Ars Technica16h ago
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
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 16h ago
@arstechnica Let's make the children carry kilograms of books again. Yeah, that's good, I guess. At least for chiropractors ... 😳🙄
Show threadHermannus Stegeman12h ago
@AndyGER @arstechnica yes. It truly is. They can handle it.
Show threadAndreas M. Heitmann 11h 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 Stegeman11h 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 11h 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 Stegeman11h ago
@AndyGER @arstechnica effective learning requires books. Have you read the article?
Show thread0mnicore10h 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 9h 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 9h 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 thread0mnicore3h 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 thread0mnicore
@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.
3:05amWeb
Show thread0mnicore3h 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.