Willow Elliott spent her middle school years during the COVID-19 pandemic. And like most of her peers, schoolwork suddenly shifted to screen based learning.
“It’s so easy to just Google answers and get assignments done really quick. And that’s not helping anybody learn. That’s not going to help us when we get to college and get out into the real world.”
Now she’s a senior at Pulaski County High School, and is advocating that teachers assign more work that can be done off screens.
The American Academy of Pediatrics warns too much time on tablets, smartphones or other devices can lead to multiple problems for children and adolescents. But fewer studies show exactly how this translates to school-based learning.
During the pandemic, most schools began using more technology, even for some of the youngest students. But now, some parents and teachers have been pushing for less screentime in schools. And in Pulaski County, Elliott is leading the change. Last year, she was selected to participate in the Southwest Virginia Governor’s School, and as part of that experience, she realized something about taking notes during class.
“Whenever I can handwrite it, I think it stays in my mind more,” Elliott said. “It’s more relevant in my brain, and I can easily access it.”
Elliott began digging more into why screens may not be as effective as using pen and paper. She also interviewed her peers, and a majority said, like her, they retain information better when they handwrite notes or read something in a book versus a screen. Then she took her findings to the Pulaski County school board and asked that teachers assign more work off screens.
“I want the return of paper-based learning. I think it helps students and eliminates distractions,” Elliott said.
There is research to support what Elliott observed. “We know that there are differences in if you are physically reading a book, versus reading it on a tablet, or listening to it, in terms of how much you are actually comprehending and remembering from it,” explained Rosanna Breaux, an associate professor in the department of psychology at Virginia Tech and director of the university’s Child Study Center.
Pulaski County school superintendent Rob Graham said Elliott’s presentation impressed the school board.
“We valued that and looked at it, and went back to our leadership team and said, ‘this is something that we really want to investigate.’ And, you know, it turns out that we need to move in that direction,” Graham recalled.
Graham says for the past year, the school board had already been exploring how much classroom time should be spent using Chrome books. Cost is one issue, but so is the research that shows many young people are struggling with mental health challenges, partly as a result of heavy screen time. He said school leadership read “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt, as part of a statewide conversation initiated by former governor Glenn Youngkin, to explore the impacts social media is having on children and adolescents.
When Elliott presented her power point, Graham said it made them take the issue even more seriously.
“We also are well aware that the amount of use of the screen time does not enhance your ability to be a critical thinker, or be a creative thinker, or be an effective communicator, or somebody who values collaboration,” Graham noted.
But Pulaski schools aren’t throwing technology out completely. They’re going slowly, beginning by eliminating most screen time for pre-k, kindergarten and first grades.
“We have a lot of funding spent on technology, so we don’t want to wipe it all away,” Graham explained. “We do understand the value that it has in our classrooms. But it should be used more supplementally than being the priority for our teachers.”
Graham said they’re also emphasizing more project-based learning and assignments that encourage students to work in a team.
Research suggests that if teachers do use screens, it’s better to use the technology interactively, said Breaux. “Rather than having each student have the learning up on their own device having maybe the larger one, and then there may be a break out afterwards or practice with it,” Breaux said. “But when we’re using screens, it’s still done in a social, interactive way. There’s still facilitated learning.”
Breaux, who wasn’t involved in conversations with the Pulaski County School Board to reevaluate their technology policies, said there are some indications that screen-based learning can help some students, including adaptive technologies for students with learning disabilities. She said some kids also just prefer to read on a screen.
Willow Elliott agrees, there is some use for technology in the classroom. But if students have access to paper and pencils, and are assigned projects that engage them, she thinks most will respond positively to a break away from screens.
“And for any of the adults, I know it’s more convenient definitely to use the screens and assign homework. But it comes down to what’s really benefiting the students, and that’s paper-based learning,” Elliott said.
Right now, Pulaski County’s plan is to eliminate one-on-one assigned Chrome books for elementary students over the next four years. Students will still have access to technology, but the youngest children will do most of their schoolwork away from screens.
