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"content": "\n\u003cp>Smartphone bans. Time limits on screens. Removing devices from young learners. Across the country, school districts are rolling out policies that signal a growing aversion toward the increasing use of technology in classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Jared Cooney Horvath, a teacher turned neuroscientist, the fallout has been years in the making. He points to the results of tests such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/09/nx-s1-5526918/nations-report-card-scores-reading-math-science-education-cuts\">National Assessment of Educational Progress\u003c/a> and Programme for International Student Assessment \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">from the 2000s\u003c/a> to today that show student performance flattening or slipping.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In his updated updated book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/838437/the-digital-delusion-by-jared-cooney-horvath-phd-med/\">The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning–and How to Help Them Thrive Again\u003c/a>,” Horvath blames one main culprit for those lackluster scores: the wide adoption of digital technology in classrooms. In the book and in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U\">now-viral Congressional testimony\u003c/a> on Jan. 15, he argues that in countries that have widely adopted school-based ed tech, student performance tends to decline rather than improve.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During his Congressional testimony, Horvath argued that Gen Z is the first modern generation to underperform the one before it on \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">key cognitive measures\u003c/a> such as literacy, problem solving and creativity. He says the explanation is fundamentally biological.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s not that the tech isn’t being used well enough, we haven’t been trained enough, we need better programs,” he said in the testimony. “It’s that we have evolved biologically to learn from other human beings. Screens circumvent that process.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66517/families-and-teachers-are-questioning-ed-tech-are-schools-and-districts-starting-to-listen\">Remote schooling during COVID turbo-charged districts’ use of digital tools\u003c/a> — and when students returned to classrooms, the technology stayed. Horvath’s book is part research summary, tracing how student performance has stagnated or fallen in recent years. But it’s also part guidebook and call-to-action, giving parents and teachers language, tools and templates to push back against school-based technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Most people, teachers, parents and students … you feel this, you’ve known this, this hasn’t been working, it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “And just know that, yes, you’re correct. The data backs you up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Horvath’s arguments have met criticism. Some researchers say his work leans too heavily on correlation rather than causation, and point instead to factors like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/digital-delusion-book-jared-cooney-horvath-screens-schools-rcna345869\">youth mental health crisis\u003c/a> to explain falling scores. Others argue that Horvath’s claims are too sweeping, and note that there \u003cem>are\u003c/em> studies suggesting some benefits of moderate computer use.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/edtech-philly-classroom-technology-computer-phone-screens-6aab2bac1d66df1863509b5d5c74fe12\">Districts are pushing back too\u003c/a>. One of Horvath’s suggestions to parents is to have their child “opt out” of digital devices during school time. But some districts say approving opt-outs for hundreds of students, when their curriculum is tightly tied to technology tools, would be too inefficient.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, Horvath insists he is not “anti-tech.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t care about tech; I care about learning. And if tech can prove to help learning, I’ll be the first one to say, there you go, use that, that’s the best way to do it,” he said. “The problem is … the data just isn’t there, the data is pointing another direction.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview with KQED’s MindShift, Horvath laid out his perspective and offered concrete steps for parents, teachers and administrators.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The solution? It’s humanity again. We start reconnecting with each other,” he said. “It’s the only thing we are biologically built to do.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s okay to be a human being again,” Horvath said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How would you suggest breaking up with bad tech from three perspectives: the teachers, parents and administrators?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The best thing you can do as a parent, right off the bat: be analog. Buy a printer. If it’s homework that’s online, print it out. If it’s a reading that’s a PDF, print it out. If it’s a worksheet with math, print it out.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>If you want to take it to the next level, there are a lot of parents who are attempting to “opt out.” They’re petitioning their schools to say no to unnecessary tech during the school day. That might be a little harder for some parents in some states. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>From the teacher’s perspective, I think the two easiest moves to make are return to pen and paper, note-taking and return to physical paper and textbooks. If you do nothing different with your teaching except have kids looking at paper and writing by hand, learning will go up compared to looking at a screen and typing. If you’re going to use tech in your classroom as a teacher, \u003cem>you\u003c/em> drive the tech. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And then, from an administrator’s point of view, you put a moratorium on new tech. You’ve already got enough tech, so do a tech audit on what you already have. What programs do you have? What hardware do you have? What is being used? What isn’t being used? What you’ll see is probably 50% of your tech is just a waste of money. Once you do your audit, you’re going to come out with what people are actually using tech for in your school, and that’s when you can take that next step. That’s when you can run your cost-benefit analysis, ask if it’s benefitting learning enough, and that’s when you can make your final tech decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Are these steps something that people can do tomorrow? Is this something that you see as necessary, first of all, that it could and should be done immediately? Or is it something that can go in phases?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I don’t see any school getting rid of all their tech tomorrow. Before you make your decisions as an administrator, give yourself a year to figure out what’s actually going on before you say, “Here’s what our decisions are going to be.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a teacher, by all means, run little experiments. My favorite thing about teaching is, it’s not a science; it will never be solved. Anyone who’s ever been a teacher knows what worked with Class A is not going to work with Class B, and what worked on Monday won’t work on Tuesday. So, you’re always adjusting; it’s what we do. So, run a little experiment, do a week of what you normally do, and then do a week where we say, ‘I’m going to give you a notebook, and we’re going to take all of our notes, and we’re doing a little quiz at the end of that week.’ And then ask your kids at the end of that week, ‘What do you think is going on with their learning?’ Ask them, what did they prefer, what did they find more confusing, what did they find easier. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The good news is, learning is biological; if you’re alive and breathing and growing, you will learn. The question then becomes, what works best? If we have a finite amount of time, say, 12 years with a kid, what is the best way to push through those 12 years to make sure we can get you where we need you in the strongest possible way? If you’re using tech now, your kids are learning, they’re fine. They’re learning slower than analog kids, they’re learning a little less deeply than what we were doing in the past, they’re learning a little less accurately than what we were doing in the past, but they’re not getting nothing. Don’t think you’re harming your kids right now; it’s just, we can be doing better with the time we have if we think about our resources. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the things that was surprising to me in your recommendations to avoid digital citizenship curricula. What is your reasoning for that recommendation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The digital landscape changes so fast that whatever citizenship aspects you focus on today will almost certainly be obsolete two to three years from now. That’s why most digital citizenship programs to date, they’re focused on programs like, ‘How do you interact with people over chat?’ without realizing that two years later, no one is using chat anymore. Trying to lock down what good citizenship would look like in these contexts is, you’re always chasing; you’ll never catch up. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What’s the right way to do it? You teach human citizenship. You teach actual citizenship and then kids can adapt that to whatever digital world exists when they are out of school. No one ever taught us how to be nice to human beings online. They taught us how to be nice to human beings. And now, when online came, we brought those sensibilities into the world of digital. It’s not about figuring out what are the specific digital moves you have to make, it’s going back to basics. What are the human moves we have to make? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is there ever a way to bounce back? Is there ever a way to get our kids back to what we’re truly wanting them to do, which is learn and learn deeply and think critically?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When it comes to tech, you’re not fighting against tech, you’re not fighting against some juggernaut; you’re fighting \u003cem>for\u003c/em> something, which is your family, which is your kids’ growth and learning. You want what’s best for them and that just means us coming back together again, going back to similar ways of thinking and interacting, which I think is a wonderful thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are going to be some people who say, ‘I have a kid with a learning disorder,’ or, ‘I have a kid with autism who can’t go to school.’ Remember, something is better than nothing. Everything I’m talking about when it comes to ed tech goes out the window when you remember that something is better than nothing. If you have a kid who cannot speak without a digital tool, a digital tool is the greatest thing that was ever invented, of course. Use it. If your kid cannot interact without a screen present, of course, use the screen. Don’t take this message too far. But the argument is, if you are in a position where you’re lucky enough to have two different options, always select the option that meets your goal better. And if your goal is learning, analog is almost always going to be the better option for that. But if you have circumstances that do not allow you to do that, then by all means, embrace tech, hug it, love it. But that doesn’t mean we all need it all day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>When it comes to the range of ed tech available out there, are there “Sesame Street” versions, meaning a type of ed tech that might be considered “better” for deep learning?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Where would you rather learn the alphabet – Sesame Street, YouTube or human? The question will always become, ‘’does the tech outperform a human teacher doing it?’ Most of the time, that’s going to be no. But within ed tech itself, there are two realms where it’s really powerful, but there are some caveats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One is what we’re going to call intelligent tutoring, or adaptive tutoring. It asks you a series of questions, and depending how you answer question one, it gives you a harder question or an easier one if you missed it. That seems to be a good way to kind of drill and kill, to get skills up online. The second realm where you see ed tech actually working well is learning disorder remediation. These are kids who are struggling with basic skills – seat them at a computer and drill that skill endlessly. But I think the caveats to that are you can really only drill skills in very finite, limited areas, and those areas basically have right and wrong answers. I think Justin Reich from MIT said it perfectly. He said adaptive tutoring is really good for learning how to read; it’s really bad for reading to learn. You can use it to build the skill, but once you want to take the skill and actually do something with the skill, that’s where tech kind of washes its hands.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do you say to people who are overwhelmed by this whole issue? There’s so many problems within our education system, and this is just one of many. How do you navigate it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I actually consider ed tech the lowest hanging, easiest to attack fruit right now in education. There’s a lot of things we could talk about with education that we might want to adjust or change or tweak at a structural level; those things are incredibly difficult to do. But what’s the easiest thing to do is go back to a system that already exists. The good news is, when it comes to divesting from technology, it doesn’t require a new infrastructure; it requires going back to the infrastructure that’s already there. If you’ve already built train tracks all around the U.S., then you move to cars, and then one day you decide we don’t need cars anymore – good news; we never ripped up the train tracks. They’re still sitting there, we’re good to go. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Jared Cooney Horvath, a teacher turned neuroscientist, the fallout has been years in the making. He points to the results of tests such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/09/nx-s1-5526918/nations-report-card-scores-reading-math-science-education-cuts\">National Assessment of Educational Progress\u003c/a> and Programme for International Student Assessment \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">from the 2000s\u003c/a> to today that show student performance flattening or slipping.