External Factors and School Function Survey Results

The results of the recent survey on external factors and school function are eye-opening for sure! THANK YOU to everyone who responded!

We asked our readers of pediatric therapists, teachers, counselors, parents, and more several questions about how external factors such as the effects of the pandemic, 1:1 devices, more screen time, etc. is affecting a student’s ability to participate at school to help guide additional supports that may be necessary.

Summary on the Results: External Factors and School Function

There were over 700 responses to the survey on external factors from last year and school function. In general, the majority of respondents felt that fine motor and gross motor skills are extremely important for a child’s academic success. Increased screen time for leisure and lack of outdoor play was the top two external factors that may have led to a decline in fine motor and gross motor skills. Ninety-eight percent felt that students need more practice time during the school day to develop foundational motor skills. Many of you (54.3%) indicated that students need more instructional time for the 1:1 devices. Finally, 75% of you indicated that a solution that enables personalized motor skill and keyboard training for 1:1 devices with progress monitoring be helpful.

You can view all the responses below and please take the time to read the 100+ comments at the end of the post!

Question #1: What is your title?

Question 1 asked what is your title? There were 746 responses:

• 66.2% were Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants
• 13% were Physical Therapists and Physical Therapy Assistants
• 9.5% were teachers
• 2.9% were counselors
• 1.3% were parents
• 0.8% Speech and Language providers
• the remaining 7% selected other

Question #2: Fine Motor Skills and Academic Success

Question 2 asked about fine motor skills. Using a rating scale of 1 (not important at all) to 5 (extremely important) we asked the following:

In your opinion, how important are fine motor skills for a child’s academic success? There were 747 responses:

• 70.8% responded that fine motor skills are extremely important for a child’s academic success.
• 0% responded that fine motor skills are not important at all for a child’s academic success.

Question #3: Gross Motor Skills and Academic Success

Question 3 asked about gross motor skills. Using a rating scale of 1 (not important at all) to 5 (extremely important) we asked the following:

In your opinion, how important are gross motor skills for a child’s academic success? There were 749 responses:

• 50.3% responded that gross motor skills are extremely important for a child’s academic success.
• 0% responded that gross motor skills are not important at all for a child’s academic success.

Question #4: External Factors During the Past Year and Decline in Fine Motor Skills

Question 4 asked about external factors and a decline in fine motor skills over the past year. Using a rating scale of Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree we asked the following:

In your opinion, what external factors in the past year have led to a DECLINE in FINE MOTOR skills? The responses indicated that for:

• Screen time for leisure – 69.5% strongly agreed that screen time for leisure has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Use of a 1:1 device – 48.4% strongly agreed that use of a 1:1 device has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Lack of outdoor play time – 71.5% strongly agreed that a lack of outdoor play time has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Distance learning – 46.8% strongly agreed that distance learning has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Quarantine periods – 39.2% strongly agreed that quarantine periods have led to a decline in fine motor skills.

Question #5: External Factors During the Past Year and Decline in Gross Motor Skills

Question 5 asked about external factors and a decline in gross motor skills over the past year. Using a rating scale of Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree we asked the following:

In your opinion, what external factors in the past year have led to a DECLINE in GROSS MOTOR skills? The responses indicated that for:

• Screen time for leisure – 80% strongly agreed that screen time for leisure has led to a decline in gross motor skills.
• Use of a 1:1 device – 59% strongly agreed that use of a 1:1 device has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Lack of outdoor play time – 84% strongly agreed that a lack of outdoor play time has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Distance learning – 48% strongly agreed that distance learning has led to a decline in fine motor skills.
• Quarantine periods – 46% strongly agreed that quarantine periods have led to a decline in fine motor skills.

Question #6: Practice Time and Foundational Motor Skills

Question 6 asked about practice time and foundational motor skills. The responses were YES or NO. We asked the following:

In your opinion, do you think students need more training and practice time during the school day when it comes to developing foundational motor skills?

