An increasing number of educators and parents are souring on digital learning programs, believing that students are spending too much time on devices, causing behavioral and mental health problems and declines in academic achievement, according to an Education Week article.
Most educators (55%) say that parents/guardians see the amount of time students spend using technology for school-related purposes as “too high,” according to an EdWeek Research Center survey.
Most educators (74%) also say their district or school hasn’t reduced investment in ed tech and have no plans to do so despite pushback or complaints from parents, the survey found.
Here are three examples of how schools are managing students’ screen time and making better use of educational technology:
1) Tech-free days and higher student engagement
One of the units in Brooke Wolting’s 6th grade English class is all about technology. The essential question: Do we rely too much on it?
The following discussions among her students focused on how much time they spent using devices – both for their personal use and also how much they use it in school, says Wolting, who teaches at Gladeville Middle School in Mt. Juliet, Tenn.
“Students were the ones who said, ‘We’re on technology too much. We all have Chromebooks. Every teacher has slides. Everything is online in school,’” Wolting says.
Wolting suggested having a tech-free day, an idea that excited students.
For the tech-free day, Wolting brought in her classic record player, covered the digital smart board with poster paper, and drew on it what she would normally put in her welcome slide. Then she prepared a printout of an article for the students to read and discuss.
Wolting put students in groups to answer multiple-choice questions about the article and write their answers on the poster paper at the front of the classroom.
On a normal day, students are usually on their Chromebooks during half of the class time, reading poems online and then taking notes on paper the way they would have to on state standardized tests or playing games to review concepts, Wolting says.
But for the tech-free day, “there was nothing to troubleshoot and there were no technology issues, so it actually went a little bit smoother and quicker, even though it wasn’t a fancy day with bells and whistles,” she says.
2) Guidelines for technology use are shared with parents
In the Wichita Public Schools in Kansas, students in special education—who often struggle with independent research—used a teacher-designed chatbot to research the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. The bot helped the teacher monitor their thinking in real time to steer them to deeper questions.
This “exemplary” use of digital tools may not be what parents or members of the public picture when they hear the phrase “education technology,” says Dyane Smokorowski, the district’s coordinator of digital literacy.
Districts need to show that deep, project-based learning is not possible without digital tools. This learning is not just “tech for tech’s sake,” Smokorowski says.
Smokorowski and Rob Dickson, the district’s chief information officer, worked with parents and teachers to develop a series of draft technology guidelines detailing how technology is used—and isn’t—in different grade spans.
The guidelines, which are still being finalizing, were shaped by recommendations on technology and screen time crafted by groups with expertise in child and adolescent development, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.
Kindergarten guidelines note that children aren’t assigned devices, and that technology is typically used for about 5-10 minutes a day—and many days, it isn’t used at all.
“What You Might See in the Classroom,” is part of the guidelines that spell out “a short video that gets the class moving or singing together” and “a virtual field trip to a zoo, farm, or museum on the big screen.”
“What You Won’t See,” lists “screens being used as a reward, time filler, or to calm a child down” and “long stretches of video without discussion or activity.”
High school guidelines don’t include a time limit for screens. Use of digital devices “varies by class and day. Some days are screen-heavy. Others are intentionally screen-free. Balance across the week matters.”
High school recommendations explain that students may use digital tools for activities like “research, group projects, and creative work on shared platforms.” But devices aren’t meant to “replace labs, discussion, or hands-on work.”
Time limits in the guidelines aren’t meant to be hard and fast rules, Smokorowski says. They are flexible goals, intended to help educators and families get a sense of what good practice looks like.
3) Laptop monitoring software ensures students stay on task
Principals who spoke with Education Week say their districts use monitoring software on students’ district-issued Chromebooks to manage students’ screen time and online activity. These software products usually include tools so teachers can see exactly what their students’ screens look like in real time and know if they’re getting off task, and block or stop them from getting on other websites.
“It’s hard enough to keep the focus of 12- and 13-year-olds when you’re the most entertaining person in the room, much less when they have a device sitting there at their fingertips that has music and games,” says Amy Sanders, the assistant principal of Sapulpa Middle School in Sapulpa, Okla.
Principals are honest with students and families about online activity monitoring, and students learn quickly that teachers can see what they’re doing on their Chromebooks.
Educators at Gladeville Middle School, in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., have access to Chromebook monitoring software, which is an “excellent program,” says principal Bethany Wilson.
But tech is “inferior to just walking around the room while students are working and seeing what support they need,” Wilson says. She encourages her teachers to walk around their classrooms to ensure students are on task on their Chromebooks.
Principals also say their teachers are empowered to have lessons that don’t use the Chromebook.
“Our teachers are very intentional about [Chromebook use],” says Amanda Jamerson, the associate principal at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wis. “Teachers are totally comfortable saying, ‘Hey, you don’t need your devices right now. Let’s put them in your backpacks,’ and students respond effectively. There have not been issues.”
Education Week