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For Jared Cooney Horvath, a teacher turned neuroscientist, the fallout has been years in the making. He points to the results of tests such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/09/nx-s1-5526918/nations-report-card-scores-reading-math-science-education-cuts\">National Assessment of Educational Progress\u003c/a> and Programme for International Student Assessment \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">from the 2000s\u003c/a> to today that show student performance flattening or slipping.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In his updated updated book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/838437/the-digital-delusion-by-jared-cooney-horvath-phd-med/\">The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning–and How to Help Them Thrive Again\u003c/a>,” Horvath blames one main culprit for those lackluster scores: the wide adoption of digital technology in classrooms. In the book and in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U\">now-viral Congressional testimony\u003c/a> on Jan. 15, he argues that in countries that have widely adopted school-based ed tech, student performance tends to decline rather than improve.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In his updated updated book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/838437/the-digital-delusion-by-jared-cooney-horvath-phd-med/\">The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning–and How to Help Them Thrive Again\u003c/a>,” Horvath blames one main culprit for those lackluster scores: the wide adoption of digital technology in classrooms. In the book and in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U\">now-viral Congressional testimony\u003c/a> on Jan. 15, he argues that in countries that have widely adopted school-based ed tech, student performance tends to decline rather than improve.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During his Congressional testimony, Horvath argued that Gen Z is the first modern generation to underperform the one before it on \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">key cognitive measures\u003c/a> such as literacy, problem solving and creativity. He says the explanation is fundamentally biological.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During his Congressional testimony, Horvath argued that Gen Z is the first modern generation to underperform the one before it on \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">key cognitive measures\u003c/a> such as literacy, problem solving and creativity. He says the explanation is fundamentally biological.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s not that the tech isn’t being used well enough, we haven’t been trained enough, we need better programs,” he said in the testimony. “It’s that we have evolved biologically to learn from other human beings. Screens circumvent that process.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s not that the tech isn’t being used well enough, we haven’t been trained enough, we need better programs,” he said in the testimony. “It’s that we have evolved biologically to learn from other human beings. Screens circumvent that process.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66517/families-and-teachers-are-questioning-ed-tech-are-schools-and-districts-starting-to-listen\">Remote schooling during COVID turbo-charged districts’ use of digital tools\u003c/a> — and when students returned to classrooms, the technology stayed. Horvath’s book is part research summary, tracing how student performance has stagnated or fallen in recent years. But it’s also part guidebook and call-to-action, giving parents and teachers language, tools and templates to push back against school-based technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66517/families-and-teachers-are-questioning-ed-tech-are-schools-and-districts-starting-to-listen\">Remote schooling during COVID turbo-charged districts’ use of digital tools\u003c/a> — and when students returned to classrooms, the technology stayed. Horvath’s book is part research summary, tracing how student performance has stagnated or fallen in recent years. But it’s also part guidebook and call-to-action, giving parents and teachers language, tools and templates to push back against school-based technology.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Most people, teachers, parents and students … you feel this, you’ve known this, this hasn’t been working, it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “And just know that, yes, you’re correct. The data backs you up.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Most people, teachers, parents and students … you feel this, you’ve known this, this hasn’t been working, it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “And just know that, yes, you’re correct. The data backs you up.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Horvath’s arguments have met criticism. Some researchers say his work leans too heavily on correlation rather than causation, and point instead to factors like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/digital-delusion-book-jared-cooney-horvath-screens-schools-rcna345869\">youth mental health crisis\u003c/a> to explain falling scores. Others argue that Horvath’s claims are too sweeping, and note that there \u003cem>are\u003c/em> studies suggesting some benefits of moderate computer use.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Horvath’s arguments have met criticism. Some researchers say his work leans too heavily on correlation rather than causation, and point instead to factors like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/digital-delusion-book-jared-cooney-horvath-screens-schools-rcna345869\">youth mental health crisis\u003c/a> to explain falling scores. Others argue that Horvath’s claims are too sweeping, and note that there \u003cem>are\u003c/em> studies suggesting some benefits of moderate computer use.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/edtech-philly-classroom-technology-computer-phone-screens-6aab2bac1d66df1863509b5d5c74fe12\">Districts are pushing back too\u003c/a>. One of Horvath’s suggestions to parents is to have their child “opt out” of digital devices during school time. But some districts say approving opt-outs for hundreds of students, when their curriculum is tightly tied to technology tools, would be too inefficient.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/edtech-philly-classroom-technology-computer-phone-screens-6aab2bac1d66df1863509b5d5c74fe12\">Districts are pushing back too\u003c/a>. One of Horvath’s suggestions to parents is to have their child “opt out” of digital devices during school time. But some districts say approving opt-outs for hundreds of students, when their curriculum is tightly tied to technology tools, would be too inefficient.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Still, Horvath insists he is not “anti-tech.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Still, Horvath insists he is not “anti-tech.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I don’t care about tech; I care about learning. And if tech can prove to help learning, I’ll be the first one to say, there you go, use that, that’s the best way to do it,” he said. “The problem is … the data just isn’t there, the data is pointing another direction.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I don’t care about tech; I care about learning. And if tech can prove to help learning, I’ll be the first one to say, there you go, use that, that’s the best way to do it,” he said. “The problem is … the data just isn’t there, the data is pointing another direction.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In an interview with KQED’s MindShift, Horvath laid out his perspective and offered concrete steps for parents, teachers and administrators.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In an interview with KQED’s MindShift, Horvath laid out his perspective and offered concrete steps for parents, teachers and administrators.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The solution? It’s humanity again. We start reconnecting with each other,” he said. “It’s the only thing we are biologically built to do.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The solution? It’s humanity again. We start reconnecting with each other,” he said. “It’s the only thing we are biologically built to do.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s okay to be a human being again,” Horvath said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s okay to be a human being again,” Horvath said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How would you suggest breaking up with bad tech from three perspectives: the teachers, parents and administrators?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How would you suggest breaking up with bad tech from three perspectives: the teachers, parents and administrators?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The best thing you can do as a parent, right off the bat: be analog. Buy a printer. If it’s homework that’s online, print it out. If it’s a reading that’s a PDF, print it out. If it’s a worksheet with math, print it out.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>If you want to take it to the next level, there are a lot of parents who are attempting to “opt out.” They’re petitioning their schools to say no to unnecessary tech during the school day. That might be a little harder for some parents in some states. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The best thing you can do as a parent, right off the bat: be analog. Buy a printer. If it’s homework that’s online, print it out. If it’s a reading that’s a PDF, print it out. If it’s a worksheet with math, print it out.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>If you want to take it to the next level, there are a lot of parents who are attempting to “opt out.” They’re petitioning their schools to say no to unnecessary tech during the school day. That might be a little harder for some parents in some states. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>From the teacher’s perspective, I think the two easiest moves to make are return to pen and paper, note-taking and return to physical paper and textbooks. If you do nothing different with your teaching except have kids looking at paper and writing by hand, learning will go up compared to looking at a screen and typing. If you’re going to use tech in your classroom as a teacher, \u003cem>you\u003c/em> drive the tech. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>From the teacher’s perspective, I think the two easiest moves to make are return to pen and paper, note-taking and return to physical paper and textbooks. If you do nothing different with your teaching except have kids looking at paper and writing by hand, learning will go up compared to looking at a screen and typing. If you’re going to use tech in your classroom as a teacher, \u003cem>you\u003c/em> drive the tech. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And then, from an administrator’s point of view, you put a moratorium on new tech. You’ve already got enough tech, so do a tech audit on what you already have. What programs do you have? What hardware do you have? What is being used? What isn’t being used? What you’ll see is probably 50% of your tech is just a waste of money. Once you do your audit, you’re going to come out with what people are actually using tech for in your school, and that’s when you can take that next step. That’s when you can run your cost-benefit analysis, ask if it’s benefitting learning enough, and that’s when you can make your final tech decisions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And then, from an administrator’s point of view, you put a moratorium on new tech. You’ve already got enough tech, so do a tech audit on what you already have. What programs do you have? What hardware do you have? What is being used? What isn’t being used? What you’ll see is probably 50% of your tech is just a waste of money. Once you do your audit, you’re going to come out with what people are actually using tech for in your school, and that’s when you can take that next step. That’s when you can run your cost-benefit analysis, ask if it’s benefitting learning enough, and that’s when you can make your final tech decisions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Are these steps something that people can do tomorrow? Is this something that you see as necessary, first of all, that it could and should be done immediately? Or is it something that can go in phases?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Are these steps something that people can do tomorrow? Is this something that you see as necessary, first of all, that it could and should be done immediately? Or is it something that can go in phases?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I don’t see any school getting rid of all their tech tomorrow. Before you make your decisions as an administrator, give yourself a year to figure out what’s actually going on before you say, “Here’s what our decisions are going to be.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>I don’t see any school getting rid of all their tech tomorrow. Before you make your decisions as an administrator, give yourself a year to figure out what’s actually going on before you say, “Here’s what our decisions are going to be.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As a teacher, by all means, run little experiments. My favorite thing about teaching is, it’s not a science; it will never be solved. Anyone who’s ever been a teacher knows what worked with Class A is not going to work with Class B, and what worked on Monday won’t work on Tuesday. So, you’re always adjusting; it’s what we do. So, run a little experiment, do a week of what you normally do, and then do a week where we say, ‘I’m going to give you a notebook, and we’re going to take all of our notes, and we’re doing a little quiz at the end of that week.’ And then ask your kids at the end of that week, ‘What do you think is going on with their learning?’ Ask them, what did they prefer, what did they find more confusing, what did they find easier. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As a teacher, by all means, run little experiments. My favorite thing about teaching is, it’s not a science; it will never be solved. Anyone who’s ever been a teacher knows what worked with Class A is not going to work with Class B, and what worked on Monday won’t work on Tuesday. So, you’re always adjusting; it’s what we do. So, run a little experiment, do a week of what you normally do, and then do a week where we say, ‘I’m going to give you a notebook, and we’re going to take all of our notes, and we’re doing a little quiz at the end of that week.’ And then ask your kids at the end of that week, ‘What do you think is going on with their learning?’ Ask them, what did they prefer, what did they find more confusing, what did they find easier. