5 Reasons to Delay Student Devices from Term 1 to Term 2

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As we approach Term 4 and the end of another school year, it's worth reflecting on some of the bigger moments of the year. For me, it has been so encouraging to notice the ongoing questioning of the value of EdTech in schools. For many years, I have argued for lowering screen time and raising expectations in classrooms, and for moving away from consumption-type activities towards creative-type activities. I haven't been alone in this, but we haven't always had the listening that this subject deserves.

The release of the book "The Digital Delusion" by Jared Cooney Horvath, at the start of this year, has had an even greater impact on schools and parents than the release of "The Anxious Generation" by Jonathan Haidt. Questioning what we do and why we do it is a healthy activity, particularly as the end of a school year approaches. The creeping ingress of AI tools into classrooms has further amplified these concerns.

A great framework for planning how the following year will begin could include the following titles:

• What shall we do more of?

• What shall we do less of?

• What shall we get rid of?

• What shall we add in?
  

Here are just 5 advantages your school will benefit from if you consider removing devices from students for all or most of Term 1 2027:

Students get a “hard break” of 18 weeks of using devices at school - this is a major opportunity for them to leave any poor habits behind.

Teachers get the opportunity to engage with some highly effective PLD to lift pedagogy so that if we (or our students use technology in the future), it will have highly visible and valuable outcomes.

Devices can often block or impair the development of relationships between students and also with their teacher. The delaying of devices in term 1 allows teachers to focus on:

Routines

Relationships

Rotations

Students can be taught explicitly how to learn - including how to think, how to question, how to act on feedback and how to use technology effectively.

The school can embark on an audit/reset process - taking time to plan how and when devices will be used, from Term 2 onwards.

Feel free to contact Martin if you’d like to explore these exciting ideas any further.