Screens have taken over classrooms. Even students have had enough.
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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Class time has become screen time in American schools. Kindergartners now watch math lessons on YouTube, counting aloud with the videos.
Middle-schoolers complete writing drills on Chromebooks while sneaking in play of an online game. High-schoolers mark up Google Docs to finish group projects. The rapid tech transformation amounts to a grand experiment playing out in American schools.
Accelerated by pandemic-era online learning, the move has happened with little debate, conflicting research and high stakes for the nation’s children. Educators wonder whether the digitization of the classroom has really benefited learning—or if it’s done kids a disservice. Some teachers say online tools help create more engaging lessons and provide personalized instruction.
Others say the screen-heavy approach has distracted students and burned out teachers. “Covid really shifted things toward, ‘Oh, we can do this,’" said Stephanie Galvani, a middle-school English teacher in suburban Boston. “But we didn’t ask: ‘Should we do this?’" Students used their school-issued laptops in San Antonio.
The shift runs counter to the prevailing advice from doctors and psychologists to limit tech use. Some frustrated parents are trying to opt their kids out of school technology, with varying degrees of success. Even some students pine for more analog methods.
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