LARGE-SCALE international assessment data suggests a negative link between excessive use of technology and student performance, yet less than one in four countries have banned smartphone use in schools, according to the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report. The report on “Technology in education” published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has flagged that assessment data has found that mere proximity to a mobile device distracts students and has a negative impact on learning. An expert from the UN’s Education team told PTI that too much attention on technology in education usually comes at a high cost, and technology, including smartphones, should only be used in class when it supports learning outcomes. “The adoption of digital technology has resulted in many changes in education and learning.

 

The set of basic skills that young people are expected to learn in school, at least in richer countries, has expanded to include a broad range of new ones to navigate the digital world. In many classrooms, paper has been replaced by screens, and pens by keyboards. COVID-19 can be seen as a natural experiment where learning switched to online for entire education systems virtually overnight,” the report said. “Large-scale international assessment data, such as that provided by the Programme for International Student Assessment suggest a negative link between excessive ICT (Information Communication Technology) use and student performance.

 

Mere proximity to a mobile device was found to distract students and to have a negative impact on learning in 14 countries, yet less than one in four have banned smartphone use in schools,” it said. UNESCO has flagged that use of devices by students beyond a moderate threshold may have a negative impact on academic performance as the use of smartphones and computers disrupts classroom and home learning activity. “A meta-analysis of research on the relationship between student mobile-phone use and educational outcomes covering students from pre-primary to higher education in 14 countries found a small negative effect, which was larger at the university level,” the report said.