The international study Icils examines students in year 8 and shows that many lack basic digital skills and have difficulty valuing information.
Billions have been invested in computers, tablets and other digital equipment for Swedish schools, not infrequently for young children. Absolutely wrong, says Lotta Edholm self-critically and highlights the need for a “complete turnaround”.
– We have let small children get reading tablets far too early in school. We have not ensured that the children can actually read, write, count before we introduce digital tools.
In 2012, Lotta Edholm was a school councilor in Stockholm and decided on an investment in tablets for primary school students. It was about over 2,000 plates in a venture like Lotta Edholm thought it was right then. Now she has swung, and fears that digital tools at early ages risk disrupting students’ learning. Edholm has previously described digitalization in school as an experiment, and she admits that she herself was part of it.
– I was absolutely part of the experiment, as were so many others. But today there is so much that says we have to take a step back, especially for the younger children, which I am concerned about.