Nordic EdTech News #130: 2025-03-10

Your Weeks 9 and 10 update from the Nordic and Baltic EdTech ecosystem

It’s been a quite extraordinary two weeks in Nordic and Baltic EdTech. And perhaps now more clearly than ever, the different policy approaches of our national governments towards AI and other digital technologies can be seen in stark contrast.

On one hand, Estonia announced plans to team up with leading global AI brands and launch a nationwide drive to teach AI skills to high school students. The clear aim is to help prepare them for jobs of the future (Link). The initiative, named AI Leap, will start at the beginning of the next school year and gives “students and teachers…free access to top AI tools and training to shape the future of learning.”

Estonia will be the first country globally to give all secondary school students access to tools including ChatGPT Edu. The programme’s first phase will include 20,000 high school students (grades 10-11) and 3,000 teachers. Next year, it will expand to vocational schools, adding 38,000 more students and 2,000 more teachers.

Two other notable points. Students’ data, which is subject to GDPR, will be firewalled and not included in the training sets of the AI models. Secondly, the initiative will be run by a public-private foundation with input from leading Estonian entrepreneurs. The initial budget for AI Leap is €3.2 million, rising to €6m next year.

In contrast, the Danish government has confirmed that it will ban mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs (Link). The apparent U-turn is based on the recommendation of a government wellbeing commission, which also found that children under 13 should not have their own smartphone or tablet.

Existing legislation will be amended to force all primary and lower secondary schools to become phone-free. Students will be required by law not to bring their phones into school.

Similarly, mobile phones will also be banned from Icelandic schools from the beginning of the next school year (Link). The Ministry of Education and Children's Affairs confirmed that it is currently working on rules to implement such a ban. In explaining the move, the Minister commented that “distractions caused by social media are the main problem.”

Both governments might therefore find this new research from DPU of interest (Link). In it, researchers have, for the first time, attempted to find out how screens are used in classrooms by systematically looking at the actual teaching. Among many interesting observations lies the clear fact that mobile phones are actually little used for teaching.

In yet another back-to-basics move, the Swedish government confirmed its planned changes to the preschool curriculum (Link). Minister of Education Lotta Edholm said: “….we are now ensuring that preschool can become screen-free, to instead give more space to books and more movement.”

This came along with recommendations for a new curriculum for Swedish compulsory schools (Link). As the Swedish Edtech Industry pointed out, references to AI and technology were, unsurprisingly perhaps, notable for their absence from this new curriculum!

There’s plenty of material here for delegates and speakers to discuss when the Nordic EdTech community gathers at the Nordic EdTech Summit in Malmö this September. If you missed NEN #129, the first confirmed speakers have now been announced on the event website. A draft programme will be shared in the next edition of this newsletter in two weeks.

I know it's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, but the Summit is your chance to step back, see the big picture and refocus on what truly drives growth and impact, as this quote clearly demonstrates.

“Many of our senior management team will be attending the Nordic EdTech Summit this year. It’s the only event where we can connect with the region’s top EdTech businesses, gain fresh perspectives on growth, and leave with practical strategies that are useful in our business. If you’re interested in EdTech in the Nordics, this is the place to be.”

Åsa Steholt Vernerson, CEO at Gleerups Utbildning

Tickets are selling well and as the venue only has capacity for approximately 200 delegates, book now to reserve your spot.

On the subject of don’t miss events, do check out SETT and the excellent Nordic Track programme this year. Full details here. The event runs between 8 and 10 April.

And finally, the European Commission is running a short survey on good practice around AI in education. Your contributions here would be much appreciated.

If you’ve got a story that you’d like me to include in a future issue of this newsletter, please email hello@10digits.org, tag me on X or LinkedIn or use #nordicedtech / #balticedtech.

