Do you use technology to learn at your school? For example, do you have school-issued laptops, tablets or other devices? Do you log online to do your homework and complete your assignments?
Consider what three teachers from the article you are about to read said about technology in school:
Devices really do help make learning more flexible, accessible and engaging. — Christina Barreto, Sixth grade, Yonkers, N.Y.
Teachers are constantly competing with their Chromebooks for attention. — Wesley Lima, High school English, Dartmouth, Mass.
Devices should be treated like cigarettes for kids. — Joshua Lemere, Sixth-grade English, Westminster, S.C.
Do any of those quotes reflect your own feelings about technology in the classroom? How would you sum up your opinion in a sentence?
In “How Much Screen Time Is Your Child Getting at School? We Asked 350 Teachers,” published last November, Claire Cain Miller and Sarah Mervosh conducted a survey of educators from around the country about technology use at school. Here is what they found:
American classrooms have been transformed by screens in the last five years, with most students, of all ages, now learning on computers or tablets during the school day.
Even as schools have moved rapidly to ban cellphones, screens are nearly universal: Ninety-nine percent of teachers said their school provided devices to students for use in class, in an informal national survey of 350 pre-K through 12th-grade teachers conducted by The New York Times in October.
Eight in 10 teachers said students at their school had a device assigned to them, compared with about a third who said that was the case in 2019 before the pandemic.
And of elementary schoolteachers, 81 percent said students at their school receive devices for use in class by kindergarten.
In a separate Times questionnaire, sent to the 20 largest U.S. school districts, nearly all said they provide devices to students starting in kindergarten or earlier.
The results show how technology has become ingrained in schools, with computers often used for required curriculum, standardized testing and even free time. Google Chromebooks are the most common device.
Online learning has brought important benefits, teachers said, like preparing students to use technology in their future careers, and enabling them to research topics online.
But it has also introduced new problems, with concerns about distraction and screen time mounting among both teachers and parents as U.S. test scores decline.
I cannot in good faith allow students to stare at screens for hours at school when I know that when they go home, the majority of students spend the majority of time watching screens. — Landon Durtschi, High school history, Bronx
I see students routinely have small windows of YouTube up while simultaneously having an assignment to work on. — Jason Zimmerman, High school math, Kansas City, Mo.
In the survey, which included respondents from 40 states and Washington, D.C., nearly three-fourths of teachers who use devices in their classrooms said they distract from student learning and engagement in class, and a majority said children in their classrooms had used them to play games or watch videos unrelated to school.
Still, about seven in 10 teachers said that if it were up to them, they would choose to use devices in their class at least some of the time.
“It’s not either/or for me,” said Bill Heuisler, a high school history teacher in Los Angeles. “It’s about wisely using technology” only when necessary, he said.
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
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Are digital devices a part of learning in your classes? How much time would you estimate that you spend on them in a given school day? What kinds of activities are you most often using them for?
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What, in your opinion, are some of the most important benefits you get when using technology for education? What are some of the biggest drawbacks?
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Do you feel you spend too much school time on screens? In an ideal world, would you want more, less or about the same amount of time? Why?
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What is one quote from a teacher in the article that stood out to you? What does it tell you about how teachers are thinking when it comes to using technology for learning? If you were a teacher, how would you handle this issue?
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In the age of artificial intelligence, have your teachers made any changes to technology use in the classroom? If so, do you welcome these changes? Why or why not?
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At what age, if ever, do you think schools should introduce screens? A recent article reports on laptops and iPads being used in elementary schools, where parents complain that their children use “gamified” education apps and spend playtime watching videos. What are your thoughts about technology for younger students?
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When we asked teenagers last fall about school phone bans, some argued that school-issued devices could be just as much of a distraction. Do you agree? What do you make of schools banning phones while requiring other kinds of digital devices?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
Natalie Proulx is an editor at The Learning Network, a Times free teaching resource.
The post Is There Too Much Screen Time in School? appeared first on New York Times.
