Inspenet, June 23, 2023.
The use of screens in the classroom has generated an intense debate and a country that supports this strategy is Sweden, which will review its Digitization Plan with the aim of improving students’ reading comprehension.
An article published in the French newspaper Le Monde claimed that Sweden would abandon its Digitization Plan and go back to using textbooks instead of screens in the classroom. This decision was based on the results of the 2021 PIRLS Report, which assesses the reading comprehension of 4th grade students and showed a clear decline. However, the reality is that the Scandinavian country is revising its plan with the purpose of improving reading comprehension, which has generated a relevant debate on the use of screens in the educational environment.
In this regard, Héctor Ruiz Martín, director of the International Science Teaching Foundation, investigated in the Swedish press and clarified that the Swedish Minister of Education, Lotta Edholm, does not intend to abandon the Digitization Plan that was approved last year. Instead, it has requested that different experts study and analyze it so that the pertinent changes are made. In addition, it has been reported that Swedish students will once again take the tests in a paper format instead of digitally, as was done in PIRLS 2021 (which was the first time that all tests were carried out in a digital format).
Although Edholm is critical of screen use, he acknowledges that “digitization can be fantastically beneficial for students, but it must be used sensibly.” On the other hand, the Swedish government intends to increase the presence of books in the classroom and will allocate 60 million euros this year for the purchase of teaching materials, as well as another 44 million to strengthen the development of language, reading and student writing.
Not everyone is in favor of the use of screens
Regardless of the interpretation given to this news, the fact that it has been suggested that Sweden intended to eliminate the use of screens in the classroom has generated a wide debate in which several experts have expressed their opinion, both in the media of communication as well as in their social media profiles.
Catherine L’Ecuyer, PhD in Education and Psychology is an example of this, since she has shown a very critical position towards the use of devices for educational purposes. In an open letter to the heads of schools that use tablets, he warns of the need for caution, arguing that “so far, there is insufficient evidence to support their use.” In addition, he opposes the argument of those who defend the fact that students who like tablets improve their academic results.
As for Estela Martín, lawyer and journalist, she has highlighted through her LinkedIn profile that everything depends on the use made of technology. She is of the opinion that reading comprehension is effectively developed through reading and writing and screens cannot replace this practice. He also stated that the excessive use of screens is creating a generation with increasingly poor reading comprehension. In his opinion, the focus should not be on completely eliminating screens or making learning more “comfortable” for students, since there is really no such thing as real learning, just a regression in reading and writing skills.
On the other hand, María Soledad Santana, a doctor in Law, expressed her support for the decision made in Sweden through LinkedIn. According to her, there is a deterioration in the education of students due to the excessive use of devices that even correct accents and spelling errors. Although he acknowledges that computers are useful tools, he believes that students can only learn by practicing making mistakes, correcting them, and reading on paper.
Do not demonize the use of screens
The psychologist Carmen Esteban has appealed to common sense through her Instagram account, stressing that it is not about demonizing the screens, since they can have a motivating component. Rather, he considers them a useful complement to watch movies related to the topics covered in class, educational documentaries, songs, search for official information on the Internet, make presentations on computers, and among other uses.
On the other hand, Susana Martín, Manager of Innovation and Digital Transformation at Macmillan Education Iberia, underlines the need to generate a debate that covers aspects related to the use of technology in the classroom. On his LinkedIn profile, he emphasizes that technology and paper can co-exist and get the best of both worlds. He does not see the debate as a binary choice between digital and analog, nor does he see it as appropriate to reduce educational technology exclusively to the use of screens. In addition, he regrets the idea of discarding digitization plans and reducing educational technology to screens, suggesting that this view may be due to concerns that they are used in the same way in the classroom as they are at home, where young children can access uncontrolled devices and surf unsupervised on YouTube, thus It can affect your attention span.
What is the best decision?
To what extent is screen use responsible for the decline in students’ reading ability? This is the question posed by Héctor Gardó, doctor in Educational Sciences and director of Digital Equity at the Bofill Foundation, in an article published in the digital newspaper Nius. Gardó reflects on what is being done to promote reading among children and young people, especially in vulnerable environments where families do not provide support in this regard and where, if they do not read at school, they do not read anywhere else. He believes that blaming the screens will not solve the reading problem, since having less access to them will not be the solution.
In addition, the expert calls for self-criticism and focuses his attention on school libraries, pointing out that it is absurd to exclusively blame the use of screens for low reading levels when, for example, in Catalonia only 58% of public schools They have a school library.
Source: https://www.educaciontrespuntocero.com/noticias/pantallas-aula-suecia/
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