Children spent a quarter of their time in class daydreaming, according to new research from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB).
“Mind wandering is detrimental during educationally significant activities,” the QUB paper said.
“In an educational context, if students fail to attend to instruction because of (daydreaming) this may impede their chances of acquiring crucial skills or knowledge.”
The results of the study suggest that if children are highly interested in a lesson in school, they daydream less and remember more.
But how can teachers keep children that are used to such high levels of stimulation from video games and television interested in their lessons? Technology may hold the answer.
Times are changing and the “Digitods”, children who grew up with digital devices from a young age, are demanding more from their learning. White boards and textbooks alone are no longer enough to hold their attention. Bringing the digital world into the classroom allows learning to become more engaging, more fulfilling and more stimulating.
That’s why over half of all Secondary headteachers and over a third of Primary headteachers are planning to invest in technology to support blended learning (EdTech Survey May 2021). With this comes increasing demand on School networks. To meet the demand, the Department for Education has introduced new standards for broadband in schools, including minimum internet speeds, and advises these new standards must be met by schools a soon as possible.
For primary and smaller schools, this can be achieved with Ultrafast FTTP, but secondary schools should consider a leased line.
Read more about how your school can meet today’s challenging demands and the DfE’s minimum standards: