The Hattie study has been a central project in international educational research for more than a decade. The study has now been updated – and shows that digital media are not only an opportunity in the pandemic, but also a risk. Based on the latest results of the renowned Hattie study, Professor Klaus Zierer determined that heavy smartphone use by schoolchildren could lead to massive educational deficits, according to scientific findings. In the opinion of the professor for school education at the University of Augsburg, schools must pay particular attention to the use of mobile phones by children.
Intensive smartphone use can result in a learning deficit of up to a year, said Zierer after evaluating numerous international specialist studies. In addition, mobile phone use is linked to sleep disorders and cyberbullying, two other factors that inhibit learning success, the scientist explained.
In the education sector, digitization is being researched tirelessly, explained Zierer. There are a large number of studies that indicate that unreflective media consumption outside of school leads to a massive learning deficit in children. “Media education is one of the central educational tasks of our time, to which a comprehensive contribution must be made, especially in school,” said Zierer.
The chair holder has been working with the New Zealand educational researcher John Hattie for years. Hattie attracted worldwide attention more than a decade ago with his study “Visible Learning”. Since then, this study has often been used for new pedagogical approaches and updated by Hattie and Zierer by evaluating further studies.
Around 100,000 individual studies were included in the latest research results
Zierer explained that more than 1,800 meta-analyses – i.e. studies that summarize other studies – have now been evaluated for the latest Hattie study. This means that around 100,000 individual studies, which draw on the learning performance of 300 million schoolchildren, were included in the current study.
According to Zierer, the corona-related consequences for the education system in particular are currently being intensively researched. In view of the empirical studies, it is clear that these have led to deficits in terms of learning performance.
Gaps in school equipment have been closed as a result of the digitization push. “But digital distance learning is not able to replace presence,” emphasized Zierer. What has been known for more than 30 years has been confirmed: “Digital media do not revolutionize teaching per se: Digital media do not improve bad teaching. Only good teaching can benefit from it.”