Education 2024/25: the challenges of teaching how to use technologies

One of the wonderful things that can be observed at the Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos is how the evolution of the different species of the genus Homo is reflected and is, at the same time, a consequence of their different tools. Each new technology, each new object created for a specific use, forces the human mind to adapt. From the most primitive axe to the most complex gadgets that we have incorporated into our daily lives throughout history, everything has been transforming us.

The smartphone and digital communication are very recent technologies. They have only been with us for a few decades, but we can already notice how they transform our world, our relationships, and our minds. And this transformation is intensely experienced in the educational field.

2024 has been a year of debates and doubts regarding the use of mobile phones and the internet in the family and educational environment. Data showing a deterioration in mental health among minors coincides with the years during which more and more minors, at increasingly younger ages, have had access to the internet and social networks. Mental health also worsens among those known as emerging adults, as indicated by recent data from European university students. This leads to the inevitable question: What is the role of mobile phones and social networks in this striking deterioration?

Children who do not play, teenagers who do not read

One third of the 288 articles we have published in the Education section this year deal with the relationship between technologies and social networks with the well-being and learning capacity of children and young people, from very diverse approaches.