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Daniel Bottom

Screens

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Last term, I was fortunate to visit a number of local secondary schools. All were very welcoming and the English teams were, clearly, full of enthusiasm, knowledge and flair.  

What struck me though, was the emphasis on visitors keeping their mobile phones turned off/out of sight, an approach which, increasingly, seems to be becoming commonplace. However, as in my school, many students were carrying tablets and laptops. This made me wonder whether, though such devices offer less scope for social media distractions, do screens of any sort encourage students to focus elsewhere during lessons?

Also, given than the majority of students still face examinations that require them to convey their thoughts by pen, does typing not serve to de-skill them over the years leading up to their final exams?

Or are we, at present, lost in the transition from paper to screen? We want to prepare students to leave us in their wake so they can move into their futures filled with tech, yet we are asking them to navigate assessments in a medium that seems increasingly archaic.  

2 replies
  1. Post by Bryony Owen
    Re: Screens
    As a school that is very device focused this is something we are increasingly concerned with, particularly in getting the balance of device use and working on paper (following a significant amount of device usage during covid online learning). We have found in faculty that a hybrid model seems to work best for ensuring that students are technologically literate (using their devices in a meaningful way to support their learning), whilst also building the paper skills necessary for their examinations. We tend to focus on student device use in lessons to form part of knowledge checks and collaboration, using tools such as jamboards and quizlets to ensure that they engage in their learning and also socially engage with their peers as part of this process. A number of our students also write their own revision notes on their devices using their digital pens, using them in exactly the same way as they would if working on paper. The large bulk of their class work is completed traditionally into their books, particularly when writing examination style responses. A bigger hurdle for us has perhaps been the loss of social skills that device use has resulted in following online learning, a number of students are very eager to just focus on their devices in completing work independently rather than engaging in learning with their peers and in discussing their learning. 
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  2. Parent of this post↑ Reply to Bryony Owen from Daniel Bottom
    Re: Screens
    Hi Bryony, 

    It sounds like the issues posed by, and advantages offered through, screens/tech are fairly common. There is so much knowledge that students can meaningfully access online that it would seem peculiar to shut this off, especially given than pens and paper are such a rarity in the 'real' world. That said, if the point of education is to help students to be life ready, then social skills, interaction, public speaking and collaboration are crucial too. I guess we have a responsibility to stand back and look at what will be best for the students so they can leave us behind and though the solutions might be hard to find, they will be out there if we look hard enough.

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