Using Screen based technology in education for student (particularly upto primary school age levels) as the main learning tool- in place of books & other physical teaching aids, can often have more negative effects than benefits. Very limited screen based exposure with groups of children (such as AR & VR especially in the senior classes) can be useful, but only as a learning supplementary tool.
France has incidentally banned use of all screens in Schools, including tablets, smart phones and wearable smart digital watches for school students upto the age of 15 years !
Please consider reading the Washington Post news item – which brings out that Screen usage by children upto age of 15 leads to attention disorders.
With easy access to screens, students waste considerable energies in exploring the Internet. When it comes to studying, or focusing they get so distracted & unfocussed that they don’t have the interest or motivation to study.
At The Sixth Element School, we want our students to excel.
Therefore in line with our own research and policies such as that announced by France – we will limited usage of screen based technology to the bare minimum – and certainly not allow tablets as the main means of learning for our primary wing .
Our focus is on the students’ intellectual, cognitive and all round development. At this stage, they must learn how to also socially interact with teachers and fellow students. At The Sixth Element School, we aim to inculcate the love for education in a warm, nurturing manner – with core experiential learning practices integrated into our daily learning & engagement plans.
By providing them with easy access to screen based technology, students instead of applying their own minds also sometimes copy homework from the Internet.
Furthermore, we want our students to stay away from the risks & addictive claws of social media while they are growing & studying. Social media can be very toxic at this stage. It distracts the students’ concentration away from their studies & development – as our Sixth element’s own centre of research is indicating. As students lose themselves in the whirlpool of social media, they will lose healthy physical engagements & friendships as well. We don’t want everything to become superficial for the students at this stage. We want friendships to be real. The students should be engaged in real sports rather than mobile games.
We aim to pull the students away from the deceiving charm of technology towards discovering & tasting the real essence of life. We have introduced recreational activities such as reading and lots of physical activities in the students’ daily schedules. And by reading & discussing books by famous authors, we will help the children explore the world of wisdom and knowledge.
When children have an option to study or watch their favourite cartoon, what do you think they will choose? The answer is obvious. Cartoons not only distract students from their studies but also has many other cons too. Using tablets all the time can cause eye strain and affect the students’ eyesight.
Technology also promotes a sedentary lifestyle. We want our students to be proactive and build healthy relations. We don’t want them to look at life through the lens of social media.
Parents must understand that the list of cons is endless. It overshadows the few benefits that come with using technology for education. Keeping in mind all of this, The Sixth Element School adheres strictly to the “The French Law for the 21st Century.” – Nearly NO Screens for children in school upto the age 15 ! and none of the so called new age fads of tablet based smart learning – which is a big, big sham in which many schools are leveraging unproven methods of teaching & learning in their schools – simply to unfortunately profit !
What are your thoughts / views on this please..