Who doesn't love a government flip-flop? Remember when the Department of Education was all about fostering "global citizens" and helping young people "participate fully in society and the economy" through digital tech? Back in 2018, when the government didn't want to spend money on digital devices, schools were simply requested to "consult with their school community, including teachers, students and parents regarding the use of children's own smart phones and tablet devices" to develop or update policies. Back then, it was all about harnessing the "positive role" digital technologies could play in learning.

Most of us realised (eventually) this was a very bad idea and that the government should have been providing money to schools for managed devices.

Fast forward to 2025, and it seems their digital dream has hit a snag. Now, schools are "required to implement a policy to ban the use of and access to, personal mobile phones by pupils for the duration of the school day."

So, join the Deep Dive AI hosts as they ask: Was this a grand "U-turn" from promoting "digital competence" to simply "grounding" our students' devices, or is there more to this sudden policy pivot than meets the eye?

All show notes can be found here.

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Music by Oleksii Holubiev from Pixabay

Music by Oleksii Holubiev from Pixabay