AI, Computer Technology and Social Media Ban Coming to Bangkok Patana
Will Bangkok Patana ban all digital technology….Happy April Fool’s 2023
Following the advice of tech luminaries and renowned scientists such as Yoshua Bengio, a pioneer of modern AI, historian Yuval Noah Harari, Skype cofounder Jaan Tallinn and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, Bangkok Patana School has made the decision to go completely analog when it opens the next academic year in August 2023.
Senior Leadership at the school have been debating the issue for about a year, and the heightened pressure from AI developments over the past four months cemented the decision. “Our technology vision states that ‘we invest in technology that amplifies our human-centred traits‘, and after reviewing the way technology impacts the school, we have concluded that it is not amplifying our best traits,” said Brian Taylor, Assistant Principal – Curriculum Technology Integrator. He said the school may consider light use of pre-‘world wide web’ devices. The negative aspects of social media and constant access to mobile devices have also played a big role in the decision.
To enable the change, wifi routers around the school are being removed, smart boards in classrooms are being switched to traditional chalk boards and the Patana Cards will be discontinued. Each student will have a Home-School Journal to enable communication and messages between parents and the academic teams. Libraries will move back to a card catalog system.
Exercise books will be used extensively, as laptops and other mobile devices will be banned on campus. The new stock of exercise books have already begun to arrive. ECAs are also being reviewed; for instance, robotics ECAs will be replaced with Meccano, Minecraft will be replaced with Lego.
“This is absolutely the way to go,” said Matt Mills, Head of School, “In my 15-year tenure we felt it was important to embrace the best learning techniques. It seemed that adopting new technology was the best way forward. However, at Bangkok Patana we constantly evaluate to make sure we stay ahead of the curve with student learning, and now this means removing all digital technology and the negative distractions it brings to our wonderful school.”
For suggestions on where we can donate our digital technology equipment, please email us at communications@patana.ac.th. Further information on the transition will be shared to parents by Year group leaders when school reopens after the Songkran holidays.
We hope you have an April Fool’s Day full of laughter!
