A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
I wanted to let your readership know about a new website, developed by a group of concerned parents, educators and health professionals in Auckland, offering evidence-based research on screens and phones at school. See: www.sensiblescreenuse.org
The article in the Weekender about Manaiakalani was very interesting. It was great to readthe new facilitator has a balanced approach to life and is clearly passionate about education. However, the Manaiakalani programme itself doesn’t have that same balanced approach.
They have marketed themselves as being able to deliver higher educational achievement. Their approach promotes digital immersion. Their evidence is inconclusive on the achievement side of things. They have no evidence at all that digitised teaching tools help children’s computational thinking or problem-solving skills. They haven’t measured either in their studies.
It’s a teacher professional development service — also providing access to hard- and software, which is a great business, plus teachers need constant upskilling and we all want the best for our kids, but they aren’t helping our schools and educators to deliver a balanced curriculum.
The above website highlights the need to be thinking about how much screen time children should have — and what is it being used for? We already know intensified screen use is effecting children and youth’s mental and physical wellbeing for a range of reasons.
