A group set up by Anna Grant & Arlene Carruthers who are concerned about school EdTech in collaboration with Patrons Hugh Grant & Sophie Winkleman

Joined May 2025
EdTech is eroding children's learning. It's a state of emergency. The OECD says children who use computers very frequently in class do a lot worse in most learning outcomes. Ask your school for a review using our letter templates: #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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Britain spends £900m on EdTech per year. Sophie Winkleman asks what that could do back in the hands of teachers. And one school in Australia found it was spending $850,000 a year on subscriptions no one used. #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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UK children's health is at risk. Sophie Winkleman and Jared Cooney Horvath share health experts' warnings that screens are leaving UK children short-sighted and sleep-deprived. Shouldn't school be one screen-free safe haven for learning? #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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Our Patron Sophie Winkleman with Katharine Birbalsingh and Jared Cooney Horvath in conversation at the UK launch of his book The Digital Delusion. Our Patron Hugh Grant: “Terrifying and essential reading.” #ClosescreensOpenMinds #EdTech
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Is EdTech really helping our kids learn? It arrived as a Covid emergency measure. The pandemic ended - but the screens stayed. The research shows they're harming focus, memory and performance. Our children need real learning - not more screentime. #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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Sophie Winkleman and Hugh Grant support the work of Schools Beyond Screens and Pencils Over Pixels. If you have concerns yourself please check out our website, where you can find further evidence and even template letters you can use to question your school’s use of technology.
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They sold us the Edtech dream: better teaching, personalised learning and a digital future. The result: test scores are down, screen use is rising, and pupils are using AI to write essays. Children deserve real learning, not more screen time. #EdTech #ScreensInSchools
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How did we get here? Schools flooding classrooms with electricity-guzzling devices wired to water-slurping datacentres. Children need human teachers, human examiners, and physical textbooks. Read the evidence: closescreensopenminds.com/th… #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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Human brains don't learn well from screens. Cognitive skills are declining. Attention spans are declining. Executive functioning skills are declining. So why are our schools continuing to digitise education? closescreensopenminds.com/th… #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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Classroom books are a dying breed. There's clear scientific evidence that the digitisation of education is impairing rather than enhancing learning. So why are schools replacing books with screens? closescreensopenminds.com/th… #ClosescreensOpenMinds
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The digitalisation of education is being pushed by a few very greedy companies, and our governments are falling for it. There's clear evidence that these digital tools are impairing learning. Parents need to start fighting against it. Read the evidence: closescreensopenminds.com/th…
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