Thanks for reading, Jonathan

News from Denmark

• Only a third of Danish schoolchildren say that they have received instruction in AI or in using AI tools. (Link)

• After significant changes, more parents and users are satisfied with the Aula school communication platform. (Link)

• Gyldendal has agreed to acquire Danviden ApS, which owns Skoledu. This digital maths teaching tool is used by more than half of Danish primary schools. (Link)

• SKIDOS’ range of educational games are now available on web browsers. (Link)

• Teacherspace Voice will use AI to “observe, listen, and provide constructive, actionable feedback to teachers and help guide their planning.” (Link)

• tiny have confirmed a new collaboration with Italy’s CampuStore. (Link)

• Toptutors have raised DKK 7 million to further their mission of making “tutoring more accessible.” They now have over 1,000 tutors in Denmark and are expanding into Spain. (Link)

News from Estonia

• Triumf Health are launching their Triumfland Saga game in Spain. (Link)

News from Finland

• During 2024, 30 million logins were made using the Finnish National Board of Education's MPASSID authentication solution. (Link)

• Code School Finland announced a new strategic partnership with CodeAcademy_om to advance AI education in Oman. (Link)

• Edita Group has sold the publishing rights to its Eläköön! learning materials to the newly-formed Eläköön Oppiminen Oy. (Link)

• Podcast with Henri Muurimaa, CEO of Eduten, discussing their growth journey and offering insights into Finland’s innovative education system. (Link)

• 88% of Icelandic students showed significant improvement in their reading skills after just six months of using GraphoGame. (Link)

• How Qridi and Wilma are helping schools implement the recent curriculum changes, which aim to provide learners with early and timely support and reduce the administrative burden on teachers. (Link)

News from Iceland

• “Artificial intelligence calls for more diverse methods of assessment.”

• How technology helps create super users of Icelandic language. (Link)

News from Latvia

• Exonicus are currently raising $1.5 million for their XR simulator for combat and emergency medical training. (Link)

• Riga Technical University (RTU) has introduced an AI-powered adaptive mathematics learning platform for high school students. (Link)

News from Lithuania

• 108 schools are testing EdTech solutions leading to “inspiring co-creations between teachers, students and startups.” (Link)

• Great interview with the founders of Turing College giving a detailed insight into their formation and growth. (Link)

News from Norway

• “We must rethink learning and skills for the future of work.”

• New research suggests that students who do not use AI risk getting worse grades and being disadvantaged compared to their peers. (Link)

• HK-dir’s report on digital transformation in the higher education sector finds that much has been done but that there’s still lots to do. (Link)

• The International Centre for EdTech Impact: WiKIT has partnered with Owl Ventures to develop The EdTech Evidence Playbook (Link) and with Helsinki Education Hub to support EdTech startups (Link).

• Ludenso brought together 3 publishing experts for their thoughts on AI and AR. (Link)

• The University of Oslo has buildt a GPT-based chat system in just 9 weeks. (Link)

News from Sweden

• The 2024 Book Sales Statistics show that sales of course literature have decreased by 39% in the last three years. (Link)

• Albert announced their 2024 numbers. They have a “lower cost base, reallocated resources to high-performing areas, positive sales momentum, implemented important product launches and prepared the organisation to be efficient and scalable.”

• gradr hosted Sweden’s first educational AI summit to explore the opportunities and challenges of using it. (Link)

• Researchers at Halmstad University find that students use AI to support their schoolwork, but in a well-thought-out and considered way. (Link)

• Great to see Lexplore arranging a seminar (12th March) in Sweden’s parliament to “highlight concrete solutions to the reading and mathematics crisis.” (Link)

• Kick Capital has led a second investment round for Nextgen Classroom. A total of SEK 3.4 million has now been invested in the startup. (Link)

• As Sana launches a new personal AI tutor, founder Joel Hellermark sets his sights on the long term: “I hope that Sana will still be around in 100 years and that we will become a Swedish institution in AI.” (Link)

• Skolon strikes new deals with Quizizz (Link) and Prinsparets Stiftelse (Link).

• Skolverket has stopped the digital national tests as the test platform's spelling and grammar checkers do not work. (Link)

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