Writing for Restore Childhood, Denise Champney says that we have an epidemic of poorly vetted “educational” technology harming our youth. While folks may be excited about the spreading wave of cell phone bans, there are other screens that deserve our attention.
Technology has been creeping into schools for decades but that accelerated after the introduction of the Common Core Standards in 2010. These standards, funded largely by tech philanthropist Bill Gates, allowed the flood “Gates” of edtech to open.
It is well reported that test scores for reading and math have been dropping for over a decade, starting around the same time that the 1:1 initiative (meaning a device such as a chrome book or iPad for every child) and edtech boom started.
We all know the debacle that Covid policies created in schools.
In March 2020, school districts across the country raced to provide a device for every child in their district (including preschool). Google profited significantly as many districts acquired more Chromebooks for “virtual” learning.
Now that every child has a device, no one seems to question whether the pivot to more online curriculum materials or edtech is actually good for learning – the tech companies would like us to just believe that it is.
Even when phones are not present during the school day, students often have a device open in front of them which steals their attention and deteriorates their learning. Students I work with often report that during classes they email friends, watch YouTube videos, play games or scroll random websites. They creatively find ways around sites that might be blocked or simply find ones that are not.
Many adults do the same, yet we give these devices to kids, and become upset when they are caught off-task.
On top of multitasking and decreased attention, there are numerous studies that demonstrate the negative impact on reading comprehension when instruction is completed online versus on paper. This study which was published last year, suggests that cognitive engagement is higher in children when reading printed books versus digital media and that “Children’s attention is overloaded when exposed to screens.”
Other studies are also revealing the harms of excessive screen time on brain development. More alarmingly is new research that is showing changes in brain structure of children with higher screen time use (see here). More research is also showing that there is a physiological and psychological effect as well. This research review found “Excessive digital media use by children and adolescents appears as a major factor which may hamper the formation of sound psychophysiological resilience”.
These shifts in education create passive learners that are unable to persist through long and challenging texts. In fact, many professors from elite colleges are noticing this change too. A recent article discusses how college students no longer have the stamina to read multiple books during a semester, The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books. Clearly there is a need for more research into the impact of technology, but what we already know about learning along with the trends that have been identified begs to question when can common sense be applied?
What more do we need to demonstrate the harms of educational technology in schools?
