Digital technologies are being actively introduced in Belarusian educational institutions, including primary schools. In practice, the appeal to them often follows the technocratic logic, but ignores the humanitarian consequences. In order to assess these effects on higher mental functions, an experimental study was conducted in them 1000 primary school students participated. The experiment was organized according to an intraindividual scheme. The students passed through three experimental conditions, each of them lasted for 20 minutes: 1) traditional educational activity; 2) educational activity with a gadget; 3) free activity with a gadget. After each situation, the children measured the state of attention (concentration and selectivity) and memory (visual, auditory, mechanical and logical). It was proved that the students demonstrated significantly better state in all measured parameters of attention and memory in normal educational activities without the use of digital technologies. These results are similar for younger students of different grades (1–4, from the age of 6 to 10 years). The obtained data prove the need for: firstly, a more rational use of digital technologies in education, especially at the stage of formation of educational activities; secondly, the search and justification of the actual developmental effects of these technologies for students.

The influence of educational activities with gadgets on the cognitive processes of primary school students