+++
Smartphones should be used responsibly in schools – or not at all
It’s estimated that children spend between five and eight hours a day staring at screens, raising concerns about the educational benefits of having smart phones in the classroom or not. From cyberbullying and deteriorating mental health to poor academic performance, there are many reasons for educators to consider banning smartphones completely.
By Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa
Whether you liked having your child glued to a device all day or not, few parents had a choice during the COVID pandemic. With kids unable to go to school and parents forced to stay at home, remote learning – and staring at screens – became the order of the day. The strict rules that came with monitoring screen time simply went out the window.
Even though the threat of COVID has receded, few of us have gone back to strict digital limits for our kids. It’s tricky when many learners are now attending online schools, such as Teneo and Impaq, which have seen their numbers swell in recent years. In addition, many schools are embracing technology and see it as a progressive step for all students to have laptops in class and submit their assignments electronically.
Benefits of devices in schools
The use of smart devices in class can provide many benefits, as long as this is done in a controlled manner. For one thing, online learning is interactive and enjoyable. Apps like Siyavula make learning maths and physical science fun, while Duolingo introduces gamification, meaning learning a new language feels a lot like playing a video game, complete with rewards and all the dopamine that goes with it.
In a country where more than half of disadvantaged schools don’t have libraries or textbooks and 43% of learners don’t have access to books at home, having tablets or smart devices in the classroom goes a long way to address the digital divide. Kids can easily look up topics for assignments and gain easy access to information.
Phones are also a great way for kids to get hold of their parents when they’re going to finish school late or need to be picked up from a different location. Scheduling apps make adding a calendar event simple and can help students organise their time more efficiently.
The drawbacks of smartphones in class – even when they’re on silent
Despite these advantages, there are many drawbacks to schools allowing kids free rein with their smartphones in class. The most obvious disadvantage is that they’re constantly distracted. Even when their smartphones are on silent, they’re constantly thinking about what they’re missing out on, the FOMO effect, keeping them cognitively glued to the device. The best results, both in terms of academic performance and an improvement in mental health, are felt when schools ban smartphones entirely, a recent Norwegian study has found.
According to the study, girls especially fared much better after smartphones were banned in schools, reporting a 60% decline in psychological symptoms and a 22% improvement in their maths marks. Socially, both boys and girls benefited from the ban, with fewer instances of cyberbullying and a marked improvement in face-to-face communication.
Another UNESCO study of 14 countries reported similar findings, saying that mere proximity to a smartphone distracted students and had a negative impact on learning. The report noted that one in four schools worldwide has banned smartphones, most notably in Central and Southern Asia, as well as in France, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. In Australia, different states have various levels of restrictions, from complete bans in primary schools to policies promoting digital safety programmes. In the UK, Spain and Belgium, schools that have barred smartphones have seen students’ academic performance soar.
Both these studies point to the same recommendation, which both parents and educators would do well to heed: technology should be used mindfully within safe limits.Digital literacy training programs in the classroom are crucial and should be part of the standard curriculum s including education about privacy and cybersecurity with an emphasis on online risks, how to protect personal information and how to navigate digital spaces safely. It should also include awareness about the cyber-psychological effects that smartphones have on children’s mental well-being and academic performance and provide coping mechanisms.
As with most things in life, technology should be used in moderation and responsibly in the classroom, meaning provided and controlled by the school – or simply not at all. Because of the above, a leading girls-school in the Western Cape is considering implementing a pouch system, which ensures kids’ phones are locked while they are on campus. This school supports their smartphone ban with digital literacy, security awareness and cyber-wellbeing training
