School districts around the country are wrestling with a rising backlash against education technology among parents and others in the community.
State lawmakers across the political spectrum, apparently reacting to that sentiment, have introduced bills to limit digital device usage in schools.
And big school districts, such as the Los Angeles Unified system, are restricting screen time.
What do teachers, and school and district leaders at the biggest ed-tech conference in the country make of the new wave of skepticism directed toward tech tools, app, platforms, and devices?
We hit the hallways, meeting rooms, and food court at the ISTELive 26 + ASCD Annual Conference to find out. Here’s what educators told us.
What do you think of the tech backlash?
“Do I think that our middle schoolers and high schoolers benefit from not having their phones all day? Yes. Do I think that our students benefit from enhancements in being more productive and collaborating with [tech] like AI? One hundred percent. But do we need to have guardrails for it? One hundred percent.”
- Leslie Lowe Brown, director of STEAM K-8 at Stratford Academy in Macon, Ga.
“I don’t look at it as a backlash when you look at the amount of time that kids spend on devices and [see] how they become very enamored with them. The teachers get the backlash because the kids grew up with technology in their hands. To get [students] to do math problems, go up to the board, work out a problem—the old school things that we were educated on—those things are missing.”
- Rodney Hull, principal for Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill.
“If we really wanted to find balance, then we would meet somewhere in the middle, between having a lot of technology and not having it at all. Because there are some really cool things that our kindergarten and 1st grade and 2nd grade teachers are doing with technology. They’re not just sitting the kids in front of [screens]. That’s bad teaching. But to say you can’t use this at all cuts off all the really cool things you could do with technology. It’s just kind of frustrating.”
- Keira Beddes, innovative coaching specialist, Jordan Schools in West Jordan, Utah
Should schools cut back on the time spent on digital devices?
“I’ve taught for 25 years. I’ve seen many eras in education. My goal as teacher has never changed. It’s, ‘let’s get kids ready for the future.’ The future that we were getting them ready for in 1999 is very different from the future [now]. I can’t predict what’s going to happen, but I do know that part of getting kids ready for the future is that they have to, in some way, use technologies that are here now, or learn about them. And there are a lot of ways they can learn about technologies without using screens, but there are some things that are not as impactful if they’re not using screens.”
- Tara Menghini, computer science teacher, Knox Gifted Academy, a public magnet school in Chandler, Ariz.
“We did a survey, and we found that across K-5, typically students are using devices between 15 and 30 minutes a day. A reasonable amount of time. We’ve always considered technology to be a tool and a resource that professional educators use as a means to accomplish student learning. There are many other tools they also use. We’re really focused on that intentional, purposeful use of technology in a way supports students.”
- Matthew Callison, director of innovation & strategic partnerships for the South School District near Pittsburgh, speaking on an EdWeek panel.
“Absolutely. You have to balance it out. ... The states are starting to help schools out by mandating no cell phones, but when you work in a 1-to-1 environment, as I do, parents take the phones away from the kids, but the kids can still communicate on the computer.”
- Rodney Hull, principal for Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill.
“One-to-one brought in during COVID—that was necessary. It was a benefit. It was using technology in an appropriate way, but that doesn’t mean it [still] needs to be used like that. You don’t need kids in front of computers. You need teachers in front of kids. There’s definitely appropriate ways to collaborate with technology, and that’s what a conference like this is about.”
- Leslie Lowe Brown, director of STEAM K-8 at Stratford Academy in Macon, Ga.
What should schools do about ‘techlash’?
“The best thing that we can do to show what’s possible with technology. We have to tell our stories instead of letting others tell them for us. Since COVID, we’ve seen fewer teachers engage in sharing stories from the classroom, whether they’re using social media or just sending newsletters home. We have to figure out which tech tools actually open conversations of [things that are] happening in schools that are brilliant, and have teachers share.”
- Dyane Smokorowski, coordinator of digital literacy Wichita Public Schools in Kansas, speaking on an EdWeek panel.
“When [parents] don’t know what is involved and just see screens everywhere, it’s hard to see the positives and the benefits and the learning outcomes in real time. I do think that it is an issue of [parents] maybe not understanding and not knowing. And that’s a responsibility on us, as instructional technology coaches and educators and administrators; we are partners in this journey. We all want the best for our kids. And if we can empower them and, enable them with the knowledge and the confidence and the tools they need to succeed in the world that these kids are growing up in, then we’re doing our job.”
- Gabi Whitehead, instructional technology coach, Orland School District 135 in Orland Park, Ill.