• 97.6% responded YES
• 2.4% responded NO

Question #7: Instruction Time and 1:1 Devices

Question 7 asked about instructional time and 1:1 devices. The responses were YES or NO. We asked the following:

In your opinion, do you think students need more instruction when it comes to using 1:1 devices (laptops, Chromebooks, etc)?

• 54.3% responded YES
• 45.7% responded NO

Question #8: Solution with Motor Skill Training and Keyboarding

Question 8 asked about what type of solution to these issues might be helpful. The responses were YES, NO, or OTHER. We asked the following:

Would a solution that enables personalized motor skill and keyboard training for 1:1 devices with progress monitoring be helpful?

• 75.3% responded YES
• 15.4% responded NO
• 9.3% responded OTHER

Comments on External Factors and School Function

The last question allowed anyone to submit comments. They are included below:

Fine motor skills are no doubt important for school, but we need to practice these skills across settings. Children also use their fine motor skills when using utensils, inserting straws into a juice box,  opening containers, unscrewing toothpaste and buttoning their clothes. The pandemic caused less of these skills to be done in the school setting, but they are still functional life skills that take place across multiple settings.

Kids need to get out of the house/apartments and play in safe areas to improve their gross motor skills.

Once fine and gross motor skills are developed, they should be incorporated in daily educational/home programs.

Over Lockdown I say a great improvement in gross motor skills particularly as families were exploring the parks beside them going for adventures etc

Our teachers have stepped up to the plate with more mini motor breaks throughout the day and outdoor learning time (music, PE, and PT specifically).

I have seen a decline in gross motor skills and coordination for some time in children.  It is definitely becoming more prevalent that kids are not allowed to “be kids” and play much anymore, and it is effecting them on many levels.  Thanks for doing preliminary research on this!

Most of the students who need keyboarding also have difficult with bilateral coordination. IF they use a keyboard and are skilled with the keyboard- it it usually with one hand and the helper hand will hit the space bar or a a couple letters. This may be an area to explore. Thank you.

I do think early on learning of the keyboard would be useful based on early spelling phonics words because these are the words they will be using

I think it’s compounded with kids being home, and caregivers being busy and not having the time or energy to engage in/direct their kids to play activities that develop their motor skills. Unfortunately screens seem to be addictive and kids will almost always choose that option

I think typing skills should be addressed for all students, regularly. Other than that, kids seem to pick up on how to work devices quickly, even most of my ASD kiddos I teach.

When my kids went to school, they had keyboarding activities in elementary school…that was at least 25 years ago.

Fine motor skills are now even more important in Texas, as ALL state testing will be online starting next year. The only exceptions will be for the visionally impaired and profoundly disabled.

1:1 devices are here to stay and have many benefits in student learning, but no one is teaching them efficient keyboarding skills. By the time touch-typing is introduced, kids insist they “already know how to type.”

For my students who required adult support during distance learning across all or most OT sessions, I observed an increase in fine motor skills and abilities. Distance learning allowed more frequent contact with parents with an increase in awareness of what types of activities to engage in with their children at home as these adults participated during the OT sessions.

Fine and gross motor coordination and strength are both important factors in being able to participate in academic performance and for return demonstration of learned information and skills.

Lockdown and learning online for months on end, has caused many students to switch off from real life and physical activity. (That’s here in New Zealand).

I run small fine motor groups for Kindergarten and Year ! students five days a week it is definitely needed.

WE are seeing a decline with out 1st and 2nd and 3rd graders (not as much with the preschoolers and kindergarteners).

I do telehealth, I use your printables and email them to the teachers. they are so helpful. I do not think teachers sometimes understand what OTs do. they do not practice in the classroom what we do in therapy so how will the hand improve or the handwriting improve if the hand does not improve.    Teachers are so busy. We all do our best and you guys are terrific.

I think this may help, I would like to see an example of what this looks like

A child develops head to toe, proximal to distal. If children do no have good gross motor skills, strength and coordination, then fine motor skills are delayed. Especially, as it pertains to coloring, cutting, grasp pattern and printing skills. Without those skills they are unable to keep up with their same age peers.

The typing skills are very important, it’s like planting an instrument!

