Educational Technology at the University of Tartu

05/06/2026

Last week, Pirjo and Emanuele were in Warsaw for the meeting of the IMPRESS-U REAPv research project led by Julia Melkers from Arizona State University. A few intense but highly rewarding days of coordinating and thinking.
The project brings together several academic institutions from Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, the United States, and Lithuania.
The core issue addressed by the research teams is the public values that guide academic engineering as both a profession and a research enterprise. The project also examines the public value innovations developed by and with academic engineers. All that is explored across the aforementioned countries - Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
(Photos taken by Marcin Gorski, who is one of the academic engineers of the Polish team)

05/06/2026

The upcoming Monday, our edTech students will defend their thesis. One long day of Peace and edTech.

The defence will be streamed. So, if you want to see what our students have investigated during the past 10 months, you will have a chance to do so.

This is the link to the live stream:
https://ut.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=d934517b-2162-4ac6-ab5e-b452005bac78

This is the schedule:
08.30–09.15: Liene Ozolina, Sharing the Desk with Generative AI: Teachers’ Well-Being in AI-Supported Assessment. A Systematic Literature Review. Supervisor: Emanuele Bardone (Reviewer: Yaroslav Opanasenko)

09.15–10.00: Nadežda, Designing Collaborative Inquiry-Based Learning Experiences in Grade 8 Chemistry Classrooms, Supervisor: Leo Siiman (Reviewer: Meeli Rannastu-Avalos)

10.00–10.45: Clinton, Integrating Algorithmic Literacy Lessons into Middle School Digital Citizenship Curriculum, Supervisor: Leo Siiman (Reviewer: Yaroslav Opanasenko)

10.45-11.00: Break

11.00-11.45: Linh Van Khanh Tran, Bridging the Black Box: A Qualitative Exploratory Study on Enhancing Teacher Visibility into AI-Assisted EFL Speaking Practice Through Chatbot-Mediated Learner Reflections. Supervisor: Emanuele Bardone (Reviewer: Iskender V. Sancar)

11.45-12.30: Karina Palloson, Student Interaction with Educational Chatbots in Grades 5 and 6 English Lessons During Independent Study Time, Supervisor: Katrin Saks (Reviewer: Anait Akopyan)

12.30-13.30: Lunch Break

13.30-14.15: Graham Byers, Flexibility and Structure: Online English Teachers’ Experiences Adapting Materials Across Digital Whiteboard Environments. Supervisor: Leo Aleksander Siiman (Reviewer: Emanuele Bardone)

14.15-15.00: Allen Bauman, Am I the Author? An Intervention-Based Study of Authorial Discernment in AI-Mediated Student Writing. Supervisor: Emanuele Bardone (Reviewer: Yaroslav Opanasenko)

15.00-15.45: Andre von Eye Corleta, Supporting Cognitive Test Anxiety in Self-Regulated Learning: Comparing AI and Human Feedback in Digital Test Preparation. Supervisor: Natalia Edisherashvili (Reviewer: Leo Siiman)

15.45-16.00: Break

16.00-16.45: Tiina Malt, Digital Portfolio as Formative Assessment Tool in the Primary Education: Impact on Teaching Practices and Student Engagement. Supervisor: Leo Aleksander Siiman (Reviewer: Natalia Edisherashvili)

16.45.-17.30: Kendrah Elisabeth Walker, Interpreting and Enacting AI Professional Development: An Autoethnographic Study of Teacher Experiences of a Mandatory Program. Supervisor: Emanuele Bardone (Reviewer: Mirjam Puumeister)

17.30-18.15: Leonardo de la Hoz Borengo, Reflecting on Health and Sustainability: A GPT-powered Intervention to Support Parental Awareness and Family Well-being. Supervisor: Liisi Pajula (Reviewer: Mirjam Burget)

04/06/2026

Yesterday, we had the very last webinar of the year. Emanuele met some of the learners who are going to defend on Monday.
Speaking of which, the defence will be streamed. So, if you want to join us, follow us. Tomorrow we will share all the details.

