Newsflash: Estonia’s Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, emphasized Estonia’s proactive and open approach to digital tools in education during a speech at the Education World Forum in London. Unlike many European countries that are cautious about screen time and mobile phone use in schools, Estonia encourages the use of smartphones for learning. Schools set their own rules, and students—particularly those aged 16 and up who are eligible to vote online—are expected to use their phones as tools for both civic participation and education. Kallas notes the absence of problems related to mobile use, crediting Estonia’s digitally fluent society and schools’ autonomy.
Kallas highlighted Estonia’s long-standing digital investment, starting with the 1997 Tiigrihüpe (Tiger Leap) programme, which brought internet access to all schools. Now, the country is embracing AI and smartphone technology as the next evolution in education. Kallas predicts the decline of traditional homework essays and rote learning, pushing instead for a focus on oral assessment and the development of high-level cognitive skills. She frames this shift as essential in keeping pace with the capabilities of AI, warning that if humans don’t evolve cognitively, technology may overtake them.
As teachers, we’ve all been part of the debate: are mobile phones a distraction or a tool in the classroom? Estonia’s Minister of Education, Kristina Kallas, offered a refreshing perspective this week that challenges many of our assumptions. In Estonia, mobile phones are not banned in schools—they’re embraced. Why? Because they reflect the real world students are living in, and Estonia sees them as integral to learning and civic life. Sixteen-year-olds vote online using their phones. It would be illogical, Kallas argues, to deny them the same access in a classroom setting.
This approach got me thinking. In IB Psychology, we ask students to critically evaluate, think metacognitively, and link psychological theory to the real world. What better way to model that than by integrating the very tools students already use to explore and interact with that world? Estonia isn’t ignoring the risks—phones aren’t used during breaks, and younger students face tighter limits—but they are trusting teachers and schools to manage these decisions locally.
The most provocative idea Kallas raised is that AI may render essays and rote learning obsolete. That’s a bold claim. But if AI can generate knowledge quickly and accurately, then the role of education must shift towards helping students think better—to question, synthesise, communicate, and reflect. Isn’t that what we’re already trying to do in the IB?
Rather than fight the tide, maybe we should, like Estonia, ride it. But there’s no maybe about it. We should. We must!Our job, our responsibility, is to help students use them correctly, with integrity and responsibilty and respect.
Tom Coster - Psychology 