I think the schools need more time with making crafts, play skills, games., reading actual books in their hands and more hands on activities and less time with computers as it is limiting our visual skills (tracking) crossing midline, core strength, attention to task, social skills and emotional response.

The biggest factor that has led to a decline in fine motor skills is the curriculum. Kindergarten students are expected to learn lowercase letter formation from the first day of school. There is no instruction in pre-writing strokes or how to hold a pencil. They form bad habits with letter formation and it carries with them for their academic career.

Handwriting skills are very important. I do not feel that keyboarding skills need to be addressed by therapists, unless the student is not able to perform handwriting tasks, or the students handwriting is not legible. Students take computer classes in school and learn keyboarding and increase use of computers there.

I feel the push for more academics is impacting motor based skills. There is not enough emphasis on developmentally appropriate tasks. Early ed and kindergarten should be focusing on fine motor tasks that will be important moving forward in a child’s education. I feel there is a need to move away from continuous use of 1 to 1 devices or computers.

The distance learning and increased screen time has impacted many households.  A decline in all areas has been observed in my opinion with school based therapy.

As a teacher and parent, thank you! you must be seeing the same things we are. At my school, i’m the art teacher, and I implemented a 10 minute fine motor activity to be completed during their computer class before they can get on their devices. Practice and time for practice is what they really need! your resources have been so valuable and I’m very grateful for the expertise.

I think that encouraging keyboard training in the early elementary years will be helpful.  Children need to be using manipulatives and pencils/crayons to further develop their motor coordination before they are using keyboards more than necessary.  The youner ages have not yet developed enough skill to isolate finger movements for keyboarding which will lead to frustration.

Nothing compares to being intentional about moving either fine motor/ gross motor wise. Idleness and lack of guidance leads to a child’s functional decline.

It is important to consider what skills are developmentally appropriate for specific age groups. For example, Kindergartners and first graders need to be developing both fine & gross motor skills before learning to type. Typing is a skill that should be introduced at higher ages and grade levels. Also, consider what amazing things are happening in virtual schools for kids who have not had success in a traditional brick and mortar setting. I have seen first hand how students can thrive in the virtual school environment and inclusion happens more readily than in a traditional classroom setting.

I have noticed a steady decline in fine and gross motor skills, as well as more students having challenges with handwriting in general.  I think this started pre-pandemic with a lack of emphasis on activities that promote motor skills, including handwriting instruction.  This challenge has been compounded by students not being personally in school, relying predominantly on technology.  As they returned to school, there was no provision put into place to provide handwriting instruction for students who missed out, and the writing expectations continue to accelerate.  Many students struggle with locating keys on a keyboard and have not had sufficient opportunity to learn this skill outside of producing a writing assignment.

More instruction for chromebooks only because electronics are the future so they need to be incorporated

In my schools keyboarding is no longer taught so students are handed a chrome book in kindergarten and are expected to know how to work it. Then students develop bad habits with keyboarding just as they do with handwriting(because handwriting instruction is minimal at best) then the OTs get called in around grade 3-4 and they expect a miracle when those poor habits are already established. If some instruction is provided early on and continued throughout the elementary years, then better habits would be formed allowing for less remediation long term.

In my opinion the decline in FM & GM skills goes back to lack of tummy time. Normal development has been denied to occur naturally.

I teach kindergarten. Students need to play. School districts have taken this component out of Kindergarten. Families have also taken away this very important element by hand their device to their littles. Get kids away from the devices and build, run, jump, paint, play with playdough, etc.

We need to support and encourage the education community to get “back to basics” (hands on).   Children/students lost a large amount of hands-on in-person learning, and due to the context and nature of virtual learning; they spent a large portion of their time “playing”, learning, and working on digital devices. This was the example we gave to them, learning and free time is digital. We need to reintroduce, reignite, and refamiliarize students/children with their natural physical curiosity and exploration.

I am aware of conflicting opinions regarding this subject. Why? Because I am conflicted.

Some children are very good at accessing their computers, but others have trouble entering their password due to scanning issues,  using two hands and knowing how to use the shift key to make a symbol, let alone sign onto a school based program, navigate to different classes and other windows independently. Some families have more than two children and the parent at home may not have been able to help their children much either.

