On 16 June at 14.00 Doris Kristina Raave will defend her doctoral thesis “Socio-ecological enactment process (SEEP) model for understanding digital technology integration”.
Supervisors:
Professor Margus Pedaste, University of Tartu
Associate Professor Katrin Saks, University of Tartu
Opponent:
Professor Helen Crompton, Old Dominion University (United States of America)
Summary:
Both research and practice have primarily asked: “What is needed to use digital technology in schools?” The answers have typically focused on faster internet, new devices, or digital training for teachers. While these conditions are an essential foundation, they are insufficient on their own to ensure meaningful technology integration. Questions of “how” and “why” have remained overlooked.
This doctoral thesis argues that the value of technology does not lie in the device itself, but in how the teacher utilises it. The classroom is an unpredictable and dynamic environment where prescribed formulas do not work; instead, professional judgment is required. This is what Aristotle described as practical wisdom or the ability to choose the right method or tool at the right time.
The model developed in this work, SEEP (Socio-Ecological Enactment Process model), shows that teaching is a constant, dynamic negotiation among goals, students’ needs, and surrounding conditions. Based on observations of nearly 170 lessons and 80 teachers’ interviews, this research confirms that technology use is not a rigid style. The central message of this thesis is that implementing technology is an active process, not just a passive consequence of having the right conditions in place. Technology’s educational value emerges through teachers’ practical wisdom and agency, arising from the interplay of their personal readiness, the immediate needs of the classroom, and a supportive school environment.
SEEP helps us understand how and why pedagogical practices actually take shape, and guides us toward creating a supportive environment. In practice, this means ensuring sufficient time for collaboration, reflection, and continuous development within a supportive learning community. This is a prerequisite for effective educational policy, where teachers are trusted and supported as the true experts in their own classrooms, as only their professional judgment can make technology integration meaningful.
