Mulernes Legatskole in Odense has given notebooks to all new first-year students and small whiteboards to every student, replacing much of the screen use in class with handwriting.
The gymnasium in Odense opened the new school year in August 2026 with a deliberate shift away from laptops in ordinary lessons. As DR reports, the school has bought kladdehæfter for all new 1.g students and small whiteboard slates for every student.
The notebooks are used for handwritten notes during class. The whiteboards are used to answer teachers’ questions. Principal Henrik Vestergaard Stokholm says the purpose is more calm and presence in the teaching.
Per DR, Stokholm acknowledges that computers can be useful tools. He still believes pen and paper benefit both the teaching and the students. He hopes students realize they do not learn by sitting with a phone and a computer all the time.
According to DR, all 1.g students at the school have received instruction in how best to take notes by hand in their new notebooks. Stokholm says the skill will also be needed as students move further through the education system, including if they later study in Denmark at higher levels.
Dorte Ågård, a pedagogical consultant and author of the book “Skærme i skolen”, told DR that Mulernes Legatskole is not alone. She says so-called old-fashioned tools are being brought out again, with clear benefit for the students who use them.
Ågård says the prevailing thinking for the past roughly 15 years was that more IT and more screens in teaching would improve learning. She states that robust research shows people remember better what they write by hand. That applies compared with typing, or simply reading text written by others.
Rules and national agreement
The school’s own regulations, published on its website and updated in 2026, state that Mulernes Legatskole computers are intended for teaching-related purposes. Those purposes are listed as instruction, written assignments and information search.
The move also lands as national rules on screens in schools take effect. The Ministry of Children and Education agreement on smartphone-free primary schools and after-school care, concluded in 2026, sets requirements from the 2026/27 school year.
Under the agreement, schools including youth education institutions must use content filtering. The tools are to block access on the school network to websites with no educational relevance. The agreement also states that screen use in teaching should only take place when it is pedagogically and didactically justified.
The agreement calls on school leaders to be critical of screen use and to prioritize analog teaching, especially for younger pupils. DR’s report appears to be the only direct news coverage so far of the Odense school’s decision.