Kids just need to play with objects. Get more tummy time. Forget screens. Parents need to spend time with their kids and read to them. By the time kids get to kindergarten they have missed so much devastating it is hard to remediate.

Children have less resiliency to practice any skills, gave up easily.  They get irritated with tabletop activities which involves manipulation of 3d objects.  Struggles with verbal instruction when there are more than 2 steps in the instruction. They want immediate results.

I feel students use the chrome book too much and write/copy/take notes less.  Keyboarding instruction is important early on to develop good habits but there must be a balance.

As far as developing FM skills specific to device use (i.e.: mouse and keyboarding), I would like to see more simplified educational games offered online…big bold graphics with less visual distractions, full screen mode, no ads, and no time limits for response time. Many of the games I’ve found are race-type games, and kids with special needs (i.e.: ADHD, FM delays) get overwhelmed, frustrated, and shut down when they are rushed, and when they’re unsuccessful.

We need to provide kids with more time to play and explore, especially in the early years. So much learning and skill development happens through play that sets the stage for learning down the line.  Children are not mini adults – we need to honor where they are at rather than push them forward to meet some arbitrary standards that do not address typical development in children – all in attempt to feed the narratives that schools are failing when they are not.

Students need more education from an early age about the use of electronic devices and the down falls of being on devices too much. This needs to be addressed just like nutrition and mental health. Parents also need to be educated on the use of electronics (touch screen devices) and the impact on vision and fine motor.

I assume from your questions that you have research that documents declines in fine and gross motor skills over the last year???

There are many factors that have contributed to regression or slow progress in foundational motor skills over the past year. I think that parent involvement in working with their kids at home and for therapists to educate teachers and parents is key to recovery services.

While I would prefer less time on devices, I recognize we can’t put that genie back in the bottle. So, if we’re going to have kids spend half (or more) of their day on a device, let’s at least teach them all the educational tools they can use to make it work for them.

There is so much pressure in the younger grades to cover so much material and do so much that fine motor skills especially get pushed down on the priority list. With the pandemic, teachers have so many demands on them that they are overwhelmed. If a student can make legible letters, how they make those letters is not emphasized. Grasp and bilateral hand skills are also not a high priority.

I work closely with a keyboard training centre and see how much is required for in-person practice. It would be amazing to produce a solution that enables this learning, but question the effectiveness to produce good keyboard skills that either develop good postural/motor habits or break bad habits. Would love to have a resource like this though!

I am continually amazed at the number of special ed AND regular ed students who can’t properly hold a pencil. Thank you for addressing this need.

I have seen such a decline in gross motor skills especially among lower income children. It appears so few children are having the opportunity to play recreational sports and develop motor skills. More opportunity for outdoor play and connection with nature is so important!

there has just been less time spent with children from home as parents do not prioritise their children’s learning at home. the gadgets are replacing family time and therefor we are having these issues arising in the classrooms.

Any training available would be helpful but must be flexible to adapt to individual learning needs; must be able to be turned off for standardized testing.

I believe more practice to perfect these gross and fine motor skills is needed, more calm time to jus be and develop and perfect something so it’s a habit as opposed to briefly trying something having a quick attempt and then off to the next thing.

I don’t encourage more screen time so anything involving a keyboard is a “no” from me.

Over the years, I have seen a huge decline in gross and fine motor skills. Many students entering Pre-K and kindergarten have very low motor skills resulting in difficulty with writing, cutting, sequencing, etc. making it difficult for students to keep up with curriculum.

I certainly don’t correlate  the use of technology  as  the only reason that decreased motor skills are now being seen in so many of our students.  I see some of the basic decreases due to the lack of parent education of our young children in exposure to basic play based activities. Many parents just feel that it is OK to use technology to teach everything, when we as therapists and educators know the importance that comes with sensory motor play and educational skills. Having a child work on sitting and pushing a ball and counting instead of handing them a cell phone that has a good app that teaches counting is teaching two totally different concepts that many people are not aware of.  I feel we need to do a better job at educating a balance of technology use and motor play as we educate our students and their parents.

Retained primitive reflexes appears to be affecting motor planning and development of motor skills across the board for the majority of building based referrals (vs. Early Intervention)  Remediation can be incorporated into brain breaks throughout the school day.  Personalized motor skill/keyboard training would fall into the related services category and be included in the student’s IEP.

I think the last three answers definitely apply to kids with learning disabilities.

Students need longer recesses instead of short 30minute embedded recesses. I think of an article that spoke about some students needing more time in recess in order to plan and actually execute their play plans. Also my opinion is the more open play time the more time for connection with peers is important to help student be able to focus back on work. Otherwise right now when there is quick 30min  recesses and a conflict occurs students don’t have time to problem solve or even resolve the problem, which leads to a situation of the student stressed when they return inside and don’t engage in table top or school tasks.

Children need time for imagination and PLAY; which handheld devices doesn’t give them.

Kids need to have gross motor time balanced with fine motor/screen time, as well as non-screen fine motor time. Kids are not prepared for learning because their bodies and minds have limited exposure to movement and outdoor activities.

I also think that kids are coming into kindergarten writing sentences before they have even learned how to form letter. There is so much drawing, poor letter formation and poor handgrips.

I don’t necessarily think that more screen time is the answer.  Maybe in small increments it can help some harder to reach kids, but I think it’s important for kids to engage with others during their learning.

Thank you! I hope to see the results of this survey!

Having a hard time convincing parents that correct grip matters. Also correct typing skills. Since kids know technology and can operate the device right away, the parents want to skip the typing practice and let them start typing docs however they want. (I’m a homeschool tutor). Any suggestions on promoting these practices?

It is still of primary importance that children learn the skills for handwriting at a developmentally appropriate time and with a research-based program not just anything pulled off the web. Though as they get older, children and teens may transition to using keyboarding, it is problems with writing legibly and automatically when children are in the early elementary grades that will impact their feelings about the process of written communication. Handwriting and usually writing in general becomes a dreaded task if the child has to labor to write legibly and/or, if not holding a pencil correctly, they suffer from cramped muscles. Developing a positive attitude towards writing is critical for success in school.

In my schools, students are spending too much time on computer learning programs. I feel more time with peer interaction, hands-on activities and teacher instruction/group tasks would be more beneficial.

For our students they need to develop in two areas that oftentimes seem opposing. They need to be more computer literate in order to function in the societies of today and tomorrow, as well as develop the gross motor and fine motor skills to enable day to day life tasks. As tech grows to get better, faster stronger, I also hope it doesn’t negatively affect the body’s strength, endurance and musculature.

Our class tries to implement developmentally appropriate motor activities so our 3 and 4 year-olds gain the foundational skills they need to be successful with future handwriting and gross motor planning.  We love Ready Bodies Learning Minds and do it every day to improve core strength and cognitive/motor skills.

Kids are losing fine motor skills developed in learning to write. This can negatively impact the development of any fine motor skills needed for other functional tasks. Keyboarding skills with proper keyboards (not touch screens) can help fine motor skills, but dexterity still needs to be encouraged.

With increased sedentary time, I am seeing more and more kids whose fine motor skills are very delayed due to decreased outdoor play and use of gross muscles!

Typing needs to be taught as much as handwriting does in our schools. Sadly, both are an after-thought currently.

I have seen an exponential increase in use of 1:1 devices within the classroom since the pandemic and virtual learning and subsequent return to in-person learning.  Multi-sensory teaching and experiences appears to have decreased even with return to in-person learning. More devices are being required for teachers to use. My biggest concern is at the PK-2 level. Secondary doesn’t seem to be as much of a concern. It’s as if we have switched to a guided self-paced learning environment with less direct instruction.

I feel that less time on 1:1 devices would be beneficial for for attaining and maintaining age-appropriate fine motor and gross motor skills.  Kids are not only on them a lot at home, but too much at school now as well.  Kids need more hands-on and movement learning activities, which would improve these motor skills, along with addressing basic school skills, such as sitting tolerance, attention, standing in line, socialization, functional communication, frustration tolerance, motor planning and problem solving.

