Technology In Schools – A Teacher’s Perspective

After more than 20 years as a primary school teacher in Australia, I have been reflecting on the effects of technology on student behaviour and teacher workload, since the mainstream use of technology (mainly iPads) in and out of the classroom. These are the main changes I have observed:

A decline in appropriate social behaviours and skills.

Since student interaction with technology is predominantly command driven – they tell the search engine/program/application what they want and almost instantly they have it, they are in control – no manners are required. Unfortunately this way of communicating has spilled over into face-to-face interaction. In the last ten years I have seen a major decline in respect and basic manners. The words ‘thank you’, ‘please’ and ‘pardon’ are almost non-existent and have been replaced with ‘I need’, ‘I want’, ‘give me’, ‘huh’ and ‘what’. Students will often walk into the staffroom uninvited before lunch and say “I need a spoon/fork.”

I have lost count of the number of times a student has walked through (more often than not, they will push their way through) the middle of a conversation between myself and another student/parent/teacher. They are completely oblivious to their surroundings and the effects of their actions. When it’s brought to their attention, they look at me confused with no understanding that such behaviour is inappropriate; even though respect is a school value that is discussed, modelled and ‘role played’ each year. Students can tell me what respect means but transferring this to their actions, for the most part isn’t occurring.

A decrease in the attention span of students.

The instantaneous nature of computer interaction as well as the ability to move rapidly from one thing to another has lowered the attention spans of students. This effect of technology is well documented and for me it now means that, no matter what I do in front of a class as a teacher to engage students, I cannot compete with the addictive nature of technology. Not only that, I don’t want to and nor should I have to compete with an iPad. It is a very sad state of affairs when a child would prefer a screen over real human connection and interaction.

A lack of resilience in students and an increase in mental health issues.

Considering the effects of technology already mentioned, it is no surprise that programs such as ‘The Resilience Project’ has been developed. There is clearly a need for a greater focus on physical, mental, emotional and social resilience. As I teacher I now see a so much more behaviour that isn’t age appropriate and it is very alarming. The fact that the Victorian Department of Education has expanded the ‘Mental Health in Primary School Program’ to provide funding for EVERY government and low-fee non-government primary school to employ a mental health and wellbeing leader, is evidence of just how concerning and prevalent mental health issues are in primary age students.

An increase in the amount of time teachers need, to manage technology usage.

The amount of time and energy teachers are investing to monitor appropriate technology usage as well as dealing with students who use technology inappropriately is immense. Tasks such as reporting and documenting issues, meetings with parents and ‘follow-up’ actions, ultimately takes teachers precious time away from our core business of teaching as well as time away from other tasks essential to the profession such as assessing, reporting and planning. Furthermore, many of the inappropriate use of technology issues have occurred out of school hours, but still become the responsibility of the school. The line is so blurred now between what is a school’s responsibility and what is a parent’s responsibility. It’s completely exhausting and it’s no wonder that teacher retention rates are declining at alarming rates; the teacher shortage is real.

Covid lockdowns making things worse.

I am completely aware that the issues I have discussed are multifactorial and not solely due to the introduction of technology. For example, two years of covid lockdowns have had a major impact on student wellbeing and engagement. Online teaching during covid highlighted for me that schools are so much more than academic institutions. Schools are a place for children to develop social skills, learn through play and teamwork and develop real connections, all of which cannot be done through a computer screen.

Refocus on valuing real relationships required.

Finally, I feel it is important to state that I am not ‘anti-technology’, I use it every day and believe it has many advantages. What I am definitely advocating for though is, limiting the use of technology both inside and outside the classroom as well as the need for a greater focus on building social skills and student connections ‘offline’ or In Real Life (IRL) and valuing real relationships more than technology.