Students at Wuhan Optics Valley International School attended classes without watching any screens on November 11 in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province.

Students at Wuhan Optics Valley International School attended classes without watching any screens on November 11 in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, and they followed the teachers' gestures and narrations closely. This is the second month the school has held screen-free classes for an entire day.

Since September 1, the school has let six grades take turns to have one day with no power points projected onto screens. Students had to learn face-to-face, using only their books, the blackboard, and other printed materials.

Zhai Xiaomeng, a teacher for the fourth grade, prepared her classes using an interactive approach. Zhai was quoted as saying that power points were more colorful and students had got used to them, but since the screen-free day was introduced, she decided to slow down the tutoring rhythm and arranged writing ideas on the blackboard. Students had more opportunities to think over story plots by discussing them in teams, and Zhai was able to capture their learning feedback in a timely manner.

"In a classroom without electronic screens, I can concentrate well by looking at the teacher and the blackboard," said Tian Yixin, a student at the school. 

One of the staff members in charge of the campaign said that the aims of the screen-free day were to protect students' eyesight, reduce the strain of prolonged screen time, encourage teachers to think out of the box in terms of their teaching approaches and to help students get more focused on learning and thinking. 

"After two months of implementing the 'Eye Protection Screen-Off Day,' we have found that students' concentration in class has improved, and they have developed the habit of thinking calmly and independently. Teachers' blackboard writing and lesson design abilities have greatly improved, and there has been an increase in in-depth face-to-face interaction between teachers and students," the staff member said.


Global Times