Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom

Posted by novaRom 6 days ago

Sweden goes back to basics, swapping screens for books in the classroom(undark.org)

902 points | 432 commentspage 4

2OEH8eoCRo0 5 days ago|

I look forward to the (hopefully) positive results and what it will mean for most EdTech snake oil.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/01/22/ed-tech-i...

amai 5 days ago||

Handwriting is important. But this could also be learned with digital pens. Unfortunately most schools don't have these and instead do just multiple choice on touchscreens.

But have a look at https://dynamilis.com/ for s good app to improve hand writing.

cpuguy83 5 days ago||

Giving kids the worst machines money can buy paired with absolutely terrible "education" software which is little more than bubble sheets on a screen was obviously going to fail.

The problem isn't that kids can't learn on tech, it's that the whole thing was done in the worst way possible.

amadeuspagel 6 days ago||

> Basic skills — especially reading, writing, and numeracy — must be firmly established first, physical textbooks are often better suited for that purpose.

Reading and writing, maybe, but numeracy? With a computer, you can get instant feedback, immidiately see whether you did the math correctly or not. With a textbook, you have to wait for your teacher.

nimonian 6 days ago||

I still believe looking up the answer in the back of the book is completely fine. It creates a moment of tension. It invites you to justify in your own head that the answer is right before checking. The cognitive dissonance when you see your answer is wrong and really have to challenge yourself, or ask your neighbour, to see why - is all really valuable.

I just don't think "instant feedback" is as important as we think in mathematics education, and might even rob us of moments to practice mathematical behaviours like justifying, communicating and accommodating. Slow feedback does have benefits.

I am a tech enthusiast to put it mildly. I also taught maths in schools from roughly 2010 to 2020 so saw the iPad/app revolution in my classrooms. Anecdotally, I think it made my lessons and my students worse. Books, paper and each other are the best tools (in my very personal opinion).

zigman1 6 days ago||

The problem with the back-of-the-book is that once you answer the same exercise few times, you remember what the result is and you work on memory not on skill. At least this is something i struggled with.

Digitalization should be able to provide you with drastically larger number of exercises to practice, and if possible should also provide you with the exercise that is at the right level for you

nalekberov 6 days ago|||

> With a computer, you can get instant feedback, immidiately see whether you did the math correctly or not. With a textbook, you have to wait for your teacher.

Where is this rush for instant feedback coming from?

lawn 6 days ago|||

If you aren't sure your answer is correct then you're more likely to redo the problem or try to confirm it with fuzzier calculations. This is difficult and is great exercise.

Learning math isn't just about being correct. It's about doing the motions and learning how to problem solve.

Using the computer the way you suggest will make you lazy as you won't learn to do these hard things.

HPsquared 6 days ago|||

Tbh the same applies to a lot of subjects if you discuss them with a sufficiently good LLM. (Socratic method)

eimrine 6 days ago||

LLM is fundamentally not prone to the Socratic method. Socratic method requires both parts to learn something while the discourse. LLM will forget some shit often.

eigenspace 6 days ago|||

Is the instant feedback actually beneficial for learning though?

I always found that rumination, doubt, and consideration took time and space.

erfgh 6 days ago||

There are books with written solutions.

tomaskafka 6 days ago||

One very important aspect is that we learn through haptics and precise arm movements required to write/draw things down.

casey2 5 days ago||

The value of a shared reference frame decreases every year, while simultaneously the cost of translating between distinct reference frames has collapsed. Of course books are better, but for what? Serving a reference frame that doesn't value technology?

compounding_it 6 days ago||

I think Charlie Munger or Warren Buffet said once about an iPad for reading that : it would be terrible to read on a device where it was so easy to get distracted with the internet on your fingers.

E readers work for a reason. You aren’t distracted (the slow browser in it is hardly a distraction)

dhosek 5 days ago||

I don’t know why the headline was changed for the link, but the headline here is misleading as it reads (to me) as if screens are replacing books and not the other way around. Prepositions are slippery things.

redbell 5 days ago||

Sweden brings more books and handwriting practice back to its schools (2023) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42715841)

shevy-java 6 days ago|

Books have some advantages. I find it easier to concentrate when reading a hardcopy book.

Nonetheless I myself transitioned primarily towards a digital-only style of learning. It also has advantages, such as convenience.

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