There is no doubt that access to information has changed over the past few decades.

While not too long ago it seemed difficult to solve a problem without consulting someone or a book, search engines like Google now seem the first point of call for answers. The average number of Google searches per day has grown from 9800 in 1998 to over 4.7 trillion today.

But does this convenience of knowledge actually benefit our pupils’ learning?

Whilst search engines are certainly useful when it comes to answering questions as quickly as possible, or gathering material from a number of sources, research has found that, if we are not careful about teaching children how to use them skilfully, relying on to them constantly for information can have a detrimental effect on children’s development.

Why might this be the case?

• Learning inaccurate information – Many pupils use the internet instead of offline sources when studying. The internet includes large amounts of incomplete, contradictory, erroneous and biased information, however. This means that if students don’t choose their sources carefully, they can end up learning false information, or at perhaps only viewing a very biased sample of the information available. Many pupils, for example, fail to distinguish between a native ad (an advert designed to look like a news article) and a genuine news story. As we know, not all information is of equal value.
   
• Decreasing Cognitive Effort – To remember something in the long term, we need to think hard about it, but it has been found that students put less effort in memorising information when they rely on the internet to learn. Thinking hard really is a good thing, not a sign that we are struggling! In a study which asked participants to read and type out 40 trivia statements, half of the participants were told that all the statements would be saved on the computer, while the other half assumed they would be lost. In a later a recall test of the trivia items, the group that thought they wouldn’t have later access to the information remembered more. This was probably due to the ‘saved on computer’ group feeling that because they did not need to remember the statements as they could look them up later. They might also connect with the information on a more superficial level, which may impede its storage in their memory and subsequent retrieval.
   
• Deceased focus and increased distraction – As I have observed in academies in which I worked as an Educational Psychologist that have rolled out 1-1 laptops without adequate training and thought about how best to employ them to truly enhance learning, when students use the internet to aid their learning (e.g., search up an unknown term used by the teacher), they’re at high risk of getting distracted. With social media just a click away, it’s easy for a quick search to turn into a one-hour scroll. One very recent study I was reading asked pupils to complete a survey after class to report the amount of time they had spent on their laptop and how they used it, as well as rate how much attention they paid to the lesson, and how much they understood of the material. They found that 43% of laptop users went on the internet during class, and that those who spent more time on their device paid less attention and understood less material. I am not sure this is really a surprise.

So?

So as part of the ongoing evolution of teaching and learning at All Hallows, that will inevitably see us helping children to the use the Internet as an incredibly powerful learning tool and source of information, we must simultaneously ensure our pupils develop good judgement and are able to evaluate how trustworthy any information might be, and not become lazy in their thinking and learning, so that they are actually diminished as learners.

Earlier in the academic year, we welcomed e-safety expert and campaigner, Karl Hopwood. We would very much recommend Karl’s expertise if you would like to learn more about how you can support both yourself and your child using the internet safely at home.

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