Why we might need to rethink our approach
A comprehensive change has occurred over the last decade in the student’s experience of completing schoolwork and homework: the work of learning now finds its home on laptops and tablets rather than on a paper medium (whether a notebook, a workbook or a textbook).
While computing devices have been used in secondary education for some time, until quite recently their use was largely restricted to the tasks of researching and writing (replacing the library and the typewriter), or to specialised uses such as coding or data analysis which are native functions of the computer.
Under the former approach, the laptop was a tool available for performing certain functions, picked up and put down as needed. In the new dispensation, laptops are as much where learning happens as the classroom or the desk at home. Lesson outlines are there; timetables, assessment information and grades are there; lecture slides and other essential resources are there; textbooks are there; worksheets are there; homework is given out there, completed there and submitted there. Even subjects such as Maths and Science — which might otherwise seem tied to figuring things out with a pencil and paper — have been included in the digital transformation through software such as Mathspace or Stile.
Individual schools and teachers will vary somewhat in their approaches, of course. But as a general rule, for most students in most subjects it is now effectively impossible for them to complete their work without making use of a digital device.
It might seem at first glance that this change is entirely advantageous, or at the very least an inevitable one which it is futile to resist. The world itself has changed: much of work, much of life, now happens on or with the aid of these devices. Our students are being educated in a manner in step with the world they will be entering as adults.
Indeed, there are clear advantages and efficiencies for students from the new world of device-based learning. For students that struggle with organisation, having all resources accessible online at any time is a huge boon (although it can also make them dependent upon everything being organised for them). Online homework distribution and submissions means no more excuses about forgetting to bring it home or back to class. Typing is a reprieve for students with handwriting difficulties, as are functions like talk-to-text for students with other learning challenges. A good piece of learning software can give students help and feedback in real time, even from home, without having to wait for individual assistance from their teachers before they can progress.
In our work with students, we are often encouraging them to make use of the tools available to them. But there is one massive downside to making their devices the home to their learning which both we and our students cannot ignore: their devices are also home to many other things completely unrelated to their schoolwork. They are home to their games, to their streaming services, to their communication with their friends and to the vast and varied expanses of the internet. In short, they are a minefield of distraction.
One of the reasons a classroom learning context works so well for many students is that it is an environment designated for learning and for nothing else. Students love the feeling of coming home from school because they are leaving a work environment for a leisure environment. This is the same reason it is important for them to have a designated place of study within their homes. One’s environment is incredibly important for establishing a sense of purpose (what am I here for?) and channeling one’s focus (this is what I do when I’m here).
Now, imagine sitting your child down in the middle of a game arcade and demanding that he or she not touch — nor even look — at the games, and instead use the time there to complete homework. Maybe someone with a will of iron could manage it. But the far easier (and smarter) solution would be to go somewhere else more amenable to completing the work. The environment used for learning matters a great deal.
The key thing to recognise is that if your child is struggling to stay focused while using a digital device for schoolwork, whether in the classroom or at home, this is not primarily a problem of poor self-control. It is a problem with the tool.
Melbourne-based neuroscientist Dr Jarred Cooney Horvath provides a helpful summary and explanation of the research into the effects of one-to-one device use on student learning. (In short: he argues that it has an overall detrimental effect on learning, except in certain limited circumstances.) He explains that if ‘attention is the gateway to learning’, as neuroscientists believe, multitasking is ‘among the worst things students can do for learning and memory’. Unfortunately, these same devices which are supposed to be used by students for learning are being used by them for many, many more hours per week for multitasking between different types of digital media.
Basically, digital devices are tools for multitasking — which means that they are the opposite of a tool for learning. A game arcade being used as a classroom.
For now, device-based learning is what we have in Australia, although that is starting to change elsewhere in the world. The new paradigm has been fully entrenched at least since 2020, when Covid lockdowns forced our schools to reimagine themselves entirely digitally. This year, the students entering secondary school in 2020 will be completing year 12. Perhaps now is a good time to reassess and consider whether it would benefit our students to be more selective about when, and for whom, digital devices should be tools for learning.
In the meantime, we at Organising Students are committed to assisting our students to do the work in front of them, which for now will often mean work done on a digital device.
In a future blog post, we’ll get into some practical tips for how students can help themselves stay focused when using their devices for learning. Stay tuned!
To learn more about how we support students and equip them with the necessary tools, skills and strategies please get in touch.
