<story><title>The technology pushed into schools today is a threat to child development</title><url>https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2019/08/rotten-stem-how-technology-corrupts-education/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pier25</author><text>It totally is.&lt;p&gt;I worked in EdTech for the past 4 years and was in contact with the education world.&lt;p&gt;Digital devices are harmful to younger kids. The brain develops much better when using fine motor skills such as writing with pen and paper. France banned all digital devices in primary schools for a reason and all countries should do it.&lt;p&gt;The most important factor in getting quality education are not digital devices or educational material but the quality of the teacher. The OECD did a study about the use of computers by students at the school and at home[0]. See the results for yourself. Countries like China, Singapoore, Finland, and Estonia barely use computers but have some of the best PISA academic results.&lt;p&gt;[0]: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.oecd.org&amp;#x2F;education&amp;#x2F;students-computers-and-learning-9789264239555-en.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.oecd.org&amp;#x2F;education&amp;#x2F;students-computers-and-learnin...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>geomark</author><text>&lt;i&gt;Digital devices are harmful to younger kids.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Indeed. Results of a study published in November 2019 [1] actually show a structural difference between preschool age children who experience a lot of screen time and those who don&amp;#x27;t. Myelination is reduced in the former.  Myelination of brain white matter supports language and literacy skills.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;jamanetwork.com&amp;#x2F;journals&amp;#x2F;jamapediatrics&amp;#x2F;article-abstract&amp;#x2F;2754101&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;jamanetwork.com&amp;#x2F;journals&amp;#x2F;jamapediatrics&amp;#x2F;article-abst...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>The technology pushed into schools today is a threat to child development</title><url>https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2019/08/rotten-stem-how-technology-corrupts-education/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>pier25</author><text>It totally is.&lt;p&gt;I worked in EdTech for the past 4 years and was in contact with the education world.&lt;p&gt;Digital devices are harmful to younger kids. The brain develops much better when using fine motor skills such as writing with pen and paper. France banned all digital devices in primary schools for a reason and all countries should do it.&lt;p&gt;The most important factor in getting quality education are not digital devices or educational material but the quality of the teacher. The OECD did a study about the use of computers by students at the school and at home[0]. See the results for yourself. Countries like China, Singapoore, Finland, and Estonia barely use computers but have some of the best PISA academic results.&lt;p&gt;[0]: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.oecd.org&amp;#x2F;education&amp;#x2F;students-computers-and-learning-9789264239555-en.htm&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.oecd.org&amp;#x2F;education&amp;#x2F;students-computers-and-learnin...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>seanmcdirmid</author><text>At least for China, they&amp;#x27;ve never done a country-wide sample, they&amp;#x27;ve only done their richest city (Shanghai) and richest provinces. For the article cited, it is 2012 when they did just Shanghai (likewise Singapore is a city state and Estonia&amp;#x2F;Finland have less population than either).</text></comment>