Our experience of this COVID-dominated year has generally been that technology is our friend. This is true especially if the users of the technology are domiciled in certain postcodes; sadly, this is not always the case for those who are not. We do have a digital divide in this country.
For those students around the country who are about to sit external exams, technology will be of little help as the vast majority of external assessment will rely on handwritten communication. This creates a dilemma for both students and teachers. Suddenly, the lost motor and thinking skills associated with the handwriting have to be rediscovered. It is important that the wonder of digital access and the synthesis associated with handwritten annotation are inseparable partners in learning and not positioned as binaries.
In this article, Deputy Principal (Academic), Dr Bruce Addison, discusses the importance of students’ exposure to an array of approaches to learning, using traditional and digital skillsets, in order to optimise both understanding and achievement.
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Forget the binary: thinking and learning require the old, the digital and the home!