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The good news is, learning is biological; if you’re alive and breathing and growing, you will learn. The question then becomes, what works best? If we have a finite amount of time, say, 12 years with a kid, what is the best way to push through those 12 years to make sure we can get you where we need you in the strongest possible way? If you’re using tech now, your kids are learning, they’re fine. They’re learning slower than analog kids, they’re learning a little less deeply than what we were doing in the past, they’re learning a little less accurately than what we were doing in the past, but they’re not getting nothing. Don’t think you’re harming your kids right now; it’s just, we can be doing better with the time we have if we think about our resources. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The good news is, learning is biological; if you’re alive and breathing and growing, you will learn. The question then becomes, what works best? If we have a finite amount of time, say, 12 years with a kid, what is the best way to push through those 12 years to make sure we can get you where we need you in the strongest possible way? If you’re using tech now, your kids are learning, they’re fine. They’re learning slower than analog kids, they’re learning a little less deeply than what we were doing in the past, they’re learning a little less accurately than what we were doing in the past, but they’re not getting nothing. Don’t think you’re harming your kids right now; it’s just, we can be doing better with the time we have if we think about our resources. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the things that was surprising to me in your recommendations to avoid digital citizenship curricula. What is your reasoning for that recommendation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the things that was surprising to me in your recommendations to avoid digital citizenship curricula. What is your reasoning for that recommendation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The digital landscape changes so fast that whatever citizenship aspects you focus on today will almost certainly be obsolete two to three years from now. That’s why most digital citizenship programs to date, they’re focused on programs like, ‘How do you interact with people over chat?’ without realizing that two years later, no one is using chat anymore. Trying to lock down what good citizenship would look like in these contexts is, you’re always chasing; you’ll never catch up. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The digital landscape changes so fast that whatever citizenship aspects you focus on today will almost certainly be obsolete two to three years from now. That’s why most digital citizenship programs to date, they’re focused on programs like, ‘How do you interact with people over chat?’ without realizing that two years later, no one is using chat anymore. Trying to lock down what good citizenship would look like in these contexts is, you’re always chasing; you’ll never catch up. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>What’s the right way to do it? You teach human citizenship. You teach actual citizenship and then kids can adapt that to whatever digital world exists when they are out of school. No one ever taught us how to be nice to human beings online. They taught us how to be nice to human beings. And now, when online came, we brought those sensibilities into the world of digital. It’s not about figuring out what are the specific digital moves you have to make, it’s going back to basics. What are the human moves we have to make? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>What’s the right way to do it? You teach human citizenship. You teach actual citizenship and then kids can adapt that to whatever digital world exists when they are out of school. No one ever taught us how to be nice to human beings online. They taught us how to be nice to human beings. And now, when online came, we brought those sensibilities into the world of digital. It’s not about figuring out what are the specific digital moves you have to make, it’s going back to basics. What are the human moves we have to make? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When it comes to tech, you’re not fighting against tech, you’re not fighting against some juggernaut; you’re fighting \u003cem>for\u003c/em> something, which is your family, which is your kids’ growth and learning. You want what’s best for them and that just means us coming back together again, going back to similar ways of thinking and interacting, which I think is a wonderful thing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are going to be some people who say, ‘I have a kid with a learning disorder,’ or, ‘I have a kid with autism who can’t go to school.’ Remember, something is better than nothing. Everything I’m talking about when it comes to ed tech goes out the window when you remember that something is better than nothing. If you have a kid who cannot speak without a digital tool, a digital tool is the greatest thing that was ever invented, of course. Use it. If your kid cannot interact without a screen present, of course, use the screen. Don’t take this message too far. But the argument is, if you are in a position where you’re lucky enough to have two different options, always select the option that meets your goal better. And if your goal is learning, analog is almost always going to be the better option for that. But if you have circumstances that do not allow you to do that, then by all means, embrace tech, hug it, love it. But that doesn’t mean we all need it all day. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There are going to be some people who say, ‘I have a kid with a learning disorder,’ or, ‘I have a kid with autism who can’t go to school.’ Remember, something is better than nothing. Everything I’m talking about when it comes to ed tech goes out the window when you remember that something is better than nothing. If you have a kid who cannot speak without a digital tool, a digital tool is the greatest thing that was ever invented, of course. Use it. If your kid cannot interact without a screen present, of course, use the screen. Don’t take this message too far. But the argument is, if you are in a position where you’re lucky enough to have two different options, always select the option that meets your goal better. And if your goal is learning, analog is almost always going to be the better option for that. But if you have circumstances that do not allow you to do that, then by all means, embrace tech, hug it, love it. But that doesn’t mean we all need it all day. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>When it comes to the range of ed tech available out there, are there “Sesame Street” versions, meaning a type of ed tech that might be considered “better” for deep learning?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>When it comes to the range of ed tech available out there, are there “Sesame Street” versions, meaning a type of ed tech that might be considered “better” for deep learning?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Where would you rather learn the alphabet – Sesame Street, YouTube or human? The question will always become, ‘’does the tech outperform a human teacher doing it?’ Most of the time, that’s going to be no. But within ed tech itself, there are two realms where it’s really powerful, but there are some caveats.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One is what we’re going to call intelligent tutoring, or adaptive tutoring. It asks you a series of questions, and depending how you answer question one, it gives you a harder question or an easier one if you missed it. That seems to be a good way to kind of drill and kill, to get skills up online. The second realm where you see ed tech actually working well is learning disorder remediation. These are kids who are struggling with basic skills – seat them at a computer and drill that skill endlessly. But I think the caveats to that are you can really only drill skills in very finite, limited areas, and those areas basically have right and wrong answers. I think Justin Reich from MIT said it perfectly. He said adaptive tutoring is really good for learning how to read; it’s really bad for reading to learn. You can use it to build the skill, but once you want to take the skill and actually do something with the skill, that’s where tech kind of washes its hands.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One is what we’re going to call intelligent tutoring, or adaptive tutoring. It asks you a series of questions, and depending how you answer question one, it gives you a harder question or an easier one if you missed it. That seems to be a good way to kind of drill and kill, to get skills up online. The second realm where you see ed tech actually working well is learning disorder remediation. These are kids who are struggling with basic skills – seat them at a computer and drill that skill endlessly. But I think the caveats to that are you can really only drill skills in very finite, limited areas, and those areas basically have right and wrong answers. I think Justin Reich from MIT said it perfectly. He said adaptive tutoring is really good for learning how to read; it’s really bad for reading to learn. You can use it to build the skill, but once you want to take the skill and actually do something with the skill, that’s where tech kind of washes its hands.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do you say to people who are overwhelmed by this whole issue? There’s so many problems within our education system, and this is just one of many. How do you navigate it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I actually consider ed tech the lowest hanging, easiest to attack fruit right now in education. There’s a lot of things we could talk about with education that we might want to adjust or change or tweak at a structural level; those things are incredibly difficult to do. But what’s the easiest thing to do is go back to a system that already exists. The good news is, when it comes to divesting from technology, it doesn’t require a new infrastructure; it requires going back to the infrastructure that’s already there. If you’ve already built train tracks all around the U.S., then you move to cars, and then one day you decide we don’t need cars anymore – good news; we never ripped up the train tracks. They’re still sitting there, we’re good to go. \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Smartphone bans. Time limits on screens. Removing devices from young learners. Across the country, school districts are rolling out policies that signal a growing aversion toward the increasing use of technology in classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Jared Cooney Horvath, a teacher turned neuroscientist, the fallout has been years in the making. He points to the results of tests such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/09/09/nx-s1-5526918/nations-report-card-scores-reading-math-science-education-cuts\">National Assessment of Educational Progress\u003c/a> and Programme for International Student Assessment \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">from the 2000s\u003c/a> to today that show student performance flattening or slipping.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In his updated updated book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/838437/the-digital-delusion-by-jared-cooney-horvath-phd-med/\">The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning–and How to Help Them Thrive Again\u003c/a>,” Horvath blames one main culprit for those lackluster scores: the wide adoption of digital technology in classrooms. In the book and in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U\">now-viral Congressional testimony\u003c/a> on Jan. 15, he argues that in countries that have widely adopted school-based ed tech, student performance tends to decline rather than improve.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Fd-_VDYit3U'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Fd-_VDYit3U'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During his Congressional testimony, Horvath argued that Gen Z is the first modern generation to underperform the one before it on \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/Horvath_Written%20Testimony.pdf\">key cognitive measures\u003c/a> such as literacy, problem solving and creativity. He says the explanation is fundamentally biological.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s not that the tech isn’t being used well enough, we haven’t been trained enough, we need better programs,” he said in the testimony. “It’s that we have evolved biologically to learn from other human beings. Screens circumvent that process.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66517/families-and-teachers-are-questioning-ed-tech-are-schools-and-districts-starting-to-listen\">Remote schooling during COVID turbo-charged districts’ use of digital tools\u003c/a> — and when students returned to classrooms, the technology stayed. Horvath’s book is part research summary, tracing how student performance has stagnated or fallen in recent years. But it’s also part guidebook and call-to-action, giving parents and teachers language, tools and templates to push back against school-based technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Most people, teachers, parents and students … you feel this, you’ve known this, this hasn’t been working, it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “And just know that, yes, you’re correct. The data backs you up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Horvath’s arguments have met criticism. Some researchers say his work leans too heavily on correlation rather than causation, and point instead to factors like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/digital-delusion-book-jared-cooney-horvath-screens-schools-rcna345869\">youth mental health crisis\u003c/a> to explain falling scores. Others argue that Horvath’s claims are too sweeping, and note that there \u003cem>are\u003c/em> studies suggesting some benefits of moderate computer use.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/edtech-philly-classroom-technology-computer-phone-screens-6aab2bac1d66df1863509b5d5c74fe12\">Districts are pushing back too\u003c/a>. One of Horvath’s suggestions to parents is to have their child “opt out” of digital devices during school time. But some districts say approving opt-outs for hundreds of students, when their curriculum is tightly tied to technology tools, would be too inefficient.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Still, Horvath insists he is not “anti-tech.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I don’t care about tech; I care about learning. And if tech can prove to help learning, I’ll be the first one to say, there you go, use that, that’s the best way to do it,” he said. “The problem is … the data just isn’t there, the data is pointing another direction.