Digital media: «Schools should provide better information»

Stefan Bienz believes that schools are not utilising the potential of digital media enough. The father of two teenagers from Rapperswil SG would like to see progress made - not only in terms of the use of digital media, but also in terms of risk education.

"I'm a photographer and used to be a computer scientist - both professions mean that I'm heavily involved in digital media. I see great potential for this in schools, but there is a lot of room for improvement. It starts with the fact that children and young people are travelling with backpacks that are as heavy as if they were going on a trip around the world.
Is this still in keeping with the times, when all textbooks could actually be loaded onto a tablet? Hardly. Some will now argue that this would be too expensive. I definitely don't agree with that. In fact, I think the electronic solution would cost less than books in the long term and - as a further advantage - it would also make it easier to update teaching materials. No-one has to worry about being distracted by the internet if the tablet is set up accordingly. Personally, I am in favour of it being used exclusively as a work tool.

Learning works better digitally

Most children enjoy engaging with digital media. This has a motivating effect, which is all the stronger when learning is interactive and playful. Schools should make better use of this potential. It seems to me that our daughter Chiara is more motivated to learn when she can practise maths on the computer, and the Toporopa platform, which she uses for geography, is also great: the children train their knowledge in a quiz where they match countries, rivers or city names with a click of the mouse.

Online dossier on media skills

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This article is part of our online dossier on media consumption. Find out more about what parents need to look out for in media education and find out about the latest findings.

When I think about how tedious learning geography was in my school days: copying maps, covering up country names, redrawing everything - it's no fun. Electronic media are productive, the computer can constantly generate new tasks, where a workbook is eventually worked through. Chiara is currently looking for an apprenticeship. It amazes me how many companies already expect online applications. Scanning documents, generating PDFs and putting them together - as parents, we had to show our daughter how to do it. That would be the school's job. I wonder what children do when no one at home can help them.

«There is a lack of education»

Stefan Bienz, father of two

I am open-minded about digital media in every respect, but what I clearly lack at school is education. It took a tragic incident of cyberbullying at our daughter's school for the topic to even come up and for parents to come round to hear about the risks online.
Children don't realise that the internet doesn't forget anything. That what they reveal about themselves can be their downfall. Parents are also not sensitised enough. My wife and I try to explain this to our children: Only send content that you would have no qualms about posting on the notice board at the front door. Everything else should be discussed in person."

Read more:

  • How much media is there in Curriculum 21? With the introduction of Curriculum 21 in many Swiss cantons, " media and IT" are becoming more important in primary schools. What exactly does it say and what does it mean for which age group?
  • Mr Wampfler, do digital media make school better? He works with digital whiteboards and smartphones, lets his pupils make YouTube videos and write essays in Google Docs: Philippe Wampfler is considered a pioneer and expert in the use of new media in schools. We spoke to him about the fears and prejudices of teachers and the limits of digitalisation.