Why this Indianapolis school wants kids to put away their screens – Indianapolis News | Weather in Indiana | Indiana traffic

(INDY MIRROR) — Classrooms at Oaks Academy they look frozen in time.

Weekly poetry and scripture memorizations are written at the front of the room in neat cursive letters, their powdery white traces reflecting off the dark black board.

Classical music plays and fourth-grade teacher Sarah Budd leads students through a handwritten writing assignment. We encourage students to practice their own cursive. There is no device visible on the students’ desks.

Instead of logging on to Chromebooks, students carry their projects with them in colorful notebooks containing worn-out leaves and sketches of cut apples, representing students’ discoveries from recent field trips and lessons.

Low-tech studios are by design. While most schools have embraced technology by placing smart boards at the front of each classroom and laptops assigned to each student, The Oaks went in the opposite direction.

School leaders say too much screen time has a detrimental impact on students’ learning and mental health. They point to studies that show students’ behavior worsened as screen time increased.

While some public schools view access to technology as an issue of equity and have made it a point to ensure that all students can connect to the Internet at school, The Oaks sees the benefits of restriction.

About 30% of students who attend the Christian private school live near campuses, and 50% come from low-income families, said Brooke Reeves, director of communications and marketing at The Oaks. However, school leaders say that all students are facing the challenge of increasing screen time at home, so they feel a responsibility to limit the use of this technology when students are with them in class.

“We really just want to start a conversation about this in our community,” Reeves said, “and approach it in a way that’s really positive and empowering for parents, rather than embarrassing, because we’re all in this boat together. We are all on the same ship. We would like to learn how to navigate these uncharted waters.

During November, they are also encouraging children and their families to cut out some technology time at home to help balance students’ screen time.

Screen time scaling

Oaks Academy – which has three campuses on the university’s north side in the Brookside and Martindale Brightwood neighborhoods – has long championed technology-free learning.

The holistic curriculum emphasizes play and discovery. Students in The Oaks lower grades have a daily break outdoors along with additional “discovery time” – a period of independent creativity without a set schedule.

School principals say technology is a tool that should be used sparingly and with balance in schools.

“We believe that putting a physical book in a child’s hand and having them write with a pencil on paper instead of typing will promote engagement and attention,” said Jessica Surface, the school’s director of K-2 academics.

The academy’s youngest students, from kindergarten through fifth grade, have very little exposure to technology. Teachers use smart boards with connected document cameras only to display their own handwriting or art projects in the classroom, and students borrow devices from computer carts only to take standardized tests such as ILEARN, which are currently mainly offered online.

Older students spend some of their time in the library learning typing skills, and Surface says students with significant learning needs may have limited use of computers as an intervention tool. However, students do not have computers to take home with them at the end of the day.

Like most schools, The Oaks has chosen to use more technology to connect with students from home during the pandemic. As classrooms began to reopen, they also offered optional online school. However, unlike other schools, management at The Oaks made a conscious decision to have students put away their computers when they return to in-person learning.

School leaders say that as children’s access to technology increases, instant access to search engines and instant answers deprives students of the opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Creating good habits and staying focused also becomes more and more difficult as games, media and constant communication compete for attention.

These challenges have been made worse by the pandemic, said Bruce Crawford, principal at The Oaks campus at Fall Creek on the city’s north side.

Changing the relationship with technology

Middle school students, in particular, are more likely to face classroom disruptions when students’ social media conflicts spill over into school.

Crawford attributes much of what the school is seeing to both the increase in students’ access to technology and the increasing lack of time kids spend exploring and playing without devices in their hands.

“This type of free, unrestricted play, which has become more limited or disappeared, does not allow children to face difficulties or find solutions,” he said.

Crawford said the Oaks family’s approach to technology was met with some skepticism years ago when prospective parents visited the school with questions about the new computer labs, which they noticed were becoming increasingly popular in other classrooms. However, as children’s relationships with technology change, parents are increasingly turning to technology-free learning.

“It’s almost a longing for something different,” Crawford said. “I was almost relieved that their child would not be exposed to (technology) while he was here.”

But Crawford said the academy’s biggest problem is how students choose to spend their time outside of school. Even with the best systems in place to remove technology from the classroom, students still revert to their devices at home, he said.

So — when it came time for fall fundraising — school principals decided to include a challenge involving kids spending time outside of class.

1 million minutes challenge

This month, the school is adopting the so-called 1 million minutes challenge.

Designed by Oaks school principals, it encourages families to cut at least 30 minutes of technology-based play out of their day in favor of other activities such as reading, sports and the arts. It also serves as a fundraiser for the private school.

Each student was asked to mark their progress on a weekly tracking sheet. They were also asked to find a financial sponsor for each week of technology-free play, the proceeds of which would support the school’s ongoing capital campaign. This year’s campaign aims to fund a new playground on the Fall Creek and Brookside campuses and a new athletic facility at Martindale Brightwood.

If each of The Oaks’ more than 1,000 students successfully spends at least 30 minutes a day in November, the school will have totaled nearly 1 million minutes of technology-free play.

The school encourages parents to take advantage of their students’ time away from technology. Oaks leadership first introduced the concept to parents during a once-a-semester Saturday school event, where families have the opportunity to meet teachers and spend part of the day in the classroom with their students.

School principals shared data on the impact of technology on children and urged parents to reflect on their own use. They also shared ideas for how families could use alternatives, such as replacing video games or Netflix with board games or crafts.

While reaching the fundraising goal is important, Reeves said she hopes the challenge will last beyond November.

“It just challenges parents to think a little more creatively,” Reeves said. “Once you try something, you think, ‘Oh, that wasn’t that hard.’ … If you do it a few times, it becomes a habit, so hopefully it will become a habit in our families.”

Create your own technology-free time

Oaks leaders are encouraging others to join the 1 Million Minutes Challenge.

They shared ideas for families:

• Create a box of materials from around your home and create an art gallery with your works.
• Plan a picnic for your weekend meal.
• Create a new board game.
• Organize a scavenger hunt.
• Exchange handwritten letters with a pen pal, such as a favorite family member, or drop them in a neighbor’s mailbox.
• Write and illustrate a comic book.
• Enjoy nature walks in AZ, spotting animals and natural objects using each letter of the alphabet.
• Interview your grandparents, neighbors or a friend. Ask them questions about their childhood.
• Build an obstacle course.
• Play in Memory Tray game to see who has the best memory.
• Start doing puzzles and swapping games with other families.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on X @carleylanich.