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In an interview with KQED’s MindShift, Horvath laid out his perspective and offered concrete steps for parents, teachers and administrators.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The solution? It’s humanity again. We start reconnecting with each other,” he said. “It’s the only thing we are biologically built to do.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s okay to be a human being again,” Horvath said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for clarity and length. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How would you suggest breaking up with bad tech from three perspectives: the teachers, parents and administrators?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The best thing you can do as a parent, right off the bat: be analog. Buy a printer. If it’s homework that’s online, print it out. If it’s a reading that’s a PDF, print it out. If it’s a worksheet with math, print it out.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>If you want to take it to the next level, there are a lot of parents who are attempting to “opt out.” They’re petitioning their schools to say no to unnecessary tech during the school day. That might be a little harder for some parents in some states. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>From the teacher’s perspective, I think the two easiest moves to make are return to pen and paper, note-taking and return to physical paper and textbooks. If you do nothing different with your teaching except have kids looking at paper and writing by hand, learning will go up compared to looking at a screen and typing. If you’re going to use tech in your classroom as a teacher, \u003cem>you\u003c/em> drive the tech. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And then, from an administrator’s point of view, you put a moratorium on new tech. You’ve already got enough tech, so do a tech audit on what you already have. What programs do you have? What hardware do you have? What is being used? What isn’t being used? What you’ll see is probably 50% of your tech is just a waste of money. Once you do your audit, you’re going to come out with what people are actually using tech for in your school, and that’s when you can take that next step. That’s when you can run your cost-benefit analysis, ask if it’s benefitting learning enough, and that’s when you can make your final tech decisions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Are these steps something that people can do tomorrow? Is this something that you see as necessary, first of all, that it could and should be done immediately? Or is it something that can go in phases?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I don’t see any school getting rid of all their tech tomorrow. Before you make your decisions as an administrator, give yourself a year to figure out what’s actually going on before you say, “Here’s what our decisions are going to be.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As a teacher, by all means, run little experiments. My favorite thing about teaching is, it’s not a science; it will never be solved. Anyone who’s ever been a teacher knows what worked with Class A is not going to work with Class B, and what worked on Monday won’t work on Tuesday. So, you’re always adjusting; it’s what we do. So, run a little experiment, do a week of what you normally do, and then do a week where we say, ‘I’m going to give you a notebook, and we’re going to take all of our notes, and we’re doing a little quiz at the end of that week.’ And then ask your kids at the end of that week, ‘What do you think is going on with their learning?’ Ask them, what did they prefer, what did they find more confusing, what did they find easier. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The good news is, learning is biological; if you’re alive and breathing and growing, you will learn. The question then becomes, what works best? If we have a finite amount of time, say, 12 years with a kid, what is the best way to push through those 12 years to make sure we can get you where we need you in the strongest possible way? If you’re using tech now, your kids are learning, they’re fine. They’re learning slower than analog kids, they’re learning a little less deeply than what we were doing in the past, they’re learning a little less accurately than what we were doing in the past, but they’re not getting nothing. Don’t think you’re harming your kids right now; it’s just, we can be doing better with the time we have if we think about our resources. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the things that was surprising to me in your recommendations to avoid digital citizenship curricula. What is your reasoning for that recommendation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The digital landscape changes so fast that whatever citizenship aspects you focus on today will almost certainly be obsolete two to three years from now. That’s why most digital citizenship programs to date, they’re focused on programs like, ‘How do you interact with people over chat?’ without realizing that two years later, no one is using chat anymore. Trying to lock down what good citizenship would look like in these contexts is, you’re always chasing; you’ll never catch up. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>What’s the right way to do it? You teach human citizenship. You teach actual citizenship and then kids can adapt that to whatever digital world exists when they are out of school. No one ever taught us how to be nice to human beings online. They taught us how to be nice to human beings. And now, when online came, we brought those sensibilities into the world of digital. It’s not about figuring out what are the specific digital moves you have to make, it’s going back to basics. What are the human moves we have to make? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is there ever a way to bounce back? Is there ever a way to get our kids back to what we’re truly wanting them to do, which is learn and learn deeply and think critically?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When it comes to tech, you’re not fighting against tech, you’re not fighting against some juggernaut; you’re fighting \u003cem>for\u003c/em> something, which is your family, which is your kids’ growth and learning. You want what’s best for them and that just means us coming back together again, going back to similar ways of thinking and interacting, which I think is a wonderful thing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are going to be some people who say, ‘I have a kid with a learning disorder,’ or, ‘I have a kid with autism who can’t go to school.’ Remember, something is better than nothing. Everything I’m talking about when it comes to ed tech goes out the window when you remember that something is better than nothing. If you have a kid who cannot speak without a digital tool, a digital tool is the greatest thing that was ever invented, of course. Use it. If your kid cannot interact without a screen present, of course, use the screen. Don’t take this message too far. But the argument is, if you are in a position where you’re lucky enough to have two different options, always select the option that meets your goal better. And if your goal is learning, analog is almost always going to be the better option for that. But if you have circumstances that do not allow you to do that, then by all means, embrace tech, hug it, love it. But that doesn’t mean we all need it all day. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>When it comes to the range of ed tech available out there, are there “Sesame Street” versions, meaning a type of ed tech that might be considered “better” for deep learning?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Where would you rather learn the alphabet – Sesame Street, YouTube or human? The question will always become, ‘’does the tech outperform a human teacher doing it?’ Most of the time, that’s going to be no. But within ed tech itself, there are two realms where it’s really powerful, but there are some caveats.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One is what we’re going to call intelligent tutoring, or adaptive tutoring. It asks you a series of questions, and depending how you answer question one, it gives you a harder question or an easier one if you missed it. That seems to be a good way to kind of drill and kill, to get skills up online. The second realm where you see ed tech actually working well is learning disorder remediation. These are kids who are struggling with basic skills – seat them at a computer and drill that skill endlessly. But I think the caveats to that are you can really only drill skills in very finite, limited areas, and those areas basically have right and wrong answers. I think Justin Reich from MIT said it perfectly. He said adaptive tutoring is really good for learning how to read; it’s really bad for reading to learn. You can use it to build the skill, but once you want to take the skill and actually do something with the skill, that’s where tech kind of washes its hands.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do you say to people who are overwhelmed by this whole issue? There’s so many problems within our education system, and this is just one of many. How do you navigate it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I actually consider ed tech the lowest hanging, easiest to attack fruit right now in education. There’s a lot of things we could talk about with education that we might want to adjust or change or tweak at a structural level; those things are incredibly difficult to do. But what’s the easiest thing to do is go back to a system that already exists. The good news is, when it comes to divesting from technology, it doesn’t require a new infrastructure; it requires going back to the infrastructure that’s already there. If you’ve already built train tracks all around the U.S., then you move to cars, and then one day you decide we don’t need cars anymore – good news; we never ripped up the train tracks. They’re still sitting there, we’re good to go. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When Los Angeles parent Lila Byock’s son started middle school, his grades suddenly collapsed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It didn’t make sense. “He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school,” Byock said. She and her husband were confused and concerned.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Teachers assured the family that their son understood the material and the problem wasn’t academics. “They said, ‘He just can’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/63519/distracted-students-understanding-these-3-myths-of-attention-span-can-help\">stay on task\u003c/a> on his iPad,’” she continued.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That answer surprised Byock. Like many parents, she assumed that after pandemic remote learning ended, classrooms had largely returned to face-to-face instruction. Instead, she learned her son was spending much of his school day on a district-issued device.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He was scrolling YouTube Shorts during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles with classmates during class,” Byock said. Other students watched streaming shows during lunch on school-issued iPads, and one student even showed pornography on a school device, according to Byock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After talking with her son, Byock realized he wasn’t trying to break rules, but rather, he felt trapped by distractions he couldn’t seem to resist. “It was eroding his self-esteem,” she said. “He told us, ‘I want to stop, and I don’t think I can.'”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When Byock asked school administrators how devices were being used and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66432/little-kids-outsmart-content-blockers-what-can-be-done-about-devices-in-school\">what safeguards existed\u003c/a>, the school’s answers didn’t satisfy her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Byock’s experience reflects a larger shift in American classrooms. Over the last 15 years, schools invested billions of dollars in laptops, tablets and educational software, often under the promise that technology would personalize learning and prepare students for a digital future. Today, some educators and parents are beginning to ask whether those tools changed classrooms in ways they never intended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2555651076\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>The promise of education technology\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For decades, education technology — also called ed tech — has been marketed as a way to make learning more customized, efficient and equitable. Writer and ed tech historian \u003ca href=\"https://audreywatters.com/\">Audrey Watters\u003c/a> said those promises stretch back long before laptops or artificial intelligence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the early 1900s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/history-standardized-testing-united-states\">educators embraced standardized testing and intelligence testing\u003c/a> as a way to make learning more measurable and objective. That same logic eventually shaped educational software, including the creation of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/far-reaching-legacy-first-teaching-machines\">“teaching machines”\u003c/a> designed to automatically grade multiple choice questions and aspirationally automate teaching. Personal computers entered classrooms in the 1980s, internet-connected learning expanded in the 1990s and 2000s, and after 2010 districts rapidly adopted one-to-one laptop programs. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the rapid push to remote learning made the full transition to digital learning nearly complete by providing students and schools with internet connectivity, devices and curriculum. Schools have long since reopened, but the reliance on ed tech continues.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We see this long history of this desire to automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can engineer things so that they’re optimized,” Watters said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, classrooms don’t work that way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Humans are messier,” she added. Students don’t all develop, think or learn in identical ways. “This desire to standardize and optimize things as a science has great appeal but I’m not sure it’s actually practical or realistic.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Watters is particularly skeptical of one of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62365/one-size-fits-all-math-homework-may-be-more-helpful-than-you-think\">ed tech’s central promises: personalization\u003c/a>. Educational software often claims to tailor instruction to each student’s needs. But Watters says that promise begins with an assumption that teachers themselves lack sufficient insight into their students.