JJ 🇺🇦17h ago
Ars Technica
Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom
Sweden is bringing back books amid declining test scores.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/sweden-goes-back-to-basics-swapping-screens-for-books-in-the-classroom/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
Apr 1 at 1:47pmArsBot 🤖
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 18h ago
@arstechnica Let's make the children carry kilograms of books again. Yeah, that's good, I guess. At least for chiropractors ... 😳🙄
Show threadFilip Lachert he/him15h ago
@AndyGER oh yeah, children's spines are so much better now that they spend 18hrs a day lurching over a screen @arstechnica
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 14h ago

@filiplachert @arstechnica One problem after another, right? …

But how nice to see adults ignore facts. Well, it happens all the time, right ..?! 🙄

Show threadHermannus Stegeman14h ago
@AndyGER @arstechnica yes. It truly is. They can handle it.
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 14h ago

@hermannus @arstechnica We children had to handle it for half a century because adults act like stubborn idiots …

Now we have the technology to change exactly that and what we see is people moving backwards.

Show threadHermannus Stegeman14h ago
@AndyGER @arstechnica I don't think you understand that books and digital technology can't offer exactly the same thing.
Technology can help, but it isn't an equal substitute. So we shouldn't treat it as such. Using books is no move backwards, using only technology was. So this is repairing a broken education system.
Same appears with the use of AI now btw
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 13h ago

@hermannus @arstechnica I disagree. If you want children to read books, motivate them in their free time with opportunities. School time is about effective learning. Not how to handle a book.

So if they have to carry high weights in order to read books, it is a bad idea.

How about you carry 30 kg with you for five days and eight hours a day? Just try it out. Have fun …

Show threadHermannus Stegeman13h ago
@AndyGER @arstechnica effective learning requires books. Have you read the article?
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 13h ago
@hermannus @arstechnica Books are not effective. They are nice to read …
Show thread0mnicore12h ago
@hermannus @AndyGER @arstechnica It also has a lot to do with the fact that we are physical beings and we must interact with the physical world . Digital is an extension that should come into play only when a sturdy basis of capabilities, mental and physical are well into place. Definitely elementary school should be digital free.
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 11h ago

@omnicore @hermannus @arstechnica I still disagree and I do not follow your argument.

We learn early how to handle information. Books are important. But they are not more important than modern media and technology that provides it.

Let me put it that way. A good story is a good read or a good movie or a good game. The media provides it as technology does. It still is the same story. (1/2)

Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 11h ago

Children have to learn how to learn and technology help them with it. Plus, technology eases the path for them.

What I can read here is adults being afraid of technology because they can barely manage. They are afraid of losing contact to their children. Which will indefinitely happen at some point in their lives.

So it is once more a question of ideology and this is stupid … (2/2)
@omnicore @hermannus @arstechnica

Show thread0mnicore5h ago
@AndyGER @hermannus @arstechnica Do you have children? As a parent that is now 41 years into computers I can assure you, you are 100% wrong
Show thread0mnicore5h ago
@AndyGER @hermannus @arstechnica I understand the argument that we must accelerate everything so as not to be left behind but this will be the end of mankind especially considering AI. I am positive we are in a 50% probability that something really catastrophic will happen the next 5-10 years due to AI.
Show thread0mnicore5h ago
@AndyGER @hermannus @arstechnica This regardless of the authoritarian dystopia driven by AI with frameworks leveraging it like Palantir etc. This is already here and it will expand until we hit the 1984 landmark.
Show threadFlux2h ago
@AndyGER @arstechnica Speaking from a young person, who finished high school back in 2023.
I mean usually in high school, you just brought what you need plus a laptop (towards my later years/post-COVID), the books weren't that heavy at least as a teen. Some books were unpleasant to carry but you build up the strength from carrying a bag for years I guess.
In primary school usually you just kept books in tote tray at the school (outside of homework and mandatory books to read). Probably had more baggage weight from folders to hold trading cards given by the supermarket lmao.
There is actually some studies that do find that physical writing does help a lot of teaching and memorising information since you actually have to process through motor skills which then reinforce what is learnt visually. Even as someone studying IT who doesn't bring any books to college, writing with a stylus on my tablet in a note app greatly helps than just reading and pressing. Even if it is slower than typing.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-writing-by-hand-is-better-for-memory-and-learning
Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning

Engaging the fine motor system to produce letters by hand has positive effects on learning and memory

Scientific American
Show threadAslak Raanes17h ago
@blogdiva There might be other reasons for declining test scores in Sweden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Sweden?wprov=sfti1#Independent_schools
Education in Sweden - Wikipedia

Show threadKierkethumbs up convincingly17h ago
@arstechnica as long as you don’t mention neoliberal school politics where for profit charter schools have expanded more than anywhere else in the world
Show threadWokebloke for Democracy17h ago
@arstechnica
One of the results of screens in Santa Fe schools is turning math into a computer game where the idea is to press the correct number. As a result schoolkids can't do math basics without a computer, such as carrying number in a column of figures.
Show threadArchiveScribe16h ago
@arstechnica As techy of a person as I am, we need to be doing this in all of our schools and universities (unless it’s a class with a computer lab).
Show threadMagnus Ahltorp15h ago

@arstechnica The Swedish government requires municipalities to pay companies that want to ”run schools”, without actually requiring them to provide proper education. The companies have to be payed the same for each student as the municipality pays its own schools per student.

And when this causes problems for students, the municipality run schools need to clean up the mess, which costs more. The companies then also get more money per student.

Profit!

Show threadMagnus Ahltorp15h ago
@arstechnica And this is the big reason for declining test scores. Uncontrolled screenification doesn’t help, though.
Show threadRoy -- the dull one14h ago

@arstechnica

We want kids to grow into adults who can be successful. Socially, economically. Able to produce successful offspring. Right?

To some, that means kids must experience top-tier, flashy tech right away.

Just so, early experiences should include playing with grinders, right? Igniters. Firearms. Sex aids.

No! Basic things must be learned first. Using a pencil, understanding multiplication...

Early schooling shouldn't use digital tech as a cheap way to minimize effort.

Show threadcontranym14h ago
@arstechnica removing surveillance tech from directly in front of childrens faces is a good thing, too.