Facing Digital Challenges in Education: Teachers’ Insights into the School Smartphone Debate

Abstract

The article was inspired by the ongoing debate on introducing a ban on mobile phone use in schools and limiting access to social media. It is based on research conducted among participants in workshops for primary school teachers from the Małopolskie Voivodeship, carried out as part of the Digital World project implemented by the Try IT Foundation in cooperation with the Municipality of Cracow and the Akamai Foundation.

The aim of the article is to discuss the impact of smartphone use, and more broadly Internet use, on students’ development from the teachers’ perspective. The authors compare the observations of experienced educators with the existing body of research, seeking to identify the practical consequences of new technologies for children’s functioning at school. The analysis focuses on two key aspects: individual student development and peer relationships.

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data illustrate the direction of changes observed by teachers. They show that negative phenomena described in the literature are also visible in educational practice: students’ cognitive skills related to text processing are declining, as are their independence and planning abilities. Particularly alarming are observations at the preschool and early elementary education levels. Contrary to parental expectations, Internet use does not support the development of high-quality peer relationships; on the contrary, students tend to treat one another more poorly online, and many become victims of psychological violence. The collected material also indicates that applications such as electronic gradebooks have a significant, not always positive, impact on the teaching process and may disrupt student–school–parent relationships. In the authors’ view, this issue requires separate, in-depth analysis. The final conclusions clearly indicate the direction that institutional and legal solutions concerning students’ access to online content should take, highlighting the need for top-down, unified regulatory measures.