Offline or online?
UNESCO, which is the United Nations ’ education, science and culture agency, has called for a ban on the use of smartphones in schools, ostensibly to tackle classroom disruption and improve learning.
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The call, which was part of an extensive report dubbed “Technology in education: A tool on whose terms?” is also meant to protect children from cyberbullying. The 418-page report is part of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report.
According to the report, there was evidence that the excessive use of mobile phones in schools promotes distractions among learners and, in a way, displaces learner experience in the classroom.
UNESCO has called for a “human-centred vision” of education, which would ensure that technology, including artificial intelligence, becomes subservient to face-to-face interaction with teachers and not replace it. Face-to-face contact hours, UNESCO argues, would improve educational performance and prevent the negative effect that high levels of screen time have on children’s emotional stability.
The social dimension of education, according to UNESCO, should not be neglected, even as more learning moves online, especially in universities. “Those urging increasing individualisation may be missing the point of what education is about,” the report said, and that “not all change constitutes progress. Just because something can be done does not mean it should be done.”
“The digital revolution holds immeasurable potential but, just as warnings have been voiced for how it should be regulated in society, similar attention must be paid to the way it is used in education,” UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay was quoted as saying.
She added that “its use must be for enhanced learning experiences and the well-being of students and teachers, not to their detriment. Keep the needs of the learner first and support teachers. Online connections are no substitute for human interaction.”
Reading parts of the report took my mind back to attempts by some countries to limit the use of smartphones in schools, while others saw it as a must-have in their educational reform programmes. China is a notable example.
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Citing China, UNESCO explained that she has set boundaries for the use of digital devices as teaching tools, limiting them to 30 per cent of all teaching time, with students expected to take regular screen breaks.
Also, France introduced its policy on the use of smartphones in schools in 2018, and the Netherlands is expected to bring in restrictions in 2024. In all, countries were “waking up to the importance of putting learners first,” UNESCO said.
In fact, the report also rightly acknowledged how the adoption of digital technologies prevented an education meltdown during the pandemic, which came to a boil in 2020. Records indicate that millions were able to continue with their education because technology made it possible for instructor-led programmes to continue.
As I explained in the October 1, 2022 edition of this column, the information superhighway, anchored on the capabilities of the internet, has made it easier for information to be easily accessible, and has promoted lifelong learning.
There are thousands of free online courses from some of the big-name education providers on the internet. What is impressive about some of these courses is that you will find it straightforward to learn, either as part of your professional development path or just to acquire a new hobby.
EDX, for example, boasts more than 3600 free courses, serving up online courses from top colleges and universities around the world. Also, Coursera is similar to EDX but skews a bit more toward professional training.
In fact, continuous personal development is important if you want to be fit for the future. New technologies are transforming some key industries and impacting positively on human lives.
As l ponder over all the life-transforming changes that technology has brought, I also keep a worry in mind; and that is whether all of us can keep up with the pace of technology-driven innovations to stay relevant in today’s world.
My worry lies in the need for inclusive growth, sustainable development, poverty reduction, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead if you are not technology compliant. Disruptive innovations have challenged existing paradigms and offered new possibilities that were primarily unimaginable. As Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it is done”.
It is this part of me that makes me plead for some changes to be made to the call by UNESCO. I am of the view that before a ban is placed on smartphones in some developing countries, efforts should be intensified to ensure that the digital divide is first closed.
There are schools in the United States of America that have more computers than a village in Africa. Even in today’s high-speed internet age, there are still some places in Africa with no internet access at all. That is the reality.
In some developing countries, the use of the mobile phone is the only connection people have with the finance world. They are able to send and receive money on their mobile phones, and that has become life-changing for many.
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Yes, face-to-face learning is good, but as COVID-19 taught us, the digital channels must be understood too, and by all. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the fact that our future is inextricably linked to creativity and innovation and that things can change quickly, even if we have put in place all the right mechanisms in our decision-making processes.
Well, perhaps, as the call is on smartphones, the low-end phones can stay and their use by children in schools be supervised and restricted.
Some countries already have guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools, whether smart or low-end. The UNESCO report has raised key points, laudable ones, of course, but more still needs to be done to ensure that offline or online, the value remains the same.