The "digital frenzy" is one of the main causes that explain the general decline in the educational performance of students noted by the latest PISA report. This is, at least, what Telmo Lazkano, a high school teacher who became famous after he managed to get twenty students to give him their mobile phones for a week in order to analyze his colorful dependency charts, thinks. According to the opinion of this teacher, author together with Maitane Ormazabal of the book Las voces del silencio: la salud mental adolescente en decada del cambio, the objective data show that an imprudent digital bet is having a negative influence on the acquisition of basic skills , in attention span, lexical richness or frustration tolerance.
Lazkano, a professor of English and social sciences, emphasizes that the 2015 PISA report already pointed out in a resounding way that the countries that had invested the most in digitization had achieved worse results: “Andreas Schleicher, head of the program at the time, he made it clear that technology can help achieve excellent quality teaching, but that the basic skills must be strengthened first. His opinion was not taken into account and misuse has become widespread".
The teacher from Gipuzkoa alludes, in this sense, to the "Mateu effect". "It is called that because of the reference to the Gospel: to whomever has more, more will be given, and to whomever has less, it will be taken away. Technology can help tremendously once certain skills are mastered, but it can also hinder the development of some skills if accessed prematurely. A mathematician can use a calculator to tackle complex problems effectively and it will be of great help; however, if we give a calculator to a child who does not know how to add, he will be harmed by an early dependence on this technology. You will not acquire a minimal understanding of mathematical concepts. The same will happen if we offer him a program that generates texts without having previously worked on written expression".
This teacher also refers to the loss of the ability to concentrate. "If we tell a story to a child between 0 and 4 years old, we will see how he will develop and stimulate his brain to form an image, for example, of the features and way of dressing that the protagonists may have. But, on the other hand, through a screen he has no reason to stimulate his brain: he is simply being entertained. If we also introduce screens into classrooms, the problem multiplies. In addition, we are getting the children used to such short stimuli that they then do not respond when they need the ability to concentrate to take an exam or even when watching a film", he indicates.
The consequences in terms of the loss of motivation and the "amputation of the lexicon" would also come, to a large extent, from this influence of the screens: "The management of frustration is complicated, because what the screens give you and the mobile phone is instant gratification, requiring no effort. Regarding the loss of language, which I think is key and we all see it as teachers, what happens is that a child enriches his language thanks to the interaction with his parents; however, this contact is poorer, because both children and adults spend more and more time in front of screens".
Lazkano believes that there are other reasons behind the poor results obtained in PISA and, set to look for weight solutions, he calls for reducing the ratios. In any case, he sees a common factor in digitization: "We have to see what the teaching objective should be and what the needs are and, from there, adapt the use of technology, if it provides a added value in the learning process and taking into account the development of the person. We did the opposite."