25/05/2026

In a few days the deadline for the submission of the thesis. This year too we are slowly approaching to the end. In a blink of an eye and we will find our students flocking around the king!

18/05/2026

Today we have celebrated Meeli Rannastu-Avalos, who successfully defended her PhD! Congrats, Meeli! You deserve it big time!

"This thesis designed, implemented, and empirically examined the Technology-Enhanced Asymmetric Collaboration framework, or TEAC, as a pedagogical approach to supporting subject knowledge, inquiry knowledge, and collaborative problem-solving in digitally mediated inquiry-based learning. The framework was examined in two Estonian schools through simulations on photosynthesis, electricity, and genetics involving students in Grades 5, 7, and 9. The learning activities took place in regular classroom settings using tablets and smartphones, and the tasks were structured so that each student had a specific role and access to only part of the information and simulation controls needed to solve the problem."

Big round of applause to her supervisors - Leo Siiman and Mario Mäeots.

Her word can be found here: https://dspace.ut.ee/bitstreams/8c38809b-36f6-4b02-8c5e-9d9757eaa404/download

18/05/2026

Interested in the micro-degree programme Transformative Technology Use for Education Futures at the University of Tartu?

Join our virtual info session to learn more about the programme, its courses, study format, and admission process. The programme director will introduce the micro-degree and answer your questions live.

When?
Join Our Virtual Info Session: 2 June at 16:00 (EEST)

Register for the session if you are considering applying or would simply like to explore whether this programme is right for you. Your contact information will only be used to send you the webinar link and practical information about the event.

https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=F2M1bQQNvEq2toyXc4hbsEQzqaLZR61EvjdfLsy-H2BUMTBXS0VaMUI5MUtKQkxLU1pZRTlHMk5PWC4u&route=shorturl

More info about the Micro Degree here: https://haridus.ut.ee/en/content/micro-degree-programme-transformative-technology-use-education-futures

18/05/2026

Big day for our colleague Meeli! Kivi kotti sulle!

And a round of applause for her supervisors, Leo and Mario (who is now Head of CybExer Academy)!

Find out about the possibilities for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships at the University of Tartu .

07/02/2026

The end of the first semester marks the end of our Micro Degree Programme in "Transformative Technology Use for Education Futures". Since 2022, we have been offering this micro degree to learners who are interested in studying educational technology at the University of Tartu but are unable to commit to the full master’s programme in educational technology.

At the end of our onsite session in Tartu in August, we took portraits of our micro degree students using a film camera. The idea was that, upon completion of the programme, not only would each student receive their certificate but also the negative of their photograph. It was, for us, a way to crystallise a moment in time. We kept this promise.

But why using a film camera?

Both our micro degree and our master’s programme are inspired by the idea that we now inhabit the "postdigital". This term reflects a change in our relationship with digital technologies and in our collective awareness of their meanings. In a context where digital technologies are no longer a novelty, using a film camera is an invitation to discover what older technologies can offer in a world where our habits, expectations, and ways of paying attention were reshaped through our entanglement with the digital.

When engaging with analogue photography in the present, digital technologies do not disappear. Quite the opposite: they continue to operate in the background, while an analogue technology such as film photography provides alternatives to our current habits and expectations. This form of photography may help us appreciate patience and durability. And it is definitely merciless. The photographer discovered that some of the shots were slightly out of focus only 2 weeks after the photoshoot took place! Yes, Analogue photography unfolds in time and resists the certainty of immediate review.

And now a tiny ethnographic detail: when we were sorting the negatives, it was not always easy to see which person appeared on which strip (and we certainly did not want to send the wrong photo!). That was the moment when a mobile app, applying a filter through the tablet camera, became useful. It allowed us to “read” the negatives and confirm each portrait.

In the postdigital, even analogue photography has become digital!

With all this being said, congrats to our micro degree people!