... how Sweden is moving back to textbooks
In an age where we celebrate daily the marvels of digital technology like never before (no such platforms as Facebook, YouTube or LinkedIn when most of us were at school) studies are emerging of the potential drawbacks when relying too much on screen time and third-party, “digital thinking”. In response to a decline in reading performance and retention skills, the Swedish government has outlined its plans of significant investment in more traditional textbook purchases. As one Swedish educator suggested, technology is producing lazy thinkers, a huge problem, especially for the youngest in our schools.
Schools minister Lotta Edholm has long been an outspoken critic of technology in education and stated that students need more textbooks… that physical books are crucial for learning. The government is now aiming to make digital devices non-mandatory in preschools and completely end digital learning for children under six. This is good news for many is and the move has gained increasing support in Sweden among teachers, parents and students expressing preference for more offline time and interactivity.
It will be interesting to see if other countries including Australia follow this route. The Karolinska Institute and UNESCO, for instance, have also expressed concerns about the negative impact of digital tools on student learning. They advocate a return to more traditional knowledge acquisition through printed textbooks and teacher expertise.
As a memory trainer this comes as a breath of fresh air where lack of learning and retention among adults is seen as an issue for many too reliant on their myriad of tech’ devices. It’s not uncommon to see a grownup in total panic mode and tearful disarray when their network is down or their phone battery dies!
When we take on new mental challenges we are stimulating and even growing new neurons, which all helps to preserve or enhance mental acuity. When shopping, reading from a phone display or even a written note does little to help stretch the brain. This is why our simple “shopping list challenge” - to remember every item of 10, 20, 30 items and more – is a great starting point and a simple but extremely helpful mental exercise to not only sharpen the mind but to also to help stave off cognitive decline as we age. And while this may seem of little relevance to early school learning, if retention and lazy thinking are being noticed so early on as a problem, I hate to imagine how bad that could become down the track…
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