All students today want to use their smartphones. With everything they’re capable of, it’s no surprise that they do! However, there are a plethora of problems that arise when these students are using their smartphones on a daily basis.

Many students rely on their smartphones so much that they forget they have a smartphone right inside of their heads–their brains. Our brains are the fastest computers out there, and it’s a piece of organic tech, unlike any smartphone they can get their hands on. So, how do you teach children to maximize their own smart brain?

How to Teach Students to Use Their Brains Instead of Smartphones

Many schools today are too focused on what is happening with test scores and the like. They teach their students more information in hopes that they’ll score higher on tests. However, that’s not the best way to teach. In fact, it may be more harmful than good.

You overwhelm a child’s brain when you try to teach them so much information at once. They are unable to process it all, and a few short days later, they forget it. Why do this?

The real solution isn’t to teach students more information, it’s teaching them how to maximize their own brainpower. Require them to attempt to use their God-given computer, instead of making a smartphone or traditional computer device their go-to method for figuring out calculations or arriving at an answer to a history question.

For instance, in a math-related subject, teach students to complete problems in their head or with a traditional calculator, instead of using a smartphone to get an immediate answer. If you don’t, students will use apps like Photmath, to take a picture of a math problem and have it instantly solved. 

Or instead of allowing students to use an app like Grammarly to help them edit a paper or assignment, challenge them to learn the rules of grammar usage, and use them to edit their paper. As a final step, they could use an app to find any mistakes that they missed.

Concluding Thoughts

My point is that if students are reliant on smartphones to find answers, and we allow them to do it, we will soon have a nation of mindless automatons that don’t see the use in learning how to do anything. I mean, what is the use of learning history and geography, if the answer is always accessible through a smartphone? What’s the use of learning fractions, if I can take a picture and have an app to give me the solutions.