Schools were seduced by screens. Now laptops are on the floor
In a classroom at Central Coast Steiner School, there is a blackboard with chalk and students write in their books with pencils. Not a screen in sight until year 5.
“We’re not Amish,” says principal Rosemary Michalowski.
But Michalowski and his teachers express a fierce disgust at the way laptops, iPads and screens have become commonplace in Australian classrooms.
“Schools have often been seduced by the promise of technology and marketing about how much easier it will make the learning process,” Michalowski said.
It’s been almost two decades since Kevin Rudd’s digital education revolution sent thousands of laptops into secondary schools, and it has become commonplace for primary school families to be asked to buy expensive computers.
Taking into account the harms of smartphones and social media, some schools are starting to step back on the use of devices to aid attention and learning.
“What makes me quite angry is that this disaster was predictable. All the impacts we’re seeing on attention and well-being are common sense,” Michalowski said.
His school is among them. Top academic performers when it comes to NAPLAN growth between years 3 and 5. He says his students benefit from better concentration as well as improved memory retention that comes with a strong focus on handwriting.
“We also have students coming from other schools… many of the students coming may need to work on their handwriting,” he said. “It helps the memory become more deeply embedded.”
Over the past few years, a form of “de-screening” appears to have begun in some NSW schools. This comes after the Madrid government last year limited the use of laptops and tablets in classrooms to two hours a week, without homework on screens.
Change is also underway in Victoria, where the government will limit screen time in primary schools to 90 minutes a day.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car has acknowledged growing concerns about the amount of time spent on screens.
“Although the majority of screen use occurs outside of school hours, schools also have a role to play and we want to ensure schools’ use of technology strikes the right balance and is age appropriate,” he said.
Car said the NSW government had also commissioned its own research to better understand the effects of screens and screen addiction.
At Illawarra Grammar School, which is making a gradual transition to open teaching, they have also decided to move away from the ubiquitous use of laptops.
“That’s why we minimize the use of technology in the classroom, primarily because it can be distracting in the classroom,” said principal Dr Julie Greenhalgh.
“As a result, students aged 7-12 now put their laptops under their chairs when they enter the classroom and only take out their laptops for short, private use.”
He said the research shows that there is research showing how handwriting helps increase student understanding. “In other words, less technology has a lot of benefits,” he said.
The principal of Norwest Christian College announced guidelines for the use of iPads in elementary school last year.
Device use is limited to two to three hours per week for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade, with a maximum of one hour per day for the rest of the elementary grades.
“Too much screen time and social media can harm mental health and reduce the ability to concentrate, making learning more difficult,” the guide states.
St Andrew’s Cathedral School has reduced its use of technology in the classroom. Workbooks are used in all subjects, and class time focuses on handwriting.
Rhonda Robson, the school’s elementary principal, no longer sends students assignments to complete on devices.
“We studied how teachers were using technology and listened carefully to feedback from parents to reduce homework-related device use, as in the primary school years,” he said.
While some scientific research points to the benefits of pen and paper, NAPLAN tests for grades 5 and above are taken online, while the NSW Education Standards Authority has moved more HSC exams online in recent years.
St Andrew’s president Dr. Julie McGonigle said the complexity of moving from low-tech to no-tech in recent years was that both the HSC and International Baccalaureate exam boards were moving towards fully digital exams, which she said was a “useless contradiction”.
“This movement appears to be driven by an improvement in their own efficiency rather than research on what accelerates learning,” he said.
“No matter what, St Andrew’s Cathedral School is committed to ensuring that technology is used in its place and not as a substitute for the teacher, as the servant of learning rather than its master.”
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