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Teachers have long incorporated videos, computers and other digital tools into lessons. The difference today is that many instructional decisions are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60110/personalized-learning-is-more-than-an-edtech-marketing-term-it-requires-good-teachers\">increasingly shaped by software platforms\u003c/a> designed outside the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s some margin for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies,” Watters said. “They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with their tools.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That concern resonates with Molly Esquivel, a fifth-grade teacher in Fullerton, California. She recalled being instructed to administer the reading program i-Ready to her students, despite believing it wasn’t the right instructional choice. When she objected, “the principal came back at me and said, ‘You have to do this,’” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Esquivel, the issue extends beyond one software program.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person,” she said. “ And that, to me, is not sound practice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said it is obvious when students are on physical materials as opposed to individually on devices. “I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living, breathing organism,” she said. Students interact with one another; they move and solve problems together. When every student is on a device, “they are now interacting with an inanimate object.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Some schools are pulling back on tech use\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At McPherson Middle School in Kansas, Principal Inge Esping said teachers began raising concerns that district-issued Chromebooks were becoming distractions rather than instructional tools. Teachers found themselves spending more time monitoring screens than interacting with students. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They, too, felt really tied to their own devices,” Esping said of educators. “They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused [and] problem solve.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66374/screens-are-leaving-schools-fast-though-some-students-with-disabilities-rely-on-them\">Rather than eliminating technology\u003c/a>, school leaders and teachers at Esping decided to change how students access it. Instead of taking Chromebooks everywhere, devices remain on classroom carts and are used when teachers believe they add instructional value. The shift wasn’t framed as a ban, Esping said, but as an opportunity to reevaluate their relationship to technology. “Over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals [related to technology] or not,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since Lila Byock first began raising concerns with Schools Beyond Screens – the advocacy group she founded because of her son’s experience in school – the \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2026/lausd-screen-time-limits/759492\">Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted grade-level limits on student screen time\u003c/a>. The new policy prohibits screen use altogether in kindergarten and first grade, and allows families to opt out of taking district devices home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1429\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66518\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2048x1463.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Schools Beyond Screens-affiliated families and educators gather at the LAUSD Board Headquarters to show support for a new screen time policy.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She sees the policy as progress, even if she believes more work remains. “One of the things we’ve been pushing for is a moratorium on AI use in the classroom on student devices until the district develops a comprehensive AI policy,” Byock noted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Her family’s story began with one struggling student, but the conversation it helped spark has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66306/schools-and-states-are-now-setting-limits-on-screen-time-for-students\">grown into something much larger\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During the summer, Byock went to drop off her son’s enrollment papers and one of the school’s administrators mentioned that this year parents can expect a renewed focus on hands-on learning and more \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64992/taking-exams-in-blue-books-its-back-to-help-curb-ai-use-and-rampant-cheating\">pencil-and-paper activities\u003c/a>. In order to accommodate analog learning, the school had ordered “tons of extra paper.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2555651076\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> During the 2024-25 school year, Lila Byock’s son had just started middle school. And then something shifted. He began bringing home the worst grades he had ever received. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school And my husband and I were confused and concerned. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The thing is – it wasn’t that Lila’s son didn’t understand the material. His teachers actually told her he’s above grade level. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> They said, “He just can’t stay on task on his iPad.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>music\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> They were talking about his school-issued iPad — \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>one that every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District receives under a one-to-one device model. In class, students were required to use an online program called i-Ready to complete assignments. But there was nothing stopping them from opening another tab — and doing, well… basically anything else.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> We said, well, how much time is he spending on his iPad? And they said, Well, we use it sort of for everything all day. And that was… a complete revelation for us. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> As Lila started asking more questions, she learned what her son — and many of his classmates — were actually doing during the school day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> Our child was. Scrolling YouTube shorts all during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles along with many of his other classmates during class. A student at lunchtime was watching Squid Game on his school issued iPad. Um, and, you know, my son watched that with him. Um, somebody showed him porn on a school issued device.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> After talking it through with her son, Lila realized he was just as frustrated as she was. He’d always been engaged in school, and now he felt trapped in habits he couldn’t seem to stop. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> It was like it was eroding his self-esteem. And he told us, you know, I want to stop and I don’t think I can.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Worse yet, There were no clear policies. No safeguards. When Lila realized how much the IPads were being used, she sent a list of questions to the school’s administrators \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And the answers I got back were just completely unsatisfying. It was as if no one had ever thought about these things before and [00:06:20][32.1]Lila Byock: [00:07:00] that raised every red flag for me. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Lila is far from alone. Versions of her story are coming from parents all over the country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In 2024, many public schools responded to concerns about distraction by banning student cell phones. But in many cases, the screen time didn’t disappear, it just shifted to school-issued devices. So today on MindShift, we’re asking 3 big questions : What role should education technology actually play in the classroom? When does it help — and when does it get in the way? And is it time to rethink the one-to-one device model altogether? All of that and more, after the break.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To understand how schools got to a place where students spend so much of the day on screens, it helps to zoom out.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Audrey Watters is a writer and historian who studies education technology. She says the debates we’re having about ed tech today stretch back to way before students were using laptops..\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We see this sort of long history of this desire to sort of automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just, if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can sort of engineer things so that they’re optimized.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Audrey says some of the earliest ed tech promises didn’t start with computers at all — they started with standardized testing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> The idea of creating a multiple choice test was so that you could get rid of any sort of subjectivity and make this field more objective. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>You want to be able to develop a machine that can administer, grade, and teach more efficiently, more objectively, than teachers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Efficiency. Objectivity. Optimization. Those ideas have shaped education technology ever since. According to the National Education Policy Center 13 million students across the US use iReady in their classrooms. In it, students work on lessons that adjust based on their answers, so if they miss a lot of answers on a certain subject, they get more questions that help them practice that area. There are other similar programs in use like Khan Academy, Ascend Math and ReadTheory.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>As recent as 2024, schools spent 30 billion on education tech. It is projected to increase.The promise to schools is that these products will measure growth, identify areas of need, and fill in learning gaps if you use their adaptive learning models\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Audrey says that every wave of ed tech promises to improve learning, but underneath those promises is a deep discomfort with how human and unpredictable classrooms actually are.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>But Audrey says that way of thinking however, runs into a problem. Learning doesn’t behave like a machine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We want to think of education as a science. I think we want to think about learning as a science. And I don’t say this as though it’s not, but that doesn’t seem to ever quite entirely capture what happens both individually, what makes us love certain subjects for example, be curious and interested in certain ideas and then be utterly indifferent to others. I’m not sure that we can sort of science our way out of that. [00:03:00][31.2]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>The appeal is easy to understand. If every student learns differently, wouldn’t it be helpful to have software that could adapt to each child’s needs? That’s been one of ed tech’s most powerful selling points. But Audrey says the focus on personalization begins with a troubling assumption.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this sort of science and they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs. [00:09:45][18.9]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To make one thing clear, teachers have used technology creatively for decades — They might show short videos to illustrate a concept or even take students on a virtual field trip. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Oftentimes learning with tech is shaped by the companies that make the tools\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with theirs with their tools. – Of course, there’s some margins for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’re still sort of you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole sort of vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies. [00:12:29][19.8]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Audrey’s argument is that education technology has failed because it was built to standardize learning. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Lila Byock, the parent we heard from earlier, was watching what happened when learning was done almost entirely through a screen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> For my son, um, school became the place where he could essentially have unrestricted screen time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>While she was going through this, she felt isolated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>I started confiding in some other parents of middle schoolers and every single person I talked to said, oh, thank God it’s not just us. Everyone was dealing with the same thing and no one was talking about it because we had all just kind of accepted the idea that for some reason our kids needed these internet connected devices. On their desks all day in school. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Together, Lila and likeminded parents and teachers formed a group called Schools Beyond Screens to push for changes in how schools use technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>There’s so much parental and teacher outrage and discontent about the hours and hours and hours our kids are spending on these apps, and I believe we’re going to see a shift in some of those policies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But if schools do decide to change course, what would teachers actually want instead? Molly Esquivel, a 6th grader teacher, a fifth-grade teacher at a public school in Fullerton, California, doesn’t want to get rid of technology entirely. She thinks that teachers should get more say in how tech is used in their classrooms” When she taught at a public school in Fullerton, California…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I was asked by the principal to give the kids iReady. You have to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Molly pushed back because she didn’t think the program was a good fit for her students. But her district had purchased the iReady program and was requiring teachers to use it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>The principal came back at me and said, you have to do this. So there are mandates, there are requirements.