Matthew Godfrey's Education Blog

English teacher Matthew Godfrey weighs up the pros and cons of our burgeoning reliance on digital devices in the classroom This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 31 August 2014 As parents of three young children and regular users of the M25, my wife and I know how effective tablet devices are at preventing family meltdowns in traffic jams. A spell on the iPad is normally enough to stave off sibling scrapes in the car, as well as cries of “Are we nearly there yet?” We are always grateful for a little “iPeace” when we face another delay around junctions nine and 10. But as we hand the gadget over, we have mixed feelings. There is mild guilt: shouldn’t we be engaging our children in stimulating conversation or playing an inventive game to stretch their imagination? And there is apprehension, too: at some stage, the contraption will need to be wrenched back from them. The addictiveness of some games and software is such that this can be like stealing a banana ...