Nov. 17, 2021
By Amerie Diaz
Staff Writer
The shift from in-person to virtual learning during the pandemic led to a rise in screen time for students. Unfortunately, the continuous use of technology has become the norm in education. Adapting to learning online was a challenge for many students, and teachers must ask themselves how they can reduce screen time now that students are back in the classroom.
Technology has caused people to have reduced attention spans, making it especially difficult for students to focus when the majority of their work is done on a screen. If there are few restrictions on the websites students visit—and because teachers cannot be constantly monitoring students’ screens—a student can get sidetracked from the lesson and use their device for purposes unrelated to school. A student could be receiving notifications from various apps, checking email, messaging a friend or surfing the web. This could all be done on the same device, and these distractions can be incredibly harmful to learning.
Furthermore, too much screen time creates various health-related issues. Studies have found that screen time is connected to depression and obesity due to sitting in the same place for an extended amount of time. Furthermore, too much screen time can cause problems sleeping and can damage a person’s vision. On average, teenagers spend over seven hours on a screen per day, excluding schoolwork, and this was prior to the pandemic. The more time students spend online, the more they will strain their eyes.
Additionally, learning through educational technology is less engaging than traditional methods of classroom learning. Because students are back in school, there is no reason for them to always be on their devices.
Because students are back in school, there is no reason for them to always be on their devices.
In order to make sure students are not overusing their screens, teachers should implement break time in the classroom where students put their devices away. To make work more interactive, teachers should implement more classroom games and make the most of physical classroom materials like the whiteboard, worksheets, construction paper, markers and scissors.
Whenever possible, students should take notes by hand because studies show it is more effective than taking notes with a computer. When people type their notes, they usually write word for word. However, when people write their notes by hand, they must be more selective in what they write because they usually cannot write as fast as they type. This causes students to practice active listening and begin to memorize the information as they synthesize it for the purposes of note-taking.
When students are using a device that has an internet connection, they have access to just about any resource, which includes websites where they can find answers to test questions or homework assignments.
Today, the number of students who admit to cheating is at an all-time high with 75% of high school students admit to academic misgivings, and 86% of high school students believe most students cheat at some point. Likewise, the pandemic has led to increased reports of cheating among college students. In fact, plans for cheating on Advanced Placement exams arose in 2020, causing exam registrations to be canceled for some students.
Because of the harmful effects devices like Chromebooks have on students’ well-being and academics, teachers should focus on activities and assessments that do not require screens. This will lead to students being more focused, calm and engaged while in the classroom.
