At RCA, one of our goals is to ensure that students are prepared to succeed in post-secondary education and careers in the 21st century—a landscape that hinges largely on the use of technology. However, we believe that we can and should accomplish this goal without completely saturating students’ school days with screen time. Why? As research continues to be published, psychologists, pediatricians, and tech industry moguls agree that too much screen time is detrimental to kids in many ways. Areas of particular concern include attention spans; social/emotional interaction and skills, such as conversation, collaboration, and empathy; mental health (linked to anxiety and depression); physical activity, and sleep patterns. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports screen time can have even more extreme impacts on the pre-school and early childhood age group. For these reasons, at RCA, it is important to us that students are protected from the negative effects of excessive technology use, but also are trained in the appropriate use of current technology so that they can leverage it effectively post-graduation.
While many schools promote a “one-to-one” (one device per one student) learning atmosphere, which can be beneficial, we believe that a balanced approach—one we call #SmartIntegration—is more beneficial for the whole child. At RCA, students are not buried in devices hour after hour with all their learning activities filtered through a screen. Instead, we provide opportunities for the
#SmartIntegration of technology in which students have ample opportunities to learn through and with technology. Teachers incorporate it into their instruction, and students use it to demonstrate their learning through projects and presentations. We believe this balanced approach—with purposeful rather than saturating use—encourages the development of sought-after soft skills, which employers report are severely lacking in today’s job applicants. These soft skills such as interpersonal communication, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, adaptability, manners, perseverance, and work ethic cannot be simulated through a device and are best learned when students have more face-to-face rather than face-to-screen time.
In addition, current cognitive science research demonstrates that pen and paper have benefits over digital writing mediums such as typing in terms of student performance in processing, retaining, and reproducing information. In short, handwriting activates important parts of the brain that typing does not.
So at RCA, you’ll find our students engaging with technology in smart, fun, and creative ways, but you’ll also find them reading physical textbooks, writing with pen and paper, and engaging with each other more as they hone their listening and verbal communication skills, attention spans, and capacity for perseverance. Parents can be assured that when technology is being used at RCA, there is a true learning objective associated with that use. The successful connection between these two realms is vital to students’ success in 21st century life after high school graduation. #SmartIntegration
