Meeli Rannastu-Avalos

Meeli Rannastu-Avalos is a Lecturer at the Institute of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tartu, with a focus on Educational Technology. She has held various academic roles since 2017, including Assistant and Junior Lecturer, and has been involved in projects like DigiEfekt and Go-Lab, emphasizing digital learning materials and collaborative inquiry-based science education.

• Education:
  • Research Master's Degree in Agricultural Science (Animal Husbandry), Estonian University of Life Sciences (2004)
  • PhD student at University of Tartu (since 2018)

Research Interests center on educational technology, inquiry-based learning, collaborative problem-solving, and 21st-century skills in science education. Her work explores how smartphone-based simulations and digital tools enhance student collaboration and learning outcomes.

Publication Trends highlight her contributions to collaborative learning in technology-enhanced environments, with recent articles analyzing asymmetric simulations (2025), social-emotional skills (2023), and AI-assisted qualitative data analysis (2023). She has published in journals like Journal of Baltic Science Education and Estonian Journal of Education, as well as conference proceedings (CollabTech, ICALT).

• Scientific Awards:
  • 2004 Laureate of DeLaval Scholarship

Projects include the DigiEfekt initiative (€300,000 funding) and development of smart device-friendly simulations. She has also contributed to Go-Lab ecosystem for digital lesson creation and participated in institutional research administration (Estonian Science Information System, ORCID: 0000-0002-7804-1430).