Without you teachers, we would not have got out of the digital pitfall in Norwegian schools. It is you who have found out how we can use VR to experience antiquity in history class and how digital tools can help pupils with reading and writing difficulties. Adjunct professor and digital pedagogue Carl Andreas Myrland writes in news Ytring that there are thousands of teachers who work well with digital teaching aids and learning resources every day. I agree with that. It is you who create and develop new, exciting forms of teaching for the best for our children. It is Norwegian politicians who have allowed the digitization of schools to happen for too long without really having a well-thought-out plan. It is the unplanned introduction of digital devices that has been unconscious, not their use in the individual classroom. We still know too little about what the introduction of screens does to children’s concentration, learning and well-being. I want the teachers’ toolbox to be even bigger. We know that many people call for more support when choosing between the various digital solutions and teaching aids available. Therefore, the Norwegian Directorate of Education will look at how we can best help schools choose high-quality digital teaching aids and tools. We must make wise choices and increase the digital competence of those who work with our children. We will participate in the digital development, while children and young people are still learning to write by hand and read books. Unfortunately, we know that both teachers, students and parents miss access to books in school. In many contexts, tablets have pushed books to the sidelines. Therefore, the schools now receive NOK 115 million extra for textbooks. Being good at reading is crucial for doing well both at school and later in life. Therefore, the results of the new PIRLS survey are worrying, which show that pupils read worse than before, while at the same time they have a very low interest in reading. This is a complex issue and I want us to find out more about how the screen comes into play here. Now a new committee will, among other things, look at how screen use affects the health, quality of life, learning and upbringing of our children. We must secure the best possible knowledge before we decide on the way forward. The government’s new digitization strategy is clear that it is educational assessments that must form the basis of the teachers’ choice of digital tools. Screens must be used when it actually adds something to the teaching. Because there is no getting away from the fact that today’s students need good digital skills when they are to become tomorrow’s workers. Basic digital competence and digital judgment are absolutely essential to take with you into adulthood. Our job is to ensure that students get the skills they need, both digitally and analogue. Children, screens and social media is a big discussion that is about more than what happens in the classroom. There are many dilemmas here. Therefore, we must know more about the consequences of screen use for children and young people, and we must turn over all stones to create a desire to read in our children. We need that to find a good balance between digital and analogue. FOLLOW THE DEBATE:
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We must turn over all stones – Speech
