Pupils playing games in class: how to keep focus when everyone has a computer
Short answer
Decide what the computer is for before the lesson starts, and close what distracts for the whole class at once. Telling pupils off one by one eats the lesson, and a block for the whole school also closes what is needed.
How Focus worksWhy it happens. It is rarely about willpower.
- One tab away
- Games are closeGame sites open in the same browser as the task, and switch back in a second.
- The school's filter
- Does not stop everythingNew game sites appear all the time, and school-wide lists cannot keep up.
- The teacher
- Sees the screens from behindFrom the front of the room you see the lids, not what is on them.
What to do in the lesson. Five habits that last the whole term.
- Say the task and the tool first“We are writing in Google Docs for twenty minutes.” When the goal is clear, it also shows when someone has left it.
- Lids down during the explanationScreens are down while you speak, and up again when the work starts.
- Close game sites and video during work timeFor the whole class at once, not pupil by pupil. Open them again when the session ends.
- See the screens without walking roundStand where you can see the screens, or use a tool that shows them to you.
- Talk to the pupil afterwardsA short word after the lesson works better than a telling-off in front of the class.
More answers
Phone-free school, but what about the school computers?Sweden's phone ban covers pupils' own phones, not the school's computers.Block websites and game sites on school Chromebooks and Windows PCsFor the whole school, IT blocks websites centrally: on Chromebook in the Google Admin console, on Windows with Intune.