Smartphones Not Used for Digital Learning among Russian School Students
Despite the widespread use of smartphones, teachers have not fully integrated them into the teaching and learning process, including for developing students' digital skills. Irina Dvoretskaya, Research Fellow at the HSE Institute of Education, has examined the patterns of mobile device use for learning among students in grades 9 to 11.
On September 1, 2024, a new law came into effect banning the use of mobile devices by school students during school hours, including for educational purposes. According to media reports, in 2023, over 80% of parents supported the proposed ban on smartphone use during school classes. Irina Dvoretskaya, Research Fellow at the HSE Institute of Education, analysed how Russian high school students had used smartphones up to that point and whether teachers had provided guidance on the use of digital tools.
For the study, an online survey was conducted in urban and rural schools in Russia among students in grades 9–11 (over 20,000 boys and girls) who owned smartphones. The study revealed that most high school students did not use smartphones for learning. Nearly 60% of respondents either did not use digital devices for educational purposes at all or only used them for basic tasks, such as accessing an electronic diary. Similarly, teachers did not employ educational practices that foster the development of digital competencies in the classroom. Most frequently, smartphones were used as calculators or tools for searching information. According to the study, only 7.34% of high school students can be considered advanced users of digital devices.
Dvoretskaya notes that in the current frontal instruction model used in schools, smartphones indeed tend to distract students from the learning process during class. However, it would be unreasonable to completely exclude gadgets from the educational process, considering their ubiquity and the growing digitalisation of all aspects of life. Otherwise, there is a risk that personal mobile devices will only be used by children as tools for entertainment and communication, rather than education.
Irina Dvoretskaya
'Each year, new user technologies emerge, such as AI chatbots, and banning smartphones in teaching and learning will not help children learn to use them responsibly and productively,' according to Dvoretskaya.
Productive use of a mobile device for active academic work in project-based or research-based learning enables students not only to master subject content effectively but also to develop 21st century skills, including the ability to satisfy their educational interests and needs and to solve various real-life challenges.
The research conducted can assist the administrations of Russian schools in evaluating the potential for integrating personal digital infrastructure into educational institutions. The data collected can also be used to monitor the progress and academic performance of different student groups, develop flexible learning pathways, and create individualised learning materials in the context of advancing artificial intelligence.
See also:
Scientists Record GRB 221009A, the Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst in Cosmic History
A team of scientists from 17 countries, including physicists from HSE University, analysed early photometric and spectroscopic data of GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded. The data was obtained at the Sayan Observatory one hour and 15 minutes after the emission was registered. The researchers detected photons with an energy of 18 teraelectronvolts (TeV). Theoretically, such high-energy particles should not reach Earth, but data analysis has confirmed that they can. The results challenge the theory of gamma radiation absorption and may point to unknown physical processes. The study has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Chemists Simplify Synthesis of Drugs Involving Amide Groups
Chemists from HSE University and the Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INEOS RAS) have developed a new method for synthesising amides, essential compounds in drug production. Using a ruthenium catalyst and carbon monoxide under precisely controlled reaction conditions, they successfully obtained the target product without by-products or complex purification steps. The method has already been tested for synthesising a key component of Vorinostat, a drug used to treat T-cell lymphoma. This approach could lower the cost of the drug by orders of magnitude. The paper has been published in the Journal of Catalysis. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.
Scientists Examine Neurobiology of Pragmatic Reasoning
An international team including scientists from HSE University has investigated the brain's ability to comprehend hidden meanings in spoken messages. Using fMRI, the researchers found that unambiguous meanings activate brain regions involved in decision-making, whereas processing complex and ambiguous utterances engages regions responsible for analysing context and the speaker's intentions. The more complex the task, the greater the interaction between these regions, enabling the brain to decipher the meaning. The study has been published in NeuroImage.
Scientists Present New Solution to Imbalanced Learning Problem
Specialists at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science and Sber AI Lab have developed a geometric oversampling technique known as Simplicial SMOTE. Tests on various datasets have shown that it significantly improves classification performance. This technique is particularly valuable in scenarios where rare cases are crucial, such as fraud detection or the diagnosis of rare diseases. The study's results are available on ArXiv.org, an open-access archive, and will be presented at the International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD) in summer 2025 in Toronto, Canada.
Hi-Tech Grief: HSE Researchers Explore the Pros and Cons of Digital Commemoration
Researchers at HSE University in Nizhny Novgorod have explored how technological advancements are transforming the ways in which people preserve the memory of the deceased and significant events. Digital technologies enable the creation of virtual memorials, the preservation of personal stories and belongings of the deceased, interaction with their digital footprint, and even the development of interactive avatars based on their online activity. However, these technologies not only evoke nostalgia and provide a sense of relief but can also heighten anxiety and fear, and delay the process of accepting loss. The study has been published in Chelovek (The Human Being).
Scientists Find Out Why Aphasia Patients Lose the Ability to Talk about the Past and Future
An international team of researchers, including scientists from the HSE Centre for Language and Brain, has identified the causes of impairments in expressing grammatical tense in people with aphasia. They discovered that individuals with speech disorders struggle with both forming the concept of time and selecting the correct verb tense. However, which of these processes proves more challenging depends on the speaker's language. The findings have been published in the journal Aphasiology.
Implementation of Principles of Sustainable Development Attracts More Investments
Economists from HSE and RUDN University have analysed issues related to corporate digital transformation processes. The introduction of digital solutions into corporate operations reduces the number of patents in the field of green technologies by 4% and creates additional financial difficulties. However, if a company focuses on sustainable development and increases its rating in environmental, social, and governance performance (ESG), the negative effects decrease. Moreover, when the ESG rating is high, digitalisation can even increase the number of patents by 2%. The article was published in Sustainability.
Russian Scientists Develop New Compound for Treating Aggressive Tumours
A team of Russian researchers has synthesised a novel compound for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a treatment for advanced cancer that uses the boron-10 isotope. The compound exhibits low toxicity, excellent water solubility, and eliminates the need for administering large volumes. Most importantly, the active substance reaches the tumour with minimal impact on healthy tissues. The study was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences shortly before World Cancer Day, observed annually on February 4.
Scientists Discover Link Between Brain's Structural Features and Autistic Traits in Children
Scientists have discovered significant structural differences in the brain's pathways, tracts, and thalamus between children with autism and their neurotypical peers, despite finding no functional differences. The most significant alterations were found in the pathways connecting the thalamus—the brain's sensory information processing centre—to the temporal lobe. Moreover, the severity of these alterations positively correlated with the intensity of the child's autistic traits. The study findings have been published in Behavioural Brain Research.
Earnings Inequality Declining in Russia
Earnings inequality in Russia has nearly halved over the past 25 years. The primary factors driving this trend are rising minimum wages, regional economic convergence, and shifts in the returns on education. Since 2019, a new phase of this process has been observed, with inequality continuing to decline but driven by entirely different mechanisms. These are the findings made by Anna Lukyanova, Assistant Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, in her new study. The results have been published in the Journal of the New Economic Association.