After consulting with students, parents and teachers at the Blanche de Castille school, the experiment was not repeated. One of the reasons is the time spent in front of screens.
The Figaro Nantes
All-digital is not the solution. This is the lesson learned by the private high school in Nantes, Blanche de Castille, which has just tested digital textbooks for its 600 students for a year. During this experiment, which was not repeated this school year, high school students spent their day in front of their computers to follow classes. Note-taking could be done by hand or on a PC, depending on each student.
“Knowing that the region provides second-year students with laptops, my predecessor thought that it could be relevant.”explains to the Figaro Fabien Marinoni, head of the establishment who arrived in September 2023. Other reasons, economic and logistical, led to trying this method: the price of textbooks, cheaper in dematerialized version, the lightening of schoolbags or the ease of access to documents. In France, many establishments have already switched to this digital format.
Consultation with families
During the year, however, the teaching team realized “That it could cause problems in class and that students were distracted. It also had an impact on fatigue.”remembers the headmaster of the establishment known for its international sections. Especially since an internet connection via wifi was accessible. Very quickly, the use of these tools created internal debates and the teachers were less and less in favor of it. “We asked ourselves whether it was relevant to continue.”. A consultation was then conducted with families to see if the experiment was intended to be extended. While recognizing advantages, a majority of parents highlighted the major disadvantage of time spent on screens. Unsurprisingly, students were more nuanced.
The screens were “non-stop with students playing games or shopping on their PCs instead of working. Some teachers would stand at the back of the class to monitor the screens. For them, it was a drag.
Our daughter didn’t suffer from it because she is relatively serious. Even if she sometimes let herself be tempted.”confides a parent. In recent days, the good old paper manuals have therefore reappeared. The budget will not have gotten the better of the well-being of adolescents. Note-taking, however, remains at the discretion of the student, just as screens can still be used occasionally to enrich a course. “We are in no way opposed to the use of digital tools, but they must be reasoned and adapted.”summarizes director Fabrice Marinoni.
We have not yet finished measuring the negative consequences that these poorly mastered tools can have on our children.
Laurence Garnier, senator (LR), at the head of a working group on children’s exposure to screens
In the Pays de la Loire, computers are distributed to second and first year CAP students, from public or private establishments. This is a flagship measure of the President of the Region Christelle Morançais. “The observation is that today, digital is everywhere, in our daily uses but also professionally. Young people use smartphones a lot, but computers little. The objective is to train them, to prepare for their future, to anticipate higher education and the professional world, where computers are used.”she explains to the Figaroabout the 50,000 computers given out each year. Webinars are offered to parents and students to introduce them to the tools. According to a report sent to families, it appears that 92% of students are satisfied and appreciate the performance, 74% would not have had a personal computer without help from the Region, and half use it every day.
Last May, Loire-Atlantique senator Laurence Garnier launched a working group on children’s overexposure to screens. “We are only discovering the tip of the iceberg; we have not yet finished measuring the negative consequences that these poorly controlled tools can have on our children.”thinks Laurence Garnier. “Between the ages of 7 and 10, a child spends more than three hours a day in front of a screen, all screens combined”the policy says. However, the older the individual, the higher this figure becomes. And the consequences are not negligible: vision problems, overweight and obesity, etc.
As part of her mission, the elected official collaborates with neuroscience doctor Michel Desmurget. “In his work Make them read! To end the digital moron (éditions du Seuil), he demonstrates that the brain better understands learning on paper media. When you pick up a book, you situate yourself geographically, it’s more visual than in an endless parade”she illustrates. Similarly, “It describes parent-child interactions around screens. With a paper book, a parent reads the story and initiates the dialogue. With a digital book, the parent spends more time on the tool. We deviate from the final objective of dialogue on the tool”.
All these observations are the result of numerous hearings and interviews that should result in a Senate working report at the end of the year. On a national scale, “There seems to be a consensus among teachers that they are not adequately trained to use these digital tools, and a number of teachers tell us that with good training they can achieve equal results but not better,” notes Laurence Garnier. Last year, Sweden, a pioneer on this subject, announced that it would abandon digital school textbooks. As the senator summarized, the idea is not to return to the Stone Age but to regulate its use in order to obtain a beneficial effect.
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