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To her, that’s the bigger issue. Decisions about teaching are increasingly being made far away from the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> That skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person. And that to me is not sound practice, sound pedagogy and completely, as I said, sidelining not only the expert, but the human. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Molly wants more opportunities for students to interact with each other and with their teacher. She says the difference feels obvious.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living breathing organism. Kids are interacting with each other or even interacting with themselves and they’re moving and evolving and growing [00:26:28][18.3]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Compare that to a classroom where every student is working on a device.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>It means kids have headphones on, their heads are tilted down to look at a screen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>They are now interacting with an inanimate object. That doesn’t sit right. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t look right. That’s not what classrooms would even be drawn as or what we would ever imagine them to be.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> For teachers like Molly, the goal is to make sure technology serves learning rather than replacing the relationships that make learning possible. Amy Tyson is a child and adolescent psychologist and the founder of EverySchool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We were sold devices and told that this was innovation. That like merely having the device in the classroom equaled innovation. But what we ended up doing was just replacing traditional methods that we know work, that are tried and true, with devices that are just less effective.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At her organization, EverySchool, she has worked to synthesize research so that teachers don’t have to. A big thing she did that many folks don’t do was that she focused on research that wasn’t funded by people with a stake in these tech tools. A big finding that may surprise you is that there isn’t conclusive evidence saying that tech is making kids smarter or improves learning. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> Shortly after the widespread adoption of school issue devices, which happened around the year 2012, we began to see an alarming downturn in academic outcomes also beginning in 2012. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now, we can’t pin this all on edtech. There are a variety of factors that may be contributing, but at a minimum it’s safe to say it isn’t helping. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech has flourished in the classroom, our test scores, and I’d also like to say notably, the scores on loneliness, which are important for student health and well-being, continue to slip down year after year. So there’s really zero indication that it’s helping and I would say that there is mounting evidence that it is harming . [00:11:40][13.1]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> A lot of schools use ed tech tools \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech and TechEd are not the same thing. But teaching how to using technology, teaching transformative technology skills is not the same thing as using technology to teach every subject. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Would argue that students are far more likely to be missing out on soft skill development, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem solving, interpersonal skills, empathy, creativity, even eye contact at this point.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Amy also debunks that EdTech is neutral. You might hear edtech is a tool… like a pencil\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Screens do have uniquely negative effects that like a pen just doesn’t have. Screens hijack our attention, they distract us into a constant state of multitasking, they infiltrate our reward system, give us constant bursts of dopamine. It’s not the same thing as a pencil. It is not a neutral learning tool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And that brings us back to Lila and her son. Who was definitely not using his ipad like a pencil.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>Algebra’s hard. It’s not very hard to scroll YouTube. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This is Lila again. Talking about her son. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> This year we, before the first day of school, we notified the principal that our child would not be taking home his device and we opted him out of the iReady program. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And teachers were very accommodating. One of his teachers was actually quite excited and said that she’d do a one-on-one novel study with him while other students used the iReady program on the IPad.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And that just speaks to the trade-offs that are being made in favor of these ed tech apps. You know, our kids could be doing rigorous novel study, reading real books. Which is so rare now. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Since Lila first started asking questions, LAUSD has adopted new limits on student screen time, including restrictions on classroom device use and new options for families to opt out of bringing devices home. It’s a sign that some districts are beginning to rethink their relationship with technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Psychologist Amy Tyson and her EverySchool colleagues came up with something called the ed tech triangle , a framework designed to help schools make those decisions more intentionally. Picture a triangle with the pointy tip facing downwards\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At the smallest pointy tip is Disruptive technology\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>And that’s tech that disrupts learning and breeds habitual use. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning, like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So really it’s something that we encourage educators to use to really to avoid using if possible. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> One level up in the triangle is restrictive technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> That’s restricting learning outcomes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So, use sparingly and in very specific situations if you do end up needing to use it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Third from the bottom Second from the top is supportive technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Supportive is the area that supports learning in helpful ways. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>It can be helpful to be used in moderation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And at the very top is \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Transformative, which is a technology that produces a unique outcome or develops a high level skill. [00:08:55][6.5]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We’re talking about skill development. So. It’s very hard to teach robotics if you aren’t programming a robot, if you’re not using a device. That’s teaching a high level skill, it’s producing a unique outcome.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In other words, technology should be hardest to justify when it’s simply replacing something that already works. Its strongest case is when students are doing something they couldn’t do otherwise. And some school leaders are already using frameworks like this to make hard decisions, including rolling back one-to-one devices altogether.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>My name is Inga Esping. I’m the principal of McPherson Middle School at McPhersen, Kansas.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In the spring of 2024, Inge and other leaders at McPherson Middle School were reviewing their data. For years, the school had been making steady academic gains. But now, that progress was slowing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>We were starting to feel a little like we were plateauing. So our question was, how do we continue the momentum that we’re on to really improve the culture and the academic experience in our school? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At McPherson, every student had a Chromebook they carried to and from school. Teachers began raising a possibility that echoed what parents like Lila had been saying: maybe the devices were getting in the way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They were frustrated by the distractions. They just didn’t feel that it was enhancing learning to the level that they were hoping to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Teachers told administrators that when students were on their laptops, they ended up on laptops too. They spent less time circulating, less time connecting, more time monitoring screens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused, problem solve, really to get involved. But they too felt really tied to their own devices. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teachers found themselves policing tabs and websites. And over time, those constant corrections began to strain relationships with students. Some students felt a sense of ownership over their chromebook like “you can’t tell me what to do. This is mine.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> And how that would sometimes cause a challenge of not knowing exactly what was and wasn’t homework concerned about the amount of hours their students were online and saying that they’re working on school work when in fact that wasn’t always the case.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The two words that changed everything were what if. As in, What if they didn’t do school this way anymore?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What if we helped our students understand this is a tool that can be very powerful to use. But at this point, the way we’ve approached it right now, it feels like more of a distraction. And we have such important work that we’re trying to do here in school, we want you to refocus.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> School leaders began digging into the research –much of the same research Amy Tyson pointed to— showing that one-to-one devices often fail to deliver on their promises.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Instead of having students carrying Chromebooks all day, McPherson invested in classroom carts to keep devices in the room and had teachers use them only when teachers believed they genuinely add value.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>As we came back this school year, we started really training our teachers. This is coming. We’re not sure when. We are unsure exactly the timeline. Actually over the last two days, students have returned to their Chromebooks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This wasn’t a ban. And it wasn’t a rigid policy. It was more of a reset.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So students will actually come back and have zero Chromebook time for their first few weeks in our spring semester. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> McPherson is in a fortunate position. Teachers still have access to physical books, worksheets, and materials. These are resources some schools no longer have because they may have completely replaced them with digital books or ed tech programs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>All we’ve done is give guidance. Please use them as sparingly as possible. Think about when they really enhance the lesson, enhance the learning.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So, over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals or not. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Inge is clear-eyed about the limits of this approach. Keeping Chromebooks at school won’t magically solve every problem. But she hopes it’s a start. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What I’m most proud of the work here is that I have a staff who is really brave to try something different. They’re allowing us to make this change knowing that we’re going to face unknowns, we’re going to face challenges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Her hope isn’t that other schools copy McPherson exactly, but that they feel empowered to ask their own “what if” questions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> I would just encourage. Schools who are also interested in joining us in this initiative to be brave, acknowledge that there’s going to be challenges, communicate with your stakeholders when those challenges arise and seek your community members, your students, your parents, seek their input so that you can really build the program and the school that you hope to see. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED. This episode was made possible by the Stuart Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“He was scrolling YouTube Shorts during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles with classmates during class,” Byock said. Other students watched streaming shows during lunch on school-issued iPads, and one student even showed pornography on a school device, according to Byock.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“He was scrolling YouTube Shorts during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles with classmates during class,” Byock said. Other students watched streaming shows during lunch on school-issued iPads, and one student even showed pornography on a school device, according to Byock.\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cp>After talking with her son, Byock realized he wasn’t trying to break rules, but rather, he felt trapped by distractions he couldn’t seem to resist. “It was eroding his self-esteem,” she said. “He told us, ‘I want to stop, and I don’t think I can.'”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Byock’s experience reflects a larger shift in American classrooms. Over the last 15 years, schools invested billions of dollars in laptops, tablets and educational software, often under the promise that technology would personalize learning and prepare students for a digital future. Today, some educators and parents are beginning to ask whether those tools changed classrooms in ways they never intended. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For decades, education technology — also called ed tech — has been marketed as a way to make learning more customized, efficient and equitable. Writer and ed tech historian \u003ca href=\"https://audreywatters.com/\">Audrey Watters\u003c/a> said those promises stretch back long before laptops or artificial intelligence.