In Search of the Future Classroom - Exploring the Contribution of Estonian Edtech Companies as a Sociotechnical Vanguard

Oct 15, 2026

This article examines how small collectives, described as “sociotechnical vanguards,” help shape visions of future classrooms through Estonia’s K12 edtech companies. It focuses on how these companies articulate educational futures when presenting products and services, moving beyond global sociotechnical imaginaries. Expert interviews and reflexive thematic analysis identify how company visions extend classroom boundaries beyond school buildings, into students’ inner worlds and future careers, spanning formal and informal learning activities. Findings show locally grounded variations that enhance current educational priorities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

1 Introduction: The Future Classroom and the Centrality of Imagination

In Search of the Future Classroom: Exploring the Contribution of Estonian Edtech Companies as a Sociotechnical Vanguard Emanuele Bardone 1 Signe Opermann2 1 University of Tartu, Estonia, [bardone@ut.ee](bardone@ut.ee), [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9038-2580](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9038-2580) 2 University of Tartu, [Estonia signe.opermann@ut.ee](Estonia signe.opermann@ut.ee), [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7070-0545](https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7070-0545) ABSTRACT This article examines how small collectives, ‘sociotechnical vanguards’, contribute to shaping visions of future classrooms, focusing on edtech companies in Estonia. Moving away from global ‘sociotechnical imaginaries’, the study focuses on the visions of the future classroom articulated by the Estonian edtech companies as a sociotechnical vanguard in the K12 education system when describing their products and services. Also, the study looks at different kinds of educational futures those visions entail. Using the expert interviews method for data collection and reflexive thematic analysis for data analysis, the process of identifying how these companies redefine traditional classroom boundaries included extensions of the classroom boundaries beyond the school building, inside the students’ inner world, into the world of future careers, through democratising the access to meaningful experiences, and across formal and informal learning activities. The study shows that the visions of edtech companies reflect geographically localised variations on a theme rather than alternative futures, aligning more with current educational priorities than crazy or speculative futures. In this sense, ‘the future’ that materialises in their designs remains a continuation and enhancement of present educational challenges and aspirations. KEYWORDS: sociotechnical imaginaries, sociotechnical vanguard, edtech companies, future classroom, Estonia 1 INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE CLASSROOM AND THE CENTRALITY OF IMAGINATION It is hard to think of formal education without a classroom. This is the place where students spend most of their time, and it is also one of the pillars around which schooling is organised. More analytically, the classroom can be seen as the ‘site’where ‘calculated interventions’ take place (Spindler & Spindler, 1987), and as such it stands out and apart from any other environments where other forms of learning may occur. It is in this sense a ‘microcosm’ of society (Edwards, 2005) . The classroom is also the site where the main elements of the so-called ‘grammar of schooling’(Tyack & Tobin, 1994) materialise. The division of pupils in age groups, learning and teaching taking place according to a predetermined timetable, the restricted access, the curriculum, etc. , they all presuppose in one way or the other the existence of the classroom. Precisely because of its central place in the current grammar of schooling, the classroom is where to start when seeking and articulating change in formal education. Where else could the classroom be? What are the temporal and spatial boundaries that should be crossed? Who could be included, and who should (still) be excluded? What should the roles be? What kind of relationships? What equipment? These are some of the questions that reformers and innovators have entertained when relating to changes to the grammar of schooling (Mehta, 2022) . They are also the ones that spark our imagination as to what else the classroom can be. That introduces the very topic of this article: the future classroom. Traditionally, questions related to the future classroom have been framed in relation to the introduction of educational technologies and their effective integration into the classroom. However, much of researchers’ attention has been focusing on effective and efficient use of those (An & Oliver, 2021) . The symbolic constructions of future feeding into the design and integration of educational technologies have largely rema

FAQs

What is the article’s main focus regarding Estonia’s edtech companies?

It studies how Estonian edtech companies, as sociotechnical vanguards, contribute to shaping visions of the future classroom within K12 education. The focus is on the visions embedded in their products and services.

How do the authors analyze the companies’ visions of the future classroom?

Data are collected through expert interviews and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The study then traces how these visions redefine classroom boundaries across contexts.

What kinds of boundaries do the company visions extend beyond the traditional classroom?

The visions extend boundaries beyond the school building, into students’ inner world, and into future careers. They also connect classroom-related experiences across formal and informal learning activities.

Oct 15, 2026

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