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A shows that 80% of parents actively do something to monitor their children’s screen time. Nearly 50% of parents are worried about young people’s privacy and safety online too, and 35% fear that children are being exposed to misinformation and aren’t socialising sufficiently in person.

Yet in the digital world, it’s essential that students have some exposure to tools that help them build skills for the future. Of course, the amount of time spent in front of a screen should be moderated, but there’s a big difference between active and passive screen time. The first engages young people in a productive, healthy way. The latter can be more harmful and form addictive habits.

Here’s how you can prepare students for the digital world with active screen time, while still implementing controls and responding to parental concerns.

What is fuelling concerns about screen time?

The effects of screen time in schools are being uncovered. have revealed that excessive screen usage can lead to problems in social-emotional development, as well as is correlated to obesity, sleep disturbances, depression, and anxiety. It can also encourage aggressive behaviour.

What’s more, parents and educators are conscious that too much screen time could impact how students learn to interact with one another. Social skills atrophy behind a screen, and students aren’t building the communication and problem-solving skills that come from in–person teamwork.

Interestingly though, there are some key benefits of screen time in schools, so long as it’s applied appropriately. Screens have the education and learning for reading cognitive development, and may .

To best balance screen time, we have to define what it means in an education setting. Screen time is how long students spend in front of computers, tablets or other electronic devices with a screen. It does encompass mobile phone use, however, if schools don’t have a policy around phones, it’s challenging to factor this time into screen time reserved for learning materials. For this blog, we will be addressing screen time specifically for tech resources used in lessons.

Passive vs active screen time

Not all screen time is equal. How we use screens, and what we do while viewing or engaging with them influences the effect they have on us. There are two types of screen use: passive and active.

Passive screen time is when a viewer consumes content via a screen without meaningfully interacting with it. For example, scrolling through social media, watching videos or playing games that don’t require much input. Passive screen time often leads to disengagement, lower attention spans, and missed opportunities for deeper learning.

Examples of passive screen time in schools are:

• Watching videos without follow-up tasks or discussion
• Viewing slideshows or presentations without interaction or note-taking
• Reading digital textbooks without embedded questions or prompts
• Browsing websites without a learning goal
• Watching live lessons without participating (camera/mic off, no chat interaction)
• Watching others solve problems on a screen without students doing it themselves

Active screen time is content displayed on a screen that is mentally stimulating, productive, and incorporates the viewer. For example, coding a programme, being involved in virtual class discussions, editing a video project, and using educational platforms that require problem solving. These activities in front of a screen can support digital literacy, critical thinking, and higher-order thinking skills.

Examples of active screen time in schools are:

• Participating in live virtual lessons or class discussions
• Using educational software that adapts to student input
• Creating digital presentations
• Using coding platforms to complete a project/design functionality
• Collaborating on shared documents (e.g. Google Docs)
• Conducting research for a project or inquiry-based assignment
• Designing infographics, videos, or podcasts as part of an assignment
• Completing interactive quizzes or formative assessments

Active screen time prepares students for a digital world

Ultimately, the quality of the screen time matters more than the quantity. You don’t have to eradicate screen time completely, but minimise passive use and prioritise active screen time. By emphasising active, purposeful screen use, you can help students learn to use technology as a tool, with thoughtful intention, rather than sitting back and being entertained.

According to the , technological skills will grow in importance more rapidly than any other skills in the next five years. By giving students access to active screen time, they nurture crucial skills for the future and construct an informative, healthy relationship with technology.

To encourage active screen use in your classroom, follow these steps:

1. Choose interactive tools over passive media

Try to select and use tools that get students to do something – that could be typing responses, tracking information or moving a digital avatar. Avoid lengthy videos and slideshows where students only observe. Instead, embed questions and quizzes that bring them into the experience.

2. Focus on creating with screens

Ask students to create while they use screens. Making presentations, videos, coding or designing on a screen are all active tasks. These activities foster innovation and digital fluency, which are desirable skills in a tech-driven world.

3. Concentrate on collaboration

Target platforms where students can work with one another to brainstorm ideas, build projects, and offer one another feedback. These tools mirror modern workplace environments, and improve communication and teamwork in a digital context.

4. Bring the real world to the (big) screen

Introduce activities that require students to research, analyse, and solve real-world problems while using a screen. For example, using virtual science labs to investigate carbon emissions, or using data spreadsheets to analyse traffic congestion. The more you can connect the real world with the digital one, the more ‘active’ the screen time.

5. Learn about digital safety in real time

Active screen time involves teaching students about how to responsibly use technology. Together, you can look at how to evaluate digital sources, protect user privacy, work with AI, and reduce cybersecurity risks. Your students productively interact with screens, and are better prepared for online safety.

Future-ready education

Setting students up for the digital world requires using screens wisely. A future-ready education embraces digital tools that empower – not distract – students.

With active screen time, you boost students’ attention and learning, and help them develop digital competencies for their future education, careers, and life in a tech-centric world.

Further reading

Discover more ways to prepare students for the digital world (while already flourishing in it). Read How to use AI to fuel students’ imaginations, Why students should learn blockchain, and How to conduct a digital skills gap analysis in your school.

ɫèAV's digital learning tools

ɫèAV International Schools has a selection of digital learning tools that can help you carry out more comprehensive learning in your classroom.

Bug Club

Bug Club is a reading programme for students aged 4-11. With Bug Club, students learn to read with printed books and reading packs, alongside a digital platform with ebooks, phonics support, quizzes, games, and rewards.

Young students use Bug Club to access a huge range of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, to nurture their love of reading. They can feel a real sense of achievement as they move through physical and digital content, and get familiar with navigating and understanding narratives in both spaces.

Educators and parents can track students’ reading progress in real time, and easily highlight where students need assistance. Meanwhile, students have a fun, mixed way of learning to read!

Power Maths White Rose Maths

Power Maths is a whole-class mastery programme created in partnership with White Rose Maths and recommended by the DfE*.

For Reception to Year 6, the course is designed to spark curiosity and excitement for maths in the primary classroom. It combines high-quality textbooks and practice books, teacher guides, interactive teaching tools, digital games, ongoing PD, and assessment to empower teachers to make maths an adventure for all children of 4 to 11 years of age.

Download a free sample, take a look at the Getting started guide and sign up to a free 60-day trial.

* Power Maths KS1 and KS2 have been judged by the DfE panel to meet the core criteria for a high-quality textbook.

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