
Foxcademy is targeted for middle and high school science studies. The platform has dynamic studying content, such as games, 3D models, videos, images, animations etc., which allows students to understand subjects in a better way. At the same time teachers can use the analytics tools to monitor and analyse students’ performance. All of Foxcademy’s academically thorough content, which covers classes 7-12, is reviewed by professionals and follows curriculum standards
Foxcademy’s vision is to offer a personal curriculum to each and every student while changing the way education systems work through data analytics. Visit Foxcademy here.
Roboversity
Globally, there is a lack of advanced ro.botics education programs for the pre-university students, enthusiastic teachers and corporate executives which is why Robotex (the Global Robotics Education Network founded in Estonia) decided to start Roboversity.
Roboversity consists of both international and regional in-person robotics training programs, boot camps and afterschools. The focus is to push gifted students develop their engineering skills further, while helping teachers learn how to set up new robotics clubs. At the same time, Roboversity initiates programs that would help corporates understand the latest technologies and learn how to put those in the use for their companies. Read more on Robotex and Roboversity here.
DreamApply
Studying abroad is becoming more attractive year after year. Universities have to cope with an increasing number of applications from across the globe meanwhile differentiating high-quality students. In most universities today, student admission is often overly bureaucratic and difficult to track.
Managing applications manually is too time-consuming for today’s standards. The DreamApply automated platform removes a lot of the headache and optimizes different work processes.
DreamApply has developed a student recruitment and marketing system that contributes to increasing the number of enrolled students by concluding and solving different problems, such as having all relevant information related to the admission available in one place, and reducing irrelevant e-mailing and administrative work for university personnel. Several university application systems have been built using the DreamApply platform; for example, in Estonia, Italy, Finland, Lithuania and Ireland. Read more about DreamApply.
These education e-solutions are provided by the following Estonian companies:
Find out more about the services and know-how of the Estonian IT sector
Did you know that more digital signatures have been used in Estonia than in the rest of the European Union altogether?
Did you know that X-Road saves over 844 years of working time for Estonia every year?
Did you know that scalable blockchain technology called KSI is invented by Estonian cryptographers?
Did you know that self-driven vehicles have been allowed to drive on public roads in Estonia since 2017?
Did you know that twice as many students pursue IT careers in Estonia than the average in other OECD countries?
The goal of e-Estonia Briefing Centre is to inspire global policy makers, political leaders, corporate executives, investors and international media with the success story of e-Estonia and build links to leading IT service providers.
The e-Estonia Briefing Centre has become a must-see destination, hosting over 10,000 international decision-makers every year. Make sure to book your visit in advance.