For several years, Mæla secondary school in Skien has used the app TikTok and mobile phones in teaching. That will end if Nikolai Astrup gets what he wants. Recently, the former digitization minister from the Conservative Party advocated stricter regulation of children’s mobile use. Astrup believes school time should be a mobile phone-free zone. He also wants a 16-year age limit on social media. Using their creativity Young people’s mobile phone use has increased after the pandemic, according to the Youth Data Report for 2022. 74 per cent of young people spend more than three hours a day in front of a screen outside of school hours. The pupils appreciate that they are also allowed to use mobile phones at school. – It’s really fun to be able to use a little creativity in what we do, says Eva Andersen in the 10th grade. The students (from left) Elena Helland, Oskar Hamle Hansen and Eva Andersen feel they get to use their creativity with social media in school assignments. The school work is used internally and is not posted on the internet, unless the students themselves wish to do so. Photo: Roald Marker / news – Without a mobile phone, we don’t know what to do 90 percent of children and young people between the ages of 9 and 18 use social media, according to the Norwegian Media Authority’s report on children and media for 2022. The most used social media are YouTube, Snapchat , Instagram and TikTok. 10th grader Elena Helland believes that a 16-year age limit on social media will limit them at school. That will stop creativity in everyday school life, she believes. Helland believes that students learn best when they have the freedom to choose between pen and paper and digital solutions. – Some like practice, others like theory. Then you have to adapt the work to the students. Elena Helland and her fellow students also make podcasts in class. Photo: Roald Marker / news Helland is supported by his fellow students. – It is much easier to get involved when we are doing something that everyone likes to do, says Eva Andersen. The pupils’ attention is mostly directed towards the mobile phone, also during free time, says Helland. – Without it, we don’t know what to do in the free time. You are so dependent on your mobile phone, she says. Think the students learn more Hege Eikeland is a teacher at Mæla secondary school. She thinks it is important to create variety in the offer for students. It makes learning fun. Teacher Hege Eikeland at Mæla secondary school has not replaced books in favor of social media in teaching. Photo: Roald Marker / news – It is to create commitment among the students and see that they can make something they think is fun out of subject matter, says the teacher. It is voluntary whether students want to submit assignments digitally, or work more traditionally. Many also choose the “old way”. Eikeland believes that students learn more by using their mobile phones. – We get more reflection. They have to put what they have worked with into a new context and create a new product. I think they learn a lot more from that. What do you think about the use of social media for school work? Good! It’s great that the school uses modern technology that engages. Total crisis. There will be too much screen. Back to pen and paper! Well… It’s important to learn internet savvy, but everything in moderation. Show result A step back Psychologist Elke Rønningen reacts strongly to schools using social media in teaching. – Then you skip over the debate about whether this is at all useful for the children. Psychologist Elke Rønningen. Photo: news Rønningen believes the school must take a step back. – When even the teacher uses social media, it becomes impossible to opt out. You don’t have a choice to stay out and not use it. – But isn’t it important that the school shows the children healthy use of social media? – Yes, it is important that the school talks about healthy use, in exactly the same way as the school talks about healthy use of alcohol. But here the school uses it as an important part of the teaching. – Children need a breathing space, where they can reflect for themselves and not just be sluiced into something “everyone” is doing. Want to mirror society Principal at Mæla secondary school, Anne Ragnhild Kjær Sti, says they are concerned with a balance between traditional teaching and more modern methods. She believes one of the school’s most important tasks is to reflect the society the young people are a part of. Anne Ragnhild Sti, principal at Mæla secondary school. Photo: Roald Marker / news – The mobile phone is essential in the lives of all young people. Then the school also has to deal with it and try to teach both internet sense and sensible use. – Is it right to use social media and mobile phones to the extent that you do? – There are always problematic aspects we have to discuss, and we have social media as a topic at parent meetings. I think it makes sense to have a debate, says the principal.
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Uses TikTok for school assignments – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
