Why are these devices so unhelpful for learning? Various explanations have been offered. When students read text from a screen, it’s been shown, they absorb less information than when they read it on paper. Another frequently cited culprit is the distraction the devices afford—whether it’s a college student checking Instagram or a first grader like Kevin drawing bright pink lines with his finger. But there are deeper reasons.
One is motivation. If Kevin had been asked to combine 8 and 3 by a teacher rather than an iPad, there’s a greater chance he would have been interested in trying to do it.
It’s different when you’re learning from a person and you have a relationship with that person, cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham has said.That makes you care a little bit more about what they think, and it makes you a little bit more willing to put forth effort.
Allowing students to choose the topics they’ll learn about can also lead to serious gaps in knowledge for children who don’t know much about the world—or even for those who do. One personalized-learning skeptic has observed,
Natalie WexlerIf allowed to choose my own content in elementary school, I would have become an expert in princesses and dogs.
Another article written before the pandemic that has proven increasingly relevant as some countries closed schools to prevent viral transmission and teaching has abruptly switched to remote and digital. I can attest to some of the issues outlined here from my experience, as I delivered trainings at work for a while, both in the offices and remotely. It feels harder to connect with the attendees, to correctly assess their understanding of the topics and attention levels while you are also giving a presentation in front of a screen.
Nevertheless, in this context I generally support school closures because I think it is more important to stop the pandemic and to protect the health of children and their families. These are stressful times for all of us, and this additional stress and worrying may also impact children's ability to learn, whether they are studying at home or in a classroom.
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