St Paul’s Girls School runs first ever digital induction program for students at start of term

St Paul’s Girls School, based in London, UK, is running a digital induction program for its newest Year 7 students before they begin using their school laptops.

Writing on LinkedIn, Deputy Head and Director of Innovation Dr Will Van Reyk shared that the school will be running the induction for the next few weeks.

“It might seem counterintuitive that as Director of Innovation I am asking our students to use pen and paper in the first few weeks of secondary school, but I am delighted that as a school we are encouraging a balanced and thoughtful approach to technology which prioritises human expertise, skills and aptitudes,” he explains.

“In the long-run it will be students who are able to combine human qualities with technological proficiency that will thrive. Indeed, we want our students to also have the confidence to know when it may well be much better for them not to use a laptop for a particular task.”

As part of the induction, students are being introduced to responsible use of technology as well as an overview of AI.

Reyk adds: “Above all, I am so glad that the school has found space in a busy curriculum to ensure that the students have the time to properly discuss the digital world around them. As I have commented before, our current students may have been born into a digital world, but it is a myth to think they are therefore ‘digital natives’.”

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