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For decades, education technology — also called ed tech — has been marketed as a way to make learning more customized, efficient and equitable. Writer and ed tech historian \u003ca href=\"https://audreywatters.com/\">Audrey Watters\u003c/a> said those promises stretch back long before laptops or artificial intelligence.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the early 1900s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/history-standardized-testing-united-states\">educators embraced standardized testing and intelligence testing\u003c/a> as a way to make learning more measurable and objective. That same logic eventually shaped educational software, including the creation of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/far-reaching-legacy-first-teaching-machines\">“teaching machines”\u003c/a> designed to automatically grade multiple choice questions and aspirationally automate teaching. Personal computers entered classrooms in the 1980s, internet-connected learning expanded in the 1990s and 2000s, and after 2010 districts rapidly adopted one-to-one laptop programs. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the rapid push to remote learning made the full transition to digital learning nearly complete by providing students and schools with internet connectivity, devices and curriculum. Schools have long since reopened, but the reliance on ed tech continues.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We see this long history of this desire to automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can engineer things so that they’re optimized,” Watters said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the early 1900s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/history-standardized-testing-united-states\">educators embraced standardized testing and intelligence testing\u003c/a> as a way to make learning more measurable and objective. That same logic eventually shaped educational software, including the creation of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/far-reaching-legacy-first-teaching-machines\">“teaching machines”\u003c/a> designed to automatically grade multiple choice questions and aspirationally automate teaching. Personal computers entered classrooms in the 1980s, internet-connected learning expanded in the 1990s and 2000s, and after 2010 districts rapidly adopted one-to-one laptop programs. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the rapid push to remote learning made the full transition to digital learning nearly complete by providing students and schools with internet connectivity, devices and curriculum. Schools have long since reopened, but the reliance on ed tech continues.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We see this long history of this desire to automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can engineer things so that they’re optimized,” Watters said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Humans are messier,” she added. Students don’t all develop, think or learn in identical ways. “This desire to standardize and optimize things as a science has great appeal but I’m not sure it’s actually practical or realistic.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Humans are messier,” she added. Students don’t all develop, think or learn in identical ways. “This desire to standardize and optimize things as a science has great appeal but I’m not sure it’s actually practical or realistic.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Watters is particularly skeptical of one of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62365/one-size-fits-all-math-homework-may-be-more-helpful-than-you-think\">ed tech’s central promises: personalization\u003c/a>. Educational software often claims to tailor instruction to each student’s needs. But Watters says that promise begins with an assumption that teachers themselves lack sufficient insight into their students.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Watters is particularly skeptical of one of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62365/one-size-fits-all-math-homework-may-be-more-helpful-than-you-think\">ed tech’s central promises: personalization\u003c/a>. Educational software often claims to tailor instruction to each student’s needs. But Watters says that promise begins with an assumption that teachers themselves lack sufficient insight into their students.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Teachers have long incorporated videos, computers and other digital tools into lessons. The difference today is that many instructional decisions are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60110/personalized-learning-is-more-than-an-edtech-marketing-term-it-requires-good-teachers\">increasingly shaped by software platforms\u003c/a> designed outside the classroom.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Teachers have long incorporated videos, computers and other digital tools into lessons. The difference today is that many instructional decisions are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60110/personalized-learning-is-more-than-an-edtech-marketing-term-it-requires-good-teachers\">increasingly shaped by software platforms\u003c/a> designed outside the classroom.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“There’s some margin for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies,” Watters said. “They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with their tools.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“There’s some margin for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies,” Watters said. “They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with their tools.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That concern resonates with Molly Esquivel, a fifth-grade teacher in Fullerton, California. She recalled being instructed to administer the reading program i-Ready to her students, despite believing it wasn’t the right instructional choice. When she objected, “the principal came back at me and said, ‘You have to do this,’” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That concern resonates with Molly Esquivel, a fifth-grade teacher in Fullerton, California. She recalled being instructed to administer the reading program i-Ready to her students, despite believing it wasn’t the right instructional choice. When she objected, “the principal came back at me and said, ‘You have to do this,’” she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For Esquivel, the issue extends beyond one software program.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>For Esquivel, the issue extends beyond one software program.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person,” she said. “ And that, to me, is not sound practice.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person,” she said. “ And that, to me, is not sound practice.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She said it is obvious when students are on physical materials as opposed to individually on devices. “I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living, breathing organism,” she said. Students interact with one another; they move and solve problems together. When every student is on a device, “they are now interacting with an inanimate object.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She said it is obvious when students are on physical materials as opposed to individually on devices. “I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living, breathing organism,” she said. Students interact with one another; they move and solve problems together. When every student is on a device, “they are now interacting with an inanimate object.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "Some schools are pulling back on tech use",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Some schools are pulling back on tech use\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At McPherson Middle School in Kansas, Principal Inge Esping said teachers began raising concerns that district-issued Chromebooks were becoming distractions rather than instructional tools. Teachers found themselves spending more time monitoring screens than interacting with students. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At McPherson Middle School in Kansas, Principal Inge Esping said teachers began raising concerns that district-issued Chromebooks were becoming distractions rather than instructional tools. Teachers found themselves spending more time monitoring screens than interacting with students. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“They, too, felt really tied to their own devices,” Esping said of educators. “They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused [and] problem solve.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“They, too, felt really tied to their own devices,” Esping said of educators. “They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused [and] problem solve.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66374/screens-are-leaving-schools-fast-though-some-students-with-disabilities-rely-on-them\">Rather than eliminating technology\u003c/a>, school leaders and teachers at Esping decided to change how students access it. Instead of taking Chromebooks everywhere, devices remain on classroom carts and are used when teachers believe they add instructional value. The shift wasn’t framed as a ban, Esping said, but as an opportunity to reevaluate their relationship to technology. “Over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals [related to technology] or not,” she added.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66374/screens-are-leaving-schools-fast-though-some-students-with-disabilities-rely-on-them\">Rather than eliminating technology\u003c/a>, school leaders and teachers at Esping decided to change how students access it. Instead of taking Chromebooks everywhere, devices remain on classroom carts and are used when teachers believe they add instructional value. The shift wasn’t framed as a ban, Esping said, but as an opportunity to reevaluate their relationship to technology. “Over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals [related to technology] or not,” she added.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since Lila Byock first began raising concerns with Schools Beyond Screens – the advocacy group she founded because of her son’s experience in school – the \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2026/lausd-screen-time-limits/759492\">Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted grade-level limits on student screen time\u003c/a>. The new policy prohibits screen use altogether in kindergarten and first grade, and allows families to opt out of taking district devices home.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Since Lila Byock first began raising concerns with Schools Beyond Screens – the advocacy group she founded because of her son’s experience in school – the \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2026/lausd-screen-time-limits/759492\">Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted grade-level limits on student screen time\u003c/a>. The new policy prohibits screen use altogether in kindergarten and first grade, and allows families to opt out of taking district devices home.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66518\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2048x1463.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Schools Beyond Screens-affiliated families and educators gather at the LAUSD Board Headquarters to show support for a new screen time policy.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66518\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Schools Beyond Screens-affiliated families and educators gather at the LAUSD Board Headquarters to show support for a new screen time policy.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She sees the policy as progress, even if she believes more work remains. “One of the things we’ve been pushing for is a moratorium on AI use in the classroom on student devices until the district develops a comprehensive AI policy,” Byock noted.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>She sees the policy as progress, even if she believes more work remains. “One of the things we’ve been pushing for is a moratorium on AI use in the classroom on student devices until the district develops a comprehensive AI policy,” Byock noted.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Her family’s story began with one struggling student, but the conversation it helped spark has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66306/schools-and-states-are-now-setting-limits-on-screen-time-for-students\">grown into something much larger\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Her family’s story began with one struggling student, but the conversation it helped spark has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66306/schools-and-states-are-now-setting-limits-on-screen-time-for-students\">grown into something much larger\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During the summer, Byock went to drop off her son’s enrollment papers and one of the school’s administrators mentioned that this year parents can expect a renewed focus on hands-on learning and more \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64992/taking-exams-in-blue-books-its-back-to-help-curb-ai-use-and-rampant-cheating\">pencil-and-paper activities\u003c/a>. In order to accommodate analog learning, the school had ordered “tons of extra paper.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>During the summer, Byock went to drop off her son’s enrollment papers and one of the school’s administrators mentioned that this year parents can expect a renewed focus on hands-on learning and more \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64992/taking-exams-in-blue-books-its-back-to-help-curb-ai-use-and-rampant-cheating\">pencil-and-paper activities\u003c/a>. In order to accommodate analog learning, the school had ordered “tons of extra paper.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> During the 2024-25 school year, Lila Byock’s son had just started middle school. And then something shifted. He began bringing home the worst grades he had ever received. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> During the 2024-25 school year, Lila Byock’s son had just started middle school. And then something shifted. He began bringing home the worst grades he had ever received. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school And my husband and I were confused and concerned. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school And my husband and I were confused and concerned. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The thing is – it wasn’t that Lila’s son didn’t understand the material. His teachers actually told her he’s above grade level. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The thing is – it wasn’t that Lila’s son didn’t understand the material. His teachers actually told her he’s above grade level. