So, Sweden’s scores dip a little in literacy & math - while a hundred other variable changes occur in life - and the conservative government decides the cause is digital technology, and to go all in on abandoning digital to return to 50s teaching methodology. With no evidence to base this decision on beyond a hunch that the traditional way is best (in fact, some evidence to the contrary).
Yep, sounds about right.
It’s proven that actually physically writing things down helps with information retention.
We all wonder why the younger generations now have such short attention spans? Because computers and other screened “smart devices” are shoved into their tiny hands the moment they get to school, a lot of times even earlier than that.
Yes, writing helps with retention - however, writing was never removed from teaching. This is a hard knee-jerk reaction to remove all digital tech possible from schooling.
Kids attention spans lowering has has little to do with teaching and everything to do with parents giving their kids devices as babysitters from an early age. Mealtimes: ipad, bored? Ipad. Bus? Iphone. Car? IPad.
Fix that? No, let’s instwad remove almost all the tech from schooling, which will affect ~1/9th of their waking hours.
Good luck, Sweden. Sincerely.
the 50s, the 60’s, the 70’s …the 80s, the 90s, the early 00s…
okay now backwards, all the way back to BCE…
humans have learned with teachers, books, pencils and paper for centuries.
I have a son with severe ADHD. I work with his school and pay attention to his education. From what I see, pencil on paper is the best way for our brains to retain information, things like spelling and multiplication. Slow learning gives longevity and the ability to recall said information.
Show me the evidence computer learning is best, long term. One cant, because children learning on screens full time, are not entirely out or school even just yet. There are no long term studies. In my country, numbers are falling fast in education. We had a blip for covid, but it seems its not gotten better.
My son has to do something called Iready on the computer for Language Arts.
They make every lesson a game. Bright lights, cartoon characters, games, funny sounds. And least for my son, he doesnt retain it. Years on Iready, and he couldnt write a paragraph. One year with a teacher using traditonal methods (same as I been trying to do at home, how I learned) and he now can write one.
Here’s a meta-analysis of 92 studies showing overall a benefit for using digital tooling in classes.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131520300968
The issue of attention spans in the new generation is far more to do with what kids do in their spare time than at school. What’s wrong is the home environment where ipad/phone/laptop are the babysitter, entertainer, and nanny for every moment of still. Eating, resting, playing.
OK let’s use anecdotal evidence if that’s where value apparently lies. I have kids and they have read about 50 books a year every year. They both have had limited time on devices since early age (1 hour a day max scaling up to now with a couple hours as they got older). They use TV freely as it had little impact to early generations attention spans. 0 attention span issues. They use digital tech in school. They are both in the maths/science extension classes and doing great academically, and they’ve had no tutoring etc - just school and their homework. I’m Australia if that makes a difference.
