Stephen Downes

Ellen Clarke references Steven Hales' "thought-provoking post about ... his students becoming significantly worse at reading, writing and basic maths over the course of his 30-year career. And he puts it down largely to smart-phone addiction." Though, as Clarke notes, students who "come out of a school system in which teachers are tasked with giving them a curriculum - a nationwide sort of bible of truths - and helping them to ingest it as accurately as possible so they can pass exams." But sure. It's the phones that are the problem.