Mr Wampfler, do digital media make schools better?

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Mr Wampfler, you were probably one of the first teachers in Switzerland to use digital media in the classroom. You wrote a book about social media in schools back in 2012. What was your motivation?

At our school, we had a very theoretical training course on social media with external experts. This tended to cause more uncertainty among the teaching staff. What was neglected was the question of how young people use these networks. There is a knowledge gap between pupils and teachers. Shortly afterwards, I went on a training holiday, started a blog on the subject, attended conferences and wrote the first book on the use of social media in schools. Since then, I've been invited to schools myself as an expert for training courses. But I tell schools: «You can't delegate responsibility to external parties permanently.» Teachers and school management have to get to grips with the new media themselves.

Do digital media fundamentally improve teaching?

Teaching without the use of media is not possible. The blackboard is also a medium. Digital media are simply contemporary media. Teaching without it seems artificial. I still often need the blackboard - sometimes I digitise it. I always look at what makes sense didactically

Which tasks must digital media definitely be excluded from?

For example, when pupils sit down together to resolve a conflict. It would be problematic if there were digital recordings. Or when motor skills are important:what happens when writing by hand in primary school cannot be encouraged with digital media.

«If the pupils are more confident than the teacher, the balance of power shifts.»

Did you encounter any resistance from colleagues when you started using new media in the classroom?

In principle, the others didn't care what I did in the classroom. Gradually, however, the school management realised that they had to react to the children's media use. At first, they tried banning mobile phones. But that didn't work. So they switched to «bring your own device»: the devices that the young people had with them anyway were to be used in class. This led to some negative reactions.

What are the prejudices or fears that are widespread among the teaching staff?

Some secondary school teachers still teach their subject the way they learnt it during their studies. In linguistics in particular, this means going to libraries, looking for books and reading them. Then pupils come and say: «But I can find it all online!» This can lead to a crisis of purpose for the teacher. In a digitalised world, their role is also changing. They are no longer the only source of knowledge. What's more, with the new media, teachers are entering a field in which pupils are more confident. This shifts the balance of power.

But there are also younger teachers who have been using digital media themselves for years.

Yes, that is one reason why the situation is slowly easing. However, studies also show that people training to become teachers are generally rather critical of the use of digital media in schools.

How come?

They have had positive experiences with the analogue school themselves and become teachers to pass this on. Not to change anything.

«We always have to consider and justify what we do with digital media. And that's a good thing.»

Is there also a headwind from the parents?

Parents are a very heterogeneous group. Some say: «I'm already fighting against the device at home, why do you want to use it at school now?» Others work with digital media themselves and find the school completely outdated.Most parents, however, are unconcerned about the issue. Quite different from five or ten years ago. They have now gained their own experience with smartphones and computers and have formed an idea of what rules should be in place for using the devices. Nevertheless, there is of course a pressure to legitimise when schools become more digital. And that's a good thing.

Why?

Because we always have to think about and justify what we are doing. That's good for us - teachers are not demigods.

How do the media rules from the parents' home influence the lessons?

Children from a home with a high educational background often have strict rules and the children are usually only given a smartphone late, for example when they move on to senior school. In contrast, children with a low educational background are often given a mobile phone earlier and with fewer rules, for example to keep the child quiet. Children who own a mobile phone at a young age, six or seven, have therefore often not learnt any media usage rules. Teachers then see this and say: «You shouldn't use mobile phones with children that young.»

And what do you think? Should there already be contact with digital media in primary school?

Definitely yes. Not as a substitute for the forest and motorised experiences, but in addition. Primary school strongly characterises our understanding of school and the acquisition of knowledge. With the exception of a few flagship projects, it is strongly analogue. Children often learn language and images digitally in the world outside of school. My children learnt to write at the tram vending machines where they entered letters.

How much digital would be too much?

There is this American model, a truly terrifying vision: every pupil is separated behind a PC and there are perhaps three teachers for every 100 pupils; everything else is regulated by learning programmes specially adapted to each individual pupil. And they are backed by a powerful industry. The most important aspect of school is the social aspect. You have to be able to build relationships here.

