A good learning activity encourages students to engage with the underlying concepts, explain their reasoning, and apply what they have learned in a new context.
Printed exercises, handwritten notes, classroom discussions, and independent reading can all support this kind of engagement. Digital tools can also contribute when they are designed and used with the same purpose.
The key question is whether students are becoming more capable, not merely whether they can complete an activity more quickly.
14.3 Returning to basics can be a form of progress
The renewed emphasis on books, pens, and paper may appear to some observers to be a step backwards. In reality, reconsidering the role of established educational methods can be a sign of a more mature approach to innovation.
Progress does not require abandoning every previous practice. It requires understanding which practices remain valuable, which need improvement, and which should be replaced.
Printed books have supported generations of learners because they provide a practical way to organise and communicate knowledge. Handwriting remains useful because it allows people to record ideas, solve problems, and communicate without depending on electronic devices.
These activities are not incompatible with technological development. They can coexist with digital research, online collaboration, and new forms of educational software.
The challenge is to establish a relationship between old and new methods that reflects their actual strengths.
Sweden's experience suggests that schools can modernise without making technology the organising principle of every lesson. They can embrace digital innovation while retaining the physical materials and learning routines that continue to serve important educational purposes.
15. The Future of Education: A More Deliberate Relationship with Technology
15.1 Preparing children for a digital world
Children growing up today will encounter technologies that may become more sophisticated than those currently available. Digital communication, automated systems, and artificial intelligence are likely to remain important features of education, employment, and everyday life.
Schools therefore have a responsibility to prepare students for these environments.
However, preparation for a digital future involves more than learning how to operate devices. Students also need the ability to read complex information, write clearly, reason logically, recognise unreliable claims, and make independent decisions.
These capabilities help people use technology effectively rather than depend on it uncritically.
A student who can evaluate an argument, explain a concept, and identify an error is better positioned to use digital tools as a source of support. A student who lacks these foundational skills may find it harder to assess whether an automated answer is accurate or whether an online source is trustworthy.
Foundational learning should therefore be understood as part of technological preparation, not as an alternative to it.
Sweden's renewed emphasis on reading, handwriting, and mathematics reflects the view that children need strong basic skills before they can fully benefit from more advanced resources.
15.2 The implications of artificial intelligence
The growth of artificial intelligence makes this question even more important.
AI systems can generate explanations, summarise texts, translate languages, suggest solutions, and help students explore complex subjects. Used carefully, these capabilities may provide valuable support for learning.
At the same time, students who rely on automated systems for every stage of an assignment may have fewer opportunities to practise developing their own arguments, checking evidence, or working through difficult problems independently.
The challenge is not simply to prevent students from using AI. It is to teach them how to use it responsibly while preserving their own capacity to think and learn.
For example, a student might use an AI tool to obtain an initial explanation of a difficult concept, then consult a textbook, compare the explanations, and write a summary independently. Another might use digital assistance to identify possible errors in a draft while remaining responsible for the argument and final text.
Such activities require foundational knowledge and critical judgement.
Printed books and handwritten exercises can provide opportunities to practise these abilities without relying continuously on automated assistance. Digital and AI tools can then be introduced where they support exploration, feedback, or more advanced work.
The broader principle remains the same: technology should strengthen the learner's capabilities rather than substitute for the development of those capabilities.
15.3 A classroom built around learning objectives
The future classroom does not need to be exclusively digital or exclusively analogue.
Instead, it can be organised around learning objectives. Teachers can select the resources most appropriate to the task, combining printed texts, handwritten exercises, discussion, practical activities, digital simulations, and online research.
A lesson might begin with a printed reading, continue with a class discussion, and conclude with an interactive digital exercise. Another might involve a short video followed by handwritten problem-solving and independent reading.
The order and combination should depend on what students need to understand and practise.
This approach also allows schools to reconsider their use of classroom time. If a digital tool does not provide a clear advantage for a particular activity, students can use that time for reading, writing, discussion, or practical work. If a digital resource provides an important benefit, it can be incorporated without requiring every other activity to become screen-based.
The objective is a flexible learning environment in which technology and traditional materials complement one another.
15.4 Rethinking what a modern school looks like
For much of the digital transformation of education, modernisation was closely associated with visible technological change. More devices, more software, and more online activities were often treated as signs that schools were moving forward.
Sweden's experience invites a different understanding of a modern school.
A modern school is one that understands its students' developmental needs, uses resources thoughtfully, evaluates educational outcomes, and provides teachers with the support required to teach effectively.
Such a school may contain sophisticated digital equipment, but it should also have well-chosen textbooks, suitable writing materials, opportunities for independent reading, and routines that support sustained attention.
Its classrooms should enable students to engage with information in different ways and develop the skills needed to apply their knowledge.
The presence of technology can contribute to this environment, but it is not the defining feature.
Ultimately, a school is modern because it prepares students effectively for the challenges they will face, not simply because its equipment is new.
Conclusion: Putting the Foundations of Learning First
Sweden's decision to invest hundreds of millions of Swedish kronor in printed textbooks, teachers' guides, pens, and paper represents an important reconsideration of the relationship between technology and education.
After years of expanding digital learning, the country has placed renewed emphasis on the foundational activities that help children develop literacy, numeracy, handwriting, and sustained attention. The government allocated 685 million kronor in 2023 and set aside 755 million kronor for textbooks and teachers' guides in 2025, with the ambition of ensuring that every pupil has access to a textbook for each subject.
The policy shift also reaches early childhood education. Since 1 July 2025, revised preschool rules have removed the requirement to use digital learning tools, placing greater emphasis on books and hands-on materials. Children under two are to use analogue tools exclusively, while screen exposure for older preschool children is to be carefully limited.
These measures reflect a broader principle: educational technology should be adopted because it helps children learn, not simply because it is available.
Printed textbooks can provide structured access to knowledge, support sustained reading, and give students a common reference point for classroom learning. Handwriting and paper-based exercises can create opportunities to practise essential skills, record reasoning, and work through problems independently. For younger children, books, play, physical exploration, and face-to-face interaction can provide experiences that should not be unnecessarily displaced by screens.
At the same time, digital technology remains an important part of contemporary education. It can improve access to information, support accessibility, provide interactive explanations, and help students develop the digital skills they will need in later life. The challenge is to use these capabilities selectively and effectively.
Sweden's approach should therefore not be interpreted as a rejection of technological progress. Rather, it is an attempt to establish a more deliberate relationship between innovation and learning. It recognises that the best educational environment may combine traditional materials with digital tools instead of allowing one to replace the other entirely.
For other countries, the lesson is equally relevant. Education systems should assess technological investments according to their educational value, adapt teaching methods to students' developmental needs, and ensure that public spending supports meaningful improvements in learning. They should also recognise that strong digital competence depends partly on foundational skills such as reading comprehension, clear writing, logical reasoning, and critical thinking.
As artificial intelligence and digital platforms continue to transform the world, these basic abilities are unlikely to become less important. If anything, students will need them more than ever to evaluate information, question automated answers, and make informed decisions.
A child does not need to spend every lesson in front of a screen to become prepared for the future. Nor does a modern school need to abandon technology in order to value books and handwriting.
The real objective is to give children the right tools at the right time, supported by effective teaching and a clear understanding of how learning develops.
Sweden's message is ultimately a simple but significant one: the future of education does not depend on choosing between books and technology. It depends on ensuring that technology serves education, while the foundations of learning remain firmly in place.