Estonia - Understanding society and knowing where to find answers to various questions relating to daily life can facilitate integration in any country. With the help of About Estonia, an interactive mobile learning platform, IOM Estonia plans to offer foreigners new to the country the help that they will need to understand Estonian society and systems.

Foreigners in Estonia frequently have a vast array of questions, according to IOM Estonia’s Liis Paloots.  “They ask us about their rights, obligations and responsibilities in Estonia, how to get health insurance, how to get their prior learning and professional experiences recognized and dozens of other tough questions,” she said.

About Estonia, a free, English language platform, helps to provide the answers. It targets refugees and other newly arrived foreigners in Estonia. Learning is in the format of cards, with each course divided into easily understandable learning blocks. It is accessible to anyone in Estonia on most mobile devices.

“(Software company) Funzi provided technical solutions developed in Finland as part of the national agenda and part-funded by the Finnish government. We provided the content, using conventional classroom teaching materials. Their limitation was that, unlike this platform, they could not reach everyone everywhere,” said Paloots.

“Mobile learning is an effective way to reach most migrants and can easily be translated into their own mother tongues. Our aim is to provide the skills for everyone, whether native or migrant, to be able to fully contribute to their societies,” said Funzi founder and CEO Tero Salonen.

To visit the platform (in Estonia) go to: http://funzi.mobi/course/aboutestonia

For further information please contact Liis Paloots at IOM Estonia. Tel: +372 534 15497, Email: lpaloots@iom.int. Or Tero Salonen at Funzi, Tel: +358 40 506 2440, Email: tero@funzi.fi