Your pupils are around 15 years old and all have their own smartphone. How do you actually use new media in the classroom?

Let's take German lessons as an example: I could simply write on the blackboard what «experienced speech» is. Or I let the students search for it themselves using their smartphones, create a Google Doc and the students compile various pieces of information in it. They can then compare: What is a good source? They realise that there are different definitions, so there is no consensus. This doesn't take forever, maybe 10 to 15 minutes. But I'm convinced that they can memorise it better this way than if I just tell them.

Do you have another example?

Everything is organised via a WhatsApp chat. Students can ask me questions about their homework and I know where they stand. I can follow up on this in class.

Does that mean you as a teacher have to be available 24 hours a day?

No, you have to find a culture of communication. I have fixed times when I'm online on WhatsApp and answer questions. You also develop filtering skills and recognise which messages you need to reply to immediately.

A competence that pupils should also learn...

Yes, of course, we talk about this in class. There are different expectations as to how quickly someone has to answer. That can turn into stress. Before exams, some of my students have developed the strategy of muting the class chat. So that they can't drive each other crazy.

Do mobile phones have to remain switched off during exams?

I personally don't do traditional exams. I work in a skills-orientated way. For example, I've just had students write a commentary on a novel - in Google Docs. Other students and I then give feedback according to strict rules. The students can then finish writing their text. We work together to improve a text. This also does justice to today's understanding of texts: digital texts are never simply finished. I want the students to learn to work with me in a way that they will need later in the professional world.

But don't pupils put less effort into a text if they know that it is only a first version?

I wouldn't say that. In essays, there have always been many texts that seemed rather ill-considered and would have been better revised. The will to improve an already finished text, on the other hand, was even smaller.

«If you show a genuine interest in how young people use media, a relationship of mutual trust is established.»

Are some schoolgirls actually jealous of their own huge success on social media?

No, what I do is not particularly cool. My posts have a completely different style to those of young people. But they respect it and find it exciting. Sometimes I take them with me when I'm invited somewhere as an expert and try to involve them - because they are experts too - for THEIR communication.

As a media-savvy teacher, are you automatically a person of trust for the pupils?

It's a mutual trust that builds up because I'm really interested in how they use new media. I ask them questions because I don't understand a lot of things, and that's how you get into a dialogue.

Do pupils also learn from your mistakes when using media?

They sometimes ask me when there are heated discussions on my profiles: «What kind of stress are you under now?». Then we look at it together and I ask them: «How would you react now?» But it's often really difficult to compare because young people, for example, are much more reserved when it comes to public criticism.

«Among girls, it's seen as an act of aggression if someone doesn't like an Instagram picture.»

That surprises me.

Yes, among girls, for example, it's seen as an act of aggression if someone doesn't like an Instagram picture. They find it embarrassing that we teachers then start a discussion in the comments on the class YouTube channel. It's public drama and shouldn't be shown to everyone.

Do you still write on paper at all?

Yes, taking notes during the lesson works better on paper. There are also many studies that prove this.

How do you rate the media and IT module in Curriculum 21?

I think it's good that application skills, reflection skills and computer science are addressed. The module creates a sense of commitment and is a step in the right direction. But it is not a revolution. The space taken up by the new media is too small and media skills are not sufficiently interwoven with other competences. I fear that individual subject teachers therefore think that they no longer need to do anything with new media themselves.

How good is young people's media literacy?

It depends on the perspective. Adults often don't understand how complex media use and all its communication rules are for young people. What you have to be able to do and know. This expertise is not recognised by adults. I see a need for action in another area: many young people find it difficult to filter relevant and true information. It's up to schools to prepare young people for life. If you type a question into Google, you will always find the answer you want to hear. Young people should learn to build up a knowledge network again and ask experts if they are unsure. This has never been as easy as it is today, via the internet.

The digital revolution in the classroom. Our big dossier in October 2017

How digital are Swiss schools? What do children and parents say about teaching with tablets and the like? How do teachers deal with the changes? And how do you protect pupils' data when everything goes digital?

Read all about it in our big dossier in the October issue. Order it here.
Read more: How much media is in Curriculum 21?