Students ditch devices for pen and paper learning in ‘digital detox’

Growing concerns about the impact of AI and excessive screen time on student literacy results has seen parents, teachers and education experts back efforts to reduce screens and devices in classrooms.

St Joseph’s Primary School in Schofields, NSW, now favours physical books over screens for reading, along with handwriting over typing on devices, part of a broader shift that Principal Cathy Hey said has lifted results and led to a range of other benefits.

“Our academic results have really improved but our wellbeing results have improved as well,” Ms Hey told The Daily Telegraph. “We’re seeing a great shift: an improvement in student focus, an improvement in attention spans and an overall improvement in wellbeing.”

Rather than a laptop or tablet, students use small physical whiteboards to write responses during lessons, letting teachers check students’ understanding without risking distraction.

Ms Hey said parents at the school had been highly supportive of the shift, with changes to teaching methods backed by research.

“It’s come about as a result of contemporary* research but also a lot of commonsense,” she said.

“There’s a connection between actually handwriting something down and retaining it in our brain … when you physically write something down, you retain it and you can retrieve it later with more success.”

Centre for Independent Studies director of education research Blaise Joseph said there had been a definite shift in recent years away from screen use in schools, both in the public and private system.

Mr Joseph said the shift away from screens was a sharp reversal of the early optimism* toward classroom technology.

“Twenty years ago there was all this excitement around technology and education and everyone was saying, ‘This is awesome, kids are going to be so much more engaged’.

“All that has turned out to be wrong. It’s exactly the opposite. It makes students less engaged in learning and it makes it harder for them to concentrate,” he said.

“There’s quite a big consensus* now in Australia across schools, parents and politicians, all saying we need less screens in schools. It’s actually quite striking how quickly this consensus has happened.”

A variety of groups are calling for schools to re-evaluate screens in the classroom.

The Heads Up Alliance – a movement focused on delaying children’s access to smartphones and social media – has thousands of signatures on a petition calling for primary schools to be tablet and device-free and for the routine use of laptops in high school to stop.

Following last week’s NAPLAN results, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare backed plans for what he labelled a “digital detox*”.

“I think there is a good argument our kids need a digital detox,” he said.

“There is a lot of evidence that writing something down has a bigger impact on learning and memory than typing it.”

Education ministers have asked the national curriculum authority to consider pen and paper tests for NAPLAN in years 5, 7 and 9 and will examine AI’s impact on critical thinking*, comprehension* and homework.

The Illawarra Grammar School is another among a growing number of NSW schools to have reduced laptop and screen use in classrooms for more traditional handwritten work.

Principal Julie Greenhalgh said the decision was driven by a push to minimise distractions for students during class.

“We’re confident that it’s doing the job. These children are learning really well,” she said.

“Our results are improving out of sight. We were 55th in the state in the HSC results last year. And our NAPLAN results are outstanding.”

NSW Education Minister Prue Car said there were “growing concerns around children’s use of technology, particularly the amount of time spent on screens”.

“While much screen use occurs outside school hours, schools have a role to play, and we want to ensure schools’ use of technology strikes the right balance and is age appropriate,” she said.

“Our government has already banned students from using phones at school and we have also commissioned our own research to better understand the impacts of screens and screen addiction.”

POLL

GLOSSARY

contemporary: existing in the present time, modern, happening now

optimism: being full of hope and emphasising the good parts of a situation, or a belief that something good will happen

consensus: agreement, a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people

critical thinking: the process of thinking carefully about a subject or idea

comprehension: an active learning process that involves the reader understanding and interpreting what they are reading

digital detox: a period of time during which you don’t use mobile phones, computers

EXTRA READING

Kids, it’s time to be eSmart agents

What scrolling does to your brain

From misbehaving to mega author

QUICK QUIZ

What are two changes made to classroom learning at St Joseph’s Primary School in Schofields?

What else aside from academic results has improved at St Joseph’s, according to Principal Hay?

What is the Heads Up Alliance?

What drove the decision at the Illawarra Grammar School to reduce laptop and screen use?

Where did the school rank is NSW’s HSC results last year?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

1. Handwriting vs typing recall experiment

Divide the class into two groups. Use the short paragraph below for Group 1 to copy by hand, and the other half (Group 2) to type on a device.

After a 10 minute break from the text, see how much they can now remember by writing it down.

Did Group 1 or 2 have better results?

Text to copy:

Some Australian schools are using fewer laptops and tablets and returning to handwriting, physical books and whiteboards. Teachers and education experts say these changes may improve students’ focus, memory, learning and wellbeing. The Australian Government is also considering reducing technology use in some tests and researching how AI affects students’ critical thinking and comprehension.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum Links: English, Digital Technologies, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension

Do you think NAPLAN tests should be completed on paper or digitally? Provide three or four reasons with evidence on your view to provide to the Education Minister.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY

Grammar and VCOP

The glossary of terms helps you to understand and learn the ambitious vocabulary being used in the article. Can you use the words outlined in the glossary to create new sentences? Challenge yourself to include other VCOP (vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation) elements in your sentence/s. Have another look through the article, can you find any other Wow Words not outlined in the glossary?