Insight: June 5

This week on Insight, Jenny Brockie delves into the debate about the complexities and contradictions of technology’s role in the classroom.

The modern classroom is aglow with screens as children as young as five are packing their own personal computers and tablets in their schoolbags along with their lunchboxes.

But do laptops, tablets and phones in the classroom promote and enhance learning or do they bring with them a world of distraction for students and a battle to gain a pupil’s attention for teachers?

Australia is one of the highest users of technology in schools and our classrooms have the highest proportion of students using computers at school, according to an OECD study.

So what’s the evidence that technology in schools is improving learning and results for our children and how are schools making their decisions about what technology to introduce and when?

Australia’s student performance in reading has fallen continuously since 2000 as more and more technology is introduced to our classrooms. We hear from schools that are enthusiastic about the benefits of tech and others that are proceeding with caution.

In a Royal Children’s Hospital survey in 2015, Australian parents listed “excessive screen time” as their number one concern. We ask the experts what the effects on children of combined school and home use are.

Tonight at 8.30pm on SBS.