The return to more traditional ways of learning is a response to politicians and experts questioning whether the country\u2019s hyper-digitalised approach to education, including the introduction of tablets in nursery schools, had led to a decline in basic skills.<\/p>\n
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A child practices handwriting at the Djurgardsskolan elementary school in Stockholm, Sweden.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Swedish Minister for Schools Lotta Edholm, who took office 11 months ago as part of a new centre-right coalition government, was one of the biggest critics of the all-out embrace of technology.<\/p>\n \u201cSweden\u2019s students need more textbooks,\u201d Edholm said in March. \u201cPhysical books are important for student learning.\u201d<\/p>\n The minister announced last month in a statement that the government wants to reverse the decision by the National Agency for Education to make digital devices mandatory in preschools. It plans to go further and to completely end digital learning for children under age six, the ministry said.<\/p>\n Although the country\u2019s students score above the European average for reading ability, an international assessment of fourth-grade reading levels, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, highlighted a decline among Sweden\u2019s children between 2016 and 2021.<\/p>\n \u201c[Students] need time and practice and exercise in handwriting … before you introduce them to writing on a tablet.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2021, Swedish fourth graders averaged 544 points, a drop from the 555 average in 2016. However, their performance still placed the country in a tie with Taiwan for the seventh-highest overall test score.<\/p>\n In comparison, Singapore \u2013 which topped the rankings \u2013 improved its PIRLS reading scores from 576 to 587 during the same period, and England\u2019s average reading achievement score fell only slightly, from 559 in 2016 to 558 in 2021.<\/p>\n Some learning deficits may have resulted from the coronavirus pandemic or reflect a growing number of immigrant students who don\u2019t speak Swedish as their first language, but an overuse of screens during school lessons may cause youngsters to fall behind in core subjects, education experts say.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning,\u201d Sweden\u2019s Karolinska Institute said last month on the country\u2019s national digitalisation strategy in education.<\/p>\n Handwriting and printed books are of renewed focus in Swedish schools.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe believe the focus should return to acquiring knowledge through printed textbooks and teacher expertise, rather than acquiring knowledge primarily from freely available digital sources that have not been vetted for accuracy,\u201d said the institute, a highly respected medical school focused on research.<\/p>\n The rapid adoption of digital learning tools also has drawn concern from the United Nations\u2019 education and culture agency.<\/p>\n In a report published last month, UNESCO issued an \u201curgent call for appropriate use of technology in education\u201d.<\/p>\n The report urges countries to speed up internet connections at schools, but at the same time warns that technology in education should be implemented in a way so that it never replaces in-person, teacher-led instruction and supports the shared objective of quality education for all.<\/p>\n In the Swedish capital, Stockholm, nine-year-old Liveon Palmer, a third grader at Djurgardsskolan elementary school, expressed his approval of spending more school hours offline.<\/p>\n \u201cI like writing more in school, like on paper, because it just feels better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His teacher, Catarina Branelius, said she was selective about asking students to use tablets during her lessons even before the national-level scrutiny.<\/p>\n \u201cI use tablets in math and we are doing some apps, but I don\u2019t use tablets for writing text,\u201d Branelius said. Students under age 10 \u201cneed time and practice and exercise in handwriting … before you introduce them to writing on a tablet.\u201d<\/p>\n Criticising the effects of technology is \u201ca popular move with conservative politicians,\u201d Neil Selwyn, a professor of education at Monash University in Melbourne, said. \u201cIt\u2019s a neat way of saying or signalling a commitment to traditional values.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Swedish government does have a valid point when saying that there is no evidence for technology improving learning, but I think that\u2019s because there is no straightforward evidence of what works with technology.<\/p>\n \u201cTechnology is just one part of a really complex network of factors in education.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n