Remote online learning lost its novelty value pretty quickly. Staff have become accustomed to teaching into a void of muted icons. Despite trying different teaching strategies and using a variety of tools, each day feels a lot like the previous one.
It’s an exhausting way to teach and to learn, and we are also hearing the warnings about screens damaging eyesight.
At our school, we were fortunate to have leaders who decided to take action to counter these issues. After listening to staff, student and parent concerns about eye strain, backache and the frustration caused by sitting in front of a screen all day, we made some changes.
Lessons learned
First, we reduced each lesson to 45 mins down from an hour. This meant each lesson would start at the normal time but it allowed teachers and students an extra 15 minutes to stretch their legs and move away from the screen.
Teachers immediately reported improvement in productivity. They noticed students were not just more likely to arrive on time but that they were also more focused.
We also implemented Screen-Free Fridays. These began at the beginning of February and we intend to run them until all pupils return.
In place of virtual lessons, we issued a list of suggestions for activities, and incentivised participation by awarding prizes.
These activities included reading books, walking, cooking, helping with housework...we made it clear it the most important thing was that all screens were off-limits, so no XBox, no PlayStation and no phones!
Incredible results
The results amazed us. We were expecting a trickle of entries but instead we were overwhelmed with photographs of our students taking part in a huge variety of tasks.
Many students and families took the opportunity to get outside and go for a long walk. One family baked for the local hospice. Some pupils helped to decorate their house. One student used the day to improve their French and another learned how to use a non-digital film camera.
Other schools are making changes to suit their own communities. This might be things like lighter lunches - where the lunch break is extended to allow time outside while it is still bright - to wellbeing walks where a lesson is set aside to allow students and staff to go for walks to get away from their screens.
If you are interested in organising more screen-free time for your students, there are lots of ideas online. Try searching #screenfreelearning on Twitter.
If you are looking for ‘Screen-Free’ ideas for #childrensmentalhealthweek2021 I’ve got lots of FREE art projects, all using materials you already have at home.
You can find them at https://t.co/28aN3vvwQG #ScreenFreeLearning pic.twitter.com/7wVHMe7M1K
- Darrell Wakelam (@DarrellWakelam) February 3, 2021
Planning in some screen free time for Year 7 and 8 this week pic.twitter.com/ZZs3emPWhy
- Paul ? (@ploguey) February 1, 2021
This has been my favourite week of home learning so far! Castle ruins, letters to best friends, running all the way to Tokyo, bird spotting, baking fancy bread... Screen Free Friday was most definitely appreciated by all! So, who will our VIP be this week...? pic.twitter.com/gUcUoZ6dEj
- Ham Dingle - Class 2W (@Ham2w) February 5, 2021
