The thesis reveals the establishment of a new teaching

The applied research carried out for the thesis over the course of four years involved 189 Estonian teachers and educational technologists from 67 schools as well as over 2000 students. As a result, the researcher created a TELIP (Technology Enhanced Learning Innovation Process) model describing the three-step process that teachers follow to adapt to new technological learning methods (Consciousness-Acceptance-Adoption). In order to move from one stage to another, various factors favoring the sustainability of the learning method must be taken into consideration. In creating the model, the world’s most common technology adoption patterns as well as practical research in the field over the past decades were taken into consideration. The process of testing the model involved teachers in grades 3 and 6 who had incorporated the use of robots into their math teaching methods over the course of three years.

The importance of the TELIP model and other similar approaches is on the rise due to the need to effectively and sustainably implement the information-intensive and relatively expensive learning methods necessary for the green revolution in the European Union. Leoste hopes the document will help educators, politicians and school leaders understand that simply using an innovative teaching method is not enough to integrate that method into teachers’ classroom practices. In order to enrich their teaching methods, teachers need to be confident that the new approach will add value to the learning process as a whole as well as to learning outcomes and student well-being. The only way to provide this assurance to teachers is to test the new methods in real-life situations – a process that can last the entire school year or longer. It is true, however, that the tests can lead teachers to believe that the new method is not suitable for practical use. From the point of view of national education policy, the implementation of a new learning method must therefore take into account the factors which prove the durability of the method, in particular the social practices associated with the acquisition of the method. Factors influencing teachers’ adherence and acceptance of the method should be addressed at certain stages of the method implementation process to enable them to integrate it more quickly and painlessly into their teaching practices.

With the participation of the University of Tallinn, the TELIP model has been used in several project proposals which will be submitted to the Horizon Europe application cycle for the sustainable implementation of innovative learning methods.

The thesis supervisors are Professor Mati Heidmets, University of Tallinn, and Professor Learning Analytics and Educational Innovation Timo Tobias Ley, Tallinn University. Opponents are Professor Margus Pedaste, University of Tartu, and Associate Professor Kalle Juuti, University of Helsinki.

The thesis is available in the ETERA digital environment of the TU Academic Library.
https://www.etera.ee/zoom/160250/view?page=1&p=separate&view=0,0,2067,2835

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