Screens are bad for your swede

Sweden’s high literary standards were once lauded across the developed world.

Then they slumped and the country fell down the international PISA rankings.

Diagnosing the problem caused a great deal of debate but the governing administration has decided that part of the problem is down to children working from screens in schools.

The Nordic nation was pioneering in its roll-out of devices for students and moving towards digital teaching.

It prepared children for a digital future, made them ready for the world of work and would give them an advantage over other countries which were late adopters, so the argument went.

But now it is introducing a ‘back to books’ strategy, swapping pixelations for paper in the hope it can revive its literary success.

It is a fascinating case study and important for the UK which is becoming more tech-dependent in schools with innovations such as interactive screens to replace whiteboards.

And since the Covid pandemic students have become more used to studying with the help of screens.

There needs to be a balance.

I advocate the use of digital technology and all children should be taught to touch type too.

However, this should not replace analogue skills – being able to write with pen and paper and reading from books.

Restricting the use of screens for younger children is helpful because they are already accessing them too much.

And some evidence suggests it can hamper the development of the brain.

Too much screen time in the young can reduce attention spans and delay the development of language skills.

So removing screens for the young is sensible – they can always pick up those important digital skills when they are older and when their brains are more developed.

The basic skills in literacy – grammar, syntax, spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and comprehension skills – are still required and can be learned with paper and pen.

It is the same with numeracy skills. Children need the basics; the four rules of number, decimals, fractions, the two rules of percentages, ratio, probability, shapes and angles and algebra.

Engaging with these topics using paper and pen without digital support will lead to better learning outcomes.

We can see from the high use of digital technology in Sweden that this has led to lower learning outcomes.

There is nothing wrong with digital technology but ‘we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater’.

We need analogue and digital skills!

ends