If somehow a happy medium could be found to work with technology but still obtain fine motor skills that would be the optimal in the academic environment.

Our Children need more hands on activities, self-directed creative activities and time to get out of their seats.  (i.e. Legos, Pretend play (kitchen, tools, cars, dolls,), puzzles, blocks, beads, play doh, etc).

I believe that typically developing students do not need to be on a device at school until 3rd or 4th grade…after being trained on them. They are wonderful tools but children need to develop all the underlying skills first.

K-2 overall just needs less screentime as fine motor and writing skills are developing.

I am concerned that we are raising a generation of non writers.  The last two years have significantly impacted children’s development.  Fine motor and social skills especially.

we used to be a brain race with the Russians (in the 60″s  ) and the mentality has never stopped–kids need to be kids–explore ideas and teaching to the achievement tests is counter productive to both emotional and academic learning

I can’t answer the last question because you aren’t specifying what you mean by personalized motor skill (fine motor, gross motor? How?) and are you saying that the motor skill training and the keyboard training would both occur on a 1:1 device. Poorly done survey folks!

Students have not had a balance of activities that will support motor strength, endurance and coordination and the correct use of digital learning devices. Quarantine has also diminished their social and behavioral skills for participating in a group setting. Regarding the motor skills, YES, we need more motor, more structured practice for learning to convey knowledge in handwriting and in efficient typing/keyboarding skills. Kids know how to navigate digital tools but they cannot word process effectively to support written work that is commensurate with grade level expectations in a timely and accurate manner.

Students need more time with handwriting instruction which activates parts of the brain that are not impacted by keyboarding.  In our district,  students don’t spend enough time on manuscript handwriting instruction to develop motor memory for letter formation.  Time and practice with handwriting are more important than keyboarding.

There needs to be a better balance between all these aspects. I worry about the long term affects of inactivity, lack of body mechanics, and not enough stretches .

I believe fine and gross motor skills are learned by doing in the 3-D not 2-D with devices.  They need to be experienced with struggles while attempting and failing skills and allowing for doing things a different way.  All a part of development.

* students lost 2 years of education * outdoor play is no longer encouraged * students have lost the “will or encentive” to learn

They need less time on these devices at school, not more.  They get enough time on these devices at home.  Many of them know how to use them, navigate them, and even type before they are able to cut or write.

The 2 things that would help students more then anything is to have mandatory PE class daily and a minimum of 3 recesses daily for students K-6. No tablets or chromebooks until they are in 7th grade. These screens are ruining their visual skills.

seeing alot of “tech neck” in schools, decreased ability to engage in lessons because the child only engages in activities that are videos, not doing work because they are playing games on chromebook…. even mandatory recess allows for use of chromebooks which I believe defeats the original purpose of mandatory recess for all students.

For decades too much attention has been paid to teaching ever-younger students with technology while ignoring the basic skills that everyone needs.  The people who helped put men on the moon in 1969, did not grow up using technology.  They had solid backgrounds in the basics that have stood the test of time!

The children have experienced great set backs due to lack of paper and pencil

We can’t blame everything on the pandemic; parents can become more engaged in their children’s learning & provide them with educational alternatives and more outside time.

I feel that many students are developing poor habits with learning to navigate on 1:1 devices before their fine motor skills have been established.

I work with children whom are blind with multiple other challenges.  Having school on line was pretty much a waste of their time and ours.

Gross motor skills are also significantly impacted by distance learning and increased use of technology. Young children are not getting the outside play time that they need, even less than prior to the pandemic.  The lack of exposure to all motor activities is evident in recent preschool screenings!

I think we have to be careful about making generalized assumptions without careful research. It is not clear what has affected young students post covid. In my opinion the bigger issue is the trend of curriculum that is not developmentally appropriate for young children. As a society we also need to address the question of do we emphasize technology in teaching young children at the expense of developing motor skills. What do we think is important? Teaching is trending towards increased use of technology without any policy decision actually addressing this.