Putting screens back into learning for a while

It's hard to imagine the contemporary world without screens. They are everywhere: from our pockets to our classrooms, hospitals and theaters. Digital technology is now part of our daily lives, and students and teachers alike use them for both work and play. This can lead to a certain weariness, however; indeed, the phenomenon is well felt by teachers themselves.

Too much techno kills techno

Thank goodness technology was there to ensure educational continuity during the covid-19 pandemic! While this abrupt transition was not perfect, it did at least prevent learners from being unable to complete their school year. However, this overexposure to screens - already adding up to a lifestyle where they are more than present - led many to express some symptoms. Teachers have seen their students unable to focus on lessons, become disengaged from classroom activities, and lose interest in participating. It's as if too much distance learning has reduced their social skills, those of performing manual tasks like handwriting, etc. Not to mention all the possible distractions with apps, games, social networks, etc.

On the faculty side, the situation was no more enchanting. This obligation to employ more digital means has proved, for some, a headache and it has also added to the screen time of these same professionals. In December 2021, EdWeek Research Center surveyed teachers, principals and district administrators. The results were pretty stark:

• 66% said they were personally somewhat or very tired from technology use versus 34% who were invigorated;
• 79% said colleagues in their school or district were tired;
• 72% noted varying degrees of fatigue among students.

Detoxing from the screen

Of course, this type of sentiment goes against all the work that has been done by schools to add digital to training. How do you both protect a thousands, if not millions, of dollars investment while providing screen respite? It can start at the school level.

In fact, everyone from management to young people can become aware of daily and weekly screen time and try to reduce it. That means, as this American teacher explains, addressing the risks of "overdosing" on screen time and establishing tips with parents on how to better manage, through timers or apps, the times during which kids look at a screen. Rather than rewarding them with time on computer devices, why not offer to go for a walk, cook together, play outside, etc.

As for the classroom itself, it is quite possible to think of periods away from electronic devices: activities that take place outdoors, revolving around books or concrete manipulations like what can be done in makerspaces. Various exercises require only a little paper and thought in order to create connections and discussions that go beyond the virtual.

Even programming does not necessarily require a computer. Teachers could offer students to code their name, i.e., invent a language to decode it like the Python, C++, Java and others of this world do. There is a book offering Scratch blocks to reproduce and print to design a program without the help of a machine. To carry out the commands, figures can be used.

The idea is not to exclude learning with digital entirely, quite the opposite. These skills are essential for tomorrow's world and they need to learn as much about using them as they do about creating with them. However, too much screen time kills the possibilities of positive computer literacy. So, let's give them both in their homes and in the classroom moments to pause inside as well as outside in order to decrease this accumulated technological fatigue.

Picture credit: en.depositphotos.com

References:

Done, Phillip. "How I Got My Students to Stop Staring at Screens." Time. Last updated August 19, 2022. https://time.com/6207134/how-i-got-my-students-to-stop-staring-at-screens/.

Fitzpatrick, Jessica. "6 No-Tech Coding Activities You Can Do at Home." STEM Supplies. Last updated August 2, 2022. https://blog.stem-supplies.com/6-no-tech-coding-activities-you-can-do-at-home/.

Hudgens, Laura. "How Too Much Technology Too Soon Can Impede Students' Learning." Bored Teachers. Last updated: October 13, 2022. https://www.boredteachers.com/post/too-much-technology-students-learning.

Klein, Alyson. "Tech Fatigue Is Real for Teachers and Students. Here's How to Ease the Burden." Education Week. Last updated: April 5, 2022. https://www.edweek.org/technology/tech-fatigue-is-real-for-teachers-and-students-heres-how-to-ease-the-burden/2022/03.

Nadzri, Elya. "Tech Fatigue: Why You Feel Tired and How to Overcome It." QuickSchools Blog. Last updated: November 1, 2022. https://blog.quickschools.com/2022/04/29/all-about-tech-fatigue/.

Spall, Tom. "Top 5 Ways to Enrich Your Classroom Without Technology!" Brenham Tech Daily [BISDwired Team Blog]. Last updated April 14, 2022. https://brenhamtechdaily.blogspot.com/2021/04/top-5-ways-to-enrich-your-classroom.html.

Stephens, Darri. "Moving Beyond Tech Fatigue in the Classroom." Nearpod Blog. Last updated March 11, 2022. https://nearpod.com/blog/moving-beyond-tech-fatigue-in-the-classroom/.

Yu, Lin. "Teaching in the Classroom: Activities Without Technology." Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. Last updated October 6, 2022. https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/resources/teaching-in-the-classroom-activities-without-technology.