New recommendations from the Agency for Teaching and Quality (Styrelsen for Undervisning og Kvalitet), a department of the Ministry of Education, aim to minimise the “risk of pupils at upper secondary schools… from being distracted by mobile phones and computers,” the ministry said in a statement.
The agency’s recommendations include suggesting schools block access to “no-relevant websites”, and that pupils’ computers be closed at the start of lessons.
“Young people deserve a school day in which may aren’t distracted and where it’s possible to think deeply. That demands being able to occasionally put mobile phones in lockers or close laptops,” schools minister Mattias Tesfaye said in the statement.
The recommendations will be sent to headteachers and school boards. Tesfaye said he had a “clear expectation” that rules will subsequently be implemented following consultation with pupils and teachers.
The agency also advises screen use only when this is of educational benefit. It also ancourages alternative activities to use of screens in both school and social contexts.
Schools should also be aware of the use of screens for homework by pupils.
The recommendations are based on a principle of caution based on potential long-term consequences of excessive screen use, which are yet to be exhaustively studied, the agency said.
The national association of upper secondary schools, Danske Gymnasier, in October recommended mandatory classes on the impacts of digital technology.
That would include lessons on how algorithms work and how screen use and social media affect the brain.
A responsibility of schools to make young adults “digitally responsible” does not necessarily class with restricted use in lessons, the organisation said.
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