Are you ready for an important change in digital learning?

3 strategies for primary schools

Teach critical thinking skills

Critical thinking skills are not just the preserve of digital learning but are the foundations children can fall back on for decision-making, social interactions and risk management. We need to help them examine how our thoughts and feelings influence our actions and the impact those actions have on others. In the digital world, where communication is nuanced and often lacks face-to-face interaction, young people need support to learn the language of digital.

Practical, scenario-based learning and the use of Socratic questioning encourages pupils to respond, discuss and reflect. The target is not to find a correct answer but to think critically about the information being presented. The Curriculum and Assessment Review has placed a greater emphasis on critical thinking and problem-solving going forward. 1 A significant portion of the time children spend online occurs at home and may not always be supervised or monitored. As critical thinking skills develop, children will have the savvy to make more informed decisions online. Furthermore, due to the emphasis on connection and communication with trusted adults, they can report any unusual or concerning behaviour, which provides significant protection if they find themselves in vulnerable situations.

Improve teacher confidence 

Traditionally, online safety has been allocated to a subject leader, coming under the responsibility of the PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education or computing leads. This approach can lead to sporadic digital learning, with children failing to develop a holistic understanding of how digital media can serve them in other disciplines. This separatist approach could also hold teachers back from developing their digital knowledge because of an over-reliance on the expertise of subject leads.

Many educators also struggle with the fast pace of technology, fearing a lack of understanding about the games and apps pupils are using. While becoming familiar with the latest online trends is an advantage in the classroom, teachers already have the requisite skills. Pupils will benefit from practical learning that provides them with a safe place to make mistakes and debate online scenarios with their peers. The aforementioned Socratic questioning style leads pupils to think critically about the range of their online experiences and the appropriate behaviours to adopt across the grey area in those contexts; digital citizenship is rarely black or white. For primary schools, this means it doesn’t take a specialist to teach digital literacy.

Use a multi-disciplinary approach

The Curriculum and Assessment Review has emphasised the importance of the right resources to facilitate learning but also the benefits of training teachers to apply a cross-curricular approach to digital literacy. 4 Moving from teaching online safety in isolation to a multi-disciplinary approach to digital learning is beneficial to prepare pupils for life and work in the digital age. Injecting positive digital learning into other subjects helps pupils to see how the positive use of technology can aid decision-making, summarise data, facilitate global interactions and support creativity. There is also scope to further develop the role parents and caregivers play in their children’s digital education by raising its status in schools.

Reforming the curriculum to be inclusive of digital learning better addresses the digital divide that threatens to widen between the confident and resilient critical thinkers versus those without the knowledge or skills to navigate the nuanced digital world. Cross-curricular digital education provides everyone with the opportunity to thrive in a digital society.

It is also important to recognise that integrating digital across different subjects can support a variety of learning styles instead of trying to fit all learners into the traditional academic focus of today’s curriculum.