Tallinn University · School of Digital Technologies
Centre for Educational Technology¶
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What We Do¶
We design, develop, and evaluate technology-enhanced learning tools and pedagogical approaches. Every tool we build is simultaneously a functional platform used by real educators and learners, and a research instrument that generates evidence about how people learn with technology.
Our research addresses questions at the intersection of computer science, learning sciences, and instructional design:
- How can learning analytics help teachers make better pedagogical decisions?
- What does productive collaboration between teachers and AI systems look like?
- How do we design flexible learning paths that genuinely adapt to individual learners?
- What makes educational technology adoption sustainable beyond the pilot phase?
We don't build tools and then look for problems to solve. We start with research questions arising from authentic educational challenges, develop technology-based interventions through iterative design-based research, and evaluate their impact in real classrooms and training contexts.
The tools featured on this site represent our primary R&D portfolio. These are platforms that are actively developed, deployed, and researched. Beyond these, we contribute to a wider ecosystem of projects and services spanning areas such as STE(A)M education, citizen science, game-based learning, personalised learning, digital competence assessment, and curriculum analytics. Our work extends wherever technology meets a genuine educational need.
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Research Fields¶
Our work is situated within several overlapping research domains:
Technology-Enhanced Learning¶
Our core discipline. We investigate how digital tools, platforms, and data-driven systems can support and transform educational practice, from primary schools to universities to professional training.
Learning Analytics¶
We develop model-based learning analytics approaches where pedagogical frameworks structure data collection, analysis, and feedback. Our focus is on making analytics actionable for teachers: not just dashboards, but tools that change practice.
Artificial Intelligence in Education¶
We explore how AI can augment (not replace) human expertise in education. Our research covers retrieval-augmented generation for assessment, hybrid intelligent systems for teaching, and the training teachers need to work effectively with AI.
Teacher Professional Development¶
A significant strand of our work focuses on how teachers develop digital competence, adopt data-driven practices, and transfer training into classroom action. We study this through longitudinal interventions, national-scale training programs, and school–university partnerships.
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How We Work¶
Our methodology is rooted in design-based research. We don't separate tool-building from knowledge-building. Each project moves through iterative cycles of design, deployment in authentic settings, analysis, and redesign. This means our tools carry the marks of real classroom use, and our publications carry the weight of real implementation experience.
We work in multi-stakeholder partnerships with schools, ministries, European research consortia, and industry partners. Our tools are developed with teachers and learners as active co-designers, not passive recipients. We believe that educational technology succeeds or fails at the point of adoption, so understanding institutional contexts, teacher beliefs, and social dynamics is as important as writing good code.
We are committed to open science and collaborative development. Our research findings, data, and instruments are shared openly wherever possible, and we contribute to community-driven interoperability standards. We welcome partnerships with research groups, institutions, and organizations interested in our tools. Please do reach out to discuss collaboration opportunities. We publish in leading venues including Computers & Education, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, European Journal of Teacher Education, and Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence.
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Institutional Context¶
The Centre for Educational Technology is part of the School of Digital Technologies at Tallinn University, Estonia. We have been active since 2005, growing from a small working group into a research centre with a portfolio of nationally and EU-funded projects.
Our research has been supported by the Estonian Research Council, the European Commission (Horizon Europe, Erasmus+), the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, and other national and international funding bodies. We have coordinated and participated in projects across multiple European countries, collaborating with universities, schools, and educational organizations.
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Recognition¶
Our work has received national recognition, including the Estonian Science Award (2020, awarded by the Estonian Academy of Sciences) and placement in the national competition for research articles in the field of education (2022). We contribute to the broader research community through editorial work, programme committees, and doctoral supervision across educational technology, learning analytics, and teacher education.
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