“Scientific evidence supports the idea that a mixed approach, incorporating the use of mobile devices and paper manuals, may be the most appropriate for optimizing learning and performance,” suggests the Order of Psychologists.
This position is part of an opinion released today regarding the petition “For the return to the Use of Paper Manuals and Use of Tablets and Computers as Support Resources,” delivered in May to the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with more than two thousand signatures.
In the document, the Order of Psychologists emphasizes that mobile devices such as tablets and computers are “more than an option, an unavoidable reality.”
Therefore, they add, schools must be prepared to deal with new technologies and manage the best way to integrate them into their methodologies and dynamics.
The best solution, however, is not to replace paper textbooks with digital ones, but to adopt a mixed approach in which the Order sees an opportunity for improvement and innovation in teaching and learning methodologies.
In articulating between the two formats, factors such as the recommended screen time for different age groups, the type of tasks and subjects involved, and the characteristics of the child should be considered.
Regarding screen time, the Order of Psychologists recalls that both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association recommend a maximum of one hour per day for preschool children, two hours per day for children aged 6 to 12, and two to three hours per day for children from 12 years old.
As for task types, the opinion states, for example, that paper may be more suitable for reading and written comprehension activities, while digital may have more advantages for research, interactive learning, or access to updated information.
The Order of Psychologists’ opinion responds to the petition delivered at the end of May by parents from the Roberto Ivens Integrated Basic School in Ponta Delgada, who are calling for a reassessment of the “current strategy of digitizing educational resources in Azorean schools,” based on “concerns and experiences observed by students, parents, and teachers.”
In the 2022/2023 school year, as part of the digital transition strategy, the Government of the Azores began dematerializing school textbooks, providing digital textbooks for all 5th and 8th-grade classes in public schools across the archipelago, replacing physical textbooks.
In mainland schools, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation decided to maintain digital textbooks for the next school year, but with an assessment of their impact on learning to decide on the continuity of the pilot project initiated in 2020.
