Finland's school experience: not the number of technologies, but the ability to choose the right one
A study by Finland's National Agency for Education finds that digital technology alone does not improve learning – what matters is how, when and for what purpose it is used. The author argues Latvia should also set clear learning goals for every major digital investment.
Finnish schools have widely used digital tools for more than a decade, and the accumulated experience shows that the mere presence of technology does not improve learning outcomes. This is confirmed by a study from Finland's National Agency for Education on the impact of digitalisation on learning, skills and student wellbeing. What matters most, the study finds, is how, when and for what purpose a teacher chooses a particular tool – not the number of devices available in a school.
Buying a tool doesn't justify using it
In practice, Finnish teachers often start using a device or platform simply because the school has already purchased it. But before using any tool in class, teachers should first determine exactly what students are meant to learn from it and how to check whether the goal was achieved. If a technology distracts students or fails to aid understanding of a topic, it should be dropped from that particular lesson. The same solution can help one class while creating extra difficulties for another, since students' age and readiness for independent work vary. Finland has no centralised system for choosing teaching materials — teachers select their own methods and materials, which also means they are responsible for evaluating their usefulness.
Books and workbooks remain essential
Despite rapid technological development, printed learning materials still play an important role in Finland, and there is even a trend of returning to handwriting and paper-based tools. Printed workbooks remain a core learning tool through grade 9, even in highly digitalised schools, since they let teachers quickly spot exactly where a student went wrong.
Teacher skills and funding
The study found that teachers' digital skills vary widely, meaning long-term support and professional development are needed. It is not enough to know how to operate a tool technically — teachers must also be able to judge whether it genuinely helps students concentrate and understand the material. Regular discussions among teachers comparing outcomes across classes help build this competence.
In Finland, municipalities fund learning materials — on average around €140 per student, and over €200 in Helsinki, compared with €35 in Latvia. This illustrates the direct link between a teacher's methodological freedom and a school's financial resources. The author, a senior lecturer at Lapland University of Applied Sciences, concludes that a modern school is not one where digital tools have replaced printed ones, but one where teachers can choose the solution best suited to each learning goal.
