Once we recognize that devices are the wrong variable to hone in on, we can start to have more productive conversations about how to make sure devices in schools effectively support learning. Learning comes from what students think about and pay attention to while in class, and devices can both focus and derail students’ attention and thinking. But they are not the variable that determines whether students are learning. Devices are the easy-to-observe and easy-to-regulate variable. Unfortunately, this same problem-categorizing on the wrong variable-is what sometimes leads parents and teachers to call for device-free classrooms. But identifying the right variable was the key to making flight work. These air pressure differences created by an airfoil are not as easy to see and measure as feathers, which is why aviators were fixated on the wrong variable for so long. Bernoulli’s key insight was that lift comes not from the feathers a wing is made of, but the pressure differences that exist around an airfoil as it slices through the air. It wasn’t until Daniel Bernoulli discovered the properties of airfoils that flight became possible. But easy-to-observe variables are often not the variables that actually cause something to happen. In their early efforts to understand what caused flight, they looked for patterns or correlations between variables that are easy to observe. So they fabricated wings, glued feathers on them, strapped them to their arms, and jumped off tall buildings … with unfortunately disastrous results.
Naturally, when looking for patterns and relationships to explain flight, they focused on the variables that were easiest to observe: wings with feathers. Allow me to explain using a non-education example.ĭuring the Middle Ages, would-be aviators observed animals that could fly well and compared them with animals that could not. Furthermore, this false dichotomy stems from a classic mistake of scientific reasoning: categorizing on the wrong variable. The false dichotomyįraming devices as either good or bad starts the conversation on a false dichotomy that completely overlooks the truth of the matter: devices can be both good and bad for learning, depending on how they are used.
But I fear that in many quarters, well-intentioned people are following the same faulty reasoning laid out above in my farcical notebook example. We need studies and articles like these to spur important conversations among educators, parents, and administrators about mitigating the ways devices can hamper classrooms. Two weeks ago, the Hechinger Report published an article called “Dealing with digital distraction” that described how some teachers in both K–12 and higher education settings are banning devices from their classrooms.Īrticles like these resonate with concerns I’ve heard from both teachers and parents about devices being negative influences on students and their learning. Last November, Education Next published an article called “Should Professors Ban Laptops?” that described a study finding that college students who were allowed to use computers in class had lower scores on their final exams than peers in classes where laptops were forbidden.
This discussion about proper notebook use may seem inane, but a very similar and serious conversation is happening right now around classroom devices. And to mitigate the distracting uses of notebooks, teachers have a simple solution: create rules, procedures, and norms that foster proper notebook use. Anyone who has earned a high school diploma knows that recording what we learn is an important way to reinforce learning. But when students use notebooks for their intended purposes, they are a staple of the classroom learning experience. Students the world over misuse notebooks to their own detriment. Given the numerous ways students can use their notebooks to derail learning, it’s a wonder that most schools still permit them in class, right? … Hold on a sec. For generations, students have used them in class to scribble or doodle, pass messages to their friends, or construct wads, planes, and spitball projectiles. From the first-hand experiences of millions of students and teachers worldwide, it’s clear that paper notebooks are a deterrent to quality education.
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