Anonymous wrote:Kudos to Sweden. This is the right decision.

No it isn’t. Should they get off your lawn, too, Luddite?

Anonymous wrote:Singapore still uses paper textbooks and lots of paper worksheets. Teaching style there is very traditional. Their PISA scores are far far higher than the US and have been for many years.

I don’t believe this is true. Singapore is a global leader in applied technology and are investing in it for schools.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/moe-education-ministry-technology-learning-spaces-industry-partnerships-21cc-framework-3790921

Anonymous wrote:Please can we do the same?

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/11/sweden-says-back-to-basics-schooling-works-on-paper

The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalised approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.

Why?

Because (checks notes), Sweden does something?

This is a digital age. Textbooks are heavy and outdated. Would like to force kids to use slate and chalk too?

Singapore still uses paper textbooks and lots of paper worksheets. Teaching style there is very traditional. Their PISA scores are far far higher than the US and have been for many years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please can we do the same?

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/11/sweden-says-back-to-basics-schooling-works-on-paper

The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalised approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.

I'm so glad to hear this. My 4th grade/APS daughter brought home study sheets for VA history. These were very brief sections, mostly 1 sentence bullet points. Missing the paragraphs of explanation that a textbook would've had. I've no clue what they're supposed to be learning. Memorize bullet points and by process of elimination match memory to multiple choice answers?

+1. Kids are not learning how to look up the answers from a paragraph in their textbook. They are not learning how to scan for what they need. It’s a critical skill. It’s already been boiled down for them and life doesn’t work like that. Parents have nothing to reference either if a child needs extra help.

Thankfully my admin never consider technology use as something necessary for a great lesson. There is terrible wifi in my classroom so I rarely use technology anyway.

Anonymous wrote:The top Pisa 2022 ranking countries talk about using technology at school in the launch video. It's not about books vs technology.

I follow Pisa results because I’m an educator and I find this interesting. There are SO MANY variables at play. It’s far too simplistic to say that technology use = strong schools. It’s also the quality of the use and what else the students are exposed to.

We do NOT use technology well. I’ve had an administrator tell me that my lessons are outstanding, but that they would benefit from technology. Why? If the lessons are outstanding already, how would technology make them instantaneously better? It’s a knee-jerk reaction; we need computers to be “good.”

No, we don’t. My students engage with the material and with each other so much more when their laptops are away. They have to rely on their brains instead of Google, and it’s refreshing to watch them think instead of regurgitate. There is a time and place for technology. I no longer believe it’s in the classroom. I’ll use it when necessary (a research unit), but otherwise computers are away.

Kudos to Sweden. This is the right decision.

The top Pisa 2022 ranking countries talk about using technology at school in the launch video. It's not about books vs technology.

I’m a private school teacher who posted last year on DCUM. I wrote that I returned to textbooks and paper assignments in an effort to limit technology in my classroom. I was criticized harshly and called a terrible teacher by multiple posters.

We seem to equate good education with access to technology. I disagree. I see the misuse of technology every day, and I’ve realized that the best way to encourage critical thinking is to keep laptops in backpacks.

Anonymous wrote:Please can we do the same?

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/11/sweden-says-back-to-basics-schooling-works-on-paper

The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalised approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.

I'm so glad to hear this. My 4th grade/APS daughter brought home study sheets for VA history. These were very brief sections, mostly 1 sentence bullet points. Missing the paragraphs of explanation that a textbook would've had. I've no clue what they're supposed to be learning. Memorize bullet points and by process of elimination match memory to multiple choice answers?

Again Europe is ahead on education. If only Randi Weingarten would immigrate and even things out.

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't Sweden care about the environment?

They can reuse the books. When I went to school, there was a space in the back of the books where previous users had written their names.

Doesn't Sweden care about the environment?

Please can we do the same?

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/11/sweden-says-back-to-basics-schooling-works-on-paper

The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether Sweden’s hyper-digitalised approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.