Now, with more than 85 percent of Australian children being taught remotely at home, we worry more than ever about their safety online.
The Gonski Institute for Education at the University of New South Wales has released the first in a series of Growing Up Digital Australia reports, with initial research painting a worrying picture of changed learning conditions in Australian schools. Well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia, children’s significant access to digital technology and its impacts on learning and wellbeing had become a major concern for educators.
The first research phase found nine out of ten teachers and principals in Australia have observed an increased number of students with emotional, social and behavioural challenges in school today compared to just five years ago. Three out of five Australian educators have seen a decline in students’ readiness to learn and two-thirds have observed more children arriving at school tired.
“What is happening with our kids now is the biggest educational experiment in history,” says Professor Pasi Sahlberg, the report’s co-author, Professor of Educational Policy and Deputy Director of the Gonski Institute for Education. “As adults, we have much to learn about their habits and the benefits and pitfalls of screen-based technologies for them. Growing Up Digital Australia sets out to do just that.
“Based on our research, it is clear the problems facing young people today are complex. Simply banning devices in schools or homes will not help students navigate the digital minefield.”
You can read the Growing Up Digital Australia report here www.gie.unsw.edu.au/growing-digital-australia-phase-1-results-how-screen-based-technologies-are-impacting-school-students