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> They said, “He just can’t stay on task on his iPad.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> They said, “He just can’t stay on task on his iPad.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n\u003cp>music\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> They were talking about his school-issued iPad — \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> They were talking about his school-issued iPad — \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>one that every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District receives under a one-to-one device model. In class, students were required to use an online program called i-Ready to complete assignments. But there was nothing stopping them from opening another tab — and doing, well… basically anything else.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>one that every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District receives under a one-to-one device model. In class, students were required to use an online program called i-Ready to complete assignments. But there was nothing stopping them from opening another tab — and doing, well… basically anything else.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> We said, well, how much time is he spending on his iPad? And they said, Well, we use it sort of for everything all day. And that was… a complete revelation for us. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> We said, well, how much time is he spending on his iPad? And they said, Well, we use it sort of for everything all day. And that was… a complete revelation for us. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> As Lila started asking more questions, she learned what her son — and many of his classmates — were actually doing during the school day.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> As Lila started asking more questions, she learned what her son — and many of his classmates — were actually doing during the school day.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> Our child was. Scrolling YouTube shorts all during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles along with many of his other classmates during class. A student at lunchtime was watching Squid Game on his school issued iPad. Um, and, you know, my son watched that with him. Um, somebody showed him porn on a school issued device.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> Our child was. Scrolling YouTube shorts all during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles along with many of his other classmates during class. A student at lunchtime was watching Squid Game on his school issued iPad. Um, and, you know, my son watched that with him. Um, somebody showed him porn on a school issued device.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> After talking it through with her son, Lila realized he was just as frustrated as she was. He’d always been engaged in school, and now he felt trapped in habits he couldn’t seem to stop. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> After talking it through with her son, Lila realized he was just as frustrated as she was. He’d always been engaged in school, and now he felt trapped in habits he couldn’t seem to stop. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> It was like it was eroding his self-esteem. And he told us, you know, I want to stop and I don’t think I can.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> It was like it was eroding his self-esteem. And he told us, you know, I want to stop and I don’t think I can.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Worse yet, There were no clear policies. No safeguards. When Lila realized how much the IPads were being used, she sent a list of questions to the school’s administrators \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Worse yet, There were no clear policies. No safeguards. When Lila realized how much the IPads were being used, she sent a list of questions to the school’s administrators \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And the answers I got back were just completely unsatisfying. It was as if no one had ever thought about these things before and [00:06:20][32.1]Lila Byock: [00:07:00] that raised every red flag for me. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And the answers I got back were just completely unsatisfying. It was as if no one had ever thought about these things before and [00:06:20][32.1]Lila Byock: [00:07:00] that raised every red flag for me. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Lila is far from alone. Versions of her story are coming from parents all over the country.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Lila is far from alone. Versions of her story are coming from parents all over the country.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In 2024, many public schools responded to concerns about distraction by banning student cell phones. But in many cases, the screen time didn’t disappear, it just shifted to school-issued devices. So today on MindShift, we’re asking 3 big questions : What role should education technology actually play in the classroom? When does it help — and when does it get in the way? And is it time to rethink the one-to-one device model altogether? All of that and more, after the break.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To understand how schools got to a place where students spend so much of the day on screens, it helps to zoom out.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Audrey Watters is a writer and historian who studies education technology. She says the debates we’re having about ed tech today stretch back to way before students were using laptops..\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We see this sort of long history of this desire to sort of automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just, if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can sort of engineer things so that they’re optimized.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We see this sort of long history of this desire to sort of automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just, if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can sort of engineer things so that they’re optimized.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Audrey says some of the earliest ed tech promises didn’t start with computers at all — they started with standardized testing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> The idea of creating a multiple choice test was so that you could get rid of any sort of subjectivity and make this field more objective. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>You want to be able to develop a machine that can administer, grade, and teach more efficiently, more objectively, than teachers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Efficiency. Objectivity. Optimization. Those ideas have shaped education technology ever since. According to the National Education Policy Center 13 million students across the US use iReady in their classrooms. In it, students work on lessons that adjust based on their answers, so if they miss a lot of answers on a certain subject, they get more questions that help them practice that area. There are other similar programs in use like Khan Academy, Ascend Math and ReadTheory.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Efficiency. Objectivity. Optimization. Those ideas have shaped education technology ever since. According to the National Education Policy Center 13 million students across the US use iReady in their classrooms. In it, students work on lessons that adjust based on their answers, so if they miss a lot of answers on a certain subject, they get more questions that help them practice that area. There are other similar programs in use like Khan Academy, Ascend Math and ReadTheory.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>As recent as 2024, schools spent 30 billion on education tech. It is projected to increase.The promise to schools is that these products will measure growth, identify areas of need, and fill in learning gaps if you use their adaptive learning models\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>As recent as 2024, schools spent 30 billion on education tech. It is projected to increase.The promise to schools is that these products will measure growth, identify areas of need, and fill in learning gaps if you use their adaptive learning models\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Audrey says that every wave of ed tech promises to improve learning, but underneath those promises is a deep discomfort with how human and unpredictable classrooms actually are.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>But Audrey says that way of thinking however, runs into a problem. Learning doesn’t behave like a machine.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We want to think of education as a science. I think we want to think about learning as a science. And I don’t say this as though it’s not, but that doesn’t seem to ever quite entirely capture what happens both individually, what makes us love certain subjects for example, be curious and interested in certain ideas and then be utterly indifferent to others. I’m not sure that we can sort of science our way out of that. [00:03:00][31.2]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We want to think of education as a science. I think we want to think about learning as a science. And I don’t say this as though it’s not, but that doesn’t seem to ever quite entirely capture what happens both individually, what makes us love certain subjects for example, be curious and interested in certain ideas and then be utterly indifferent to others. I’m not sure that we can sort of science our way out of that. [00:03:00][31.2]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>The appeal is easy to understand. If every student learns differently, wouldn’t it be helpful to have software that could adapt to each child’s needs? That’s been one of ed tech’s most powerful selling points. But Audrey says the focus on personalization begins with a troubling assumption.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>The appeal is easy to understand. If every student learns differently, wouldn’t it be helpful to have software that could adapt to each child’s needs? That’s been one of ed tech’s most powerful selling points. But Audrey says the focus on personalization begins with a troubling assumption.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this sort of science and they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs. [00:09:45][18.9]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this sort of science and they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs. [00:09:45][18.9]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To make one thing clear, teachers have used technology creatively for decades — They might show short videos to illustrate a concept or even take students on a virtual field trip. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Oftentimes learning with tech is shaped by the companies that make the tools\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with theirs with their tools. – Of course, there’s some margins for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’re still sort of you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole sort of vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies. [00:12:29][19.8]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with theirs with their tools. – Of course, there’s some margins for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’re still sort of you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole sort of vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies. [00:12:29][19.8]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Audrey’s argument is that education technology has failed because it was built to standardize learning. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Lila Byock, the parent we heard from earlier, was watching what happened when learning was done almost entirely through a screen.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Lila Byock, the parent we heard from earlier, was watching what happened when learning was done almost entirely through a screen.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> For my son, um, school became the place where he could essentially have unrestricted screen time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> For my son, um, school became the place where he could essentially have unrestricted screen time. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>While she was going through this, she felt isolated. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>I started confiding in some other parents of middle schoolers and every single person I talked to said, oh, thank God it’s not just us. Everyone was dealing with the same thing and no one was talking about it because we had all just kind of accepted the idea that for some reason our kids needed these internet connected devices. On their desks all day in school. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>I started confiding in some other parents of middle schoolers and every single person I talked to said, oh, thank God it’s not just us. Everyone was dealing with the same thing and no one was talking about it because we had all just kind of accepted the idea that for some reason our kids needed these internet connected devices. On their desks all day in school. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Together, Lila and likeminded parents and teachers formed a group called Schools Beyond Screens to push for changes in how schools use technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Together, Lila and likeminded parents and teachers formed a group called Schools Beyond Screens to push for changes in how schools use technology.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>There’s so much parental and teacher outrage and discontent about the hours and hours and hours our kids are spending on these apps, and I believe we’re going to see a shift in some of those policies.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>There’s so much parental and teacher outrage and discontent about the hours and hours and hours our kids are spending on these apps, and I believe we’re going to see a shift in some of those policies.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But if schools do decide to change course, what would teachers actually want instead? Molly Esquivel, a 6th grader teacher, a fifth-grade teacher at a public school in Fullerton, California, doesn’t want to get rid of technology entirely. She thinks that teachers should get more say in how tech is used in their classrooms” When she taught at a public school in Fullerton, California…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But if schools do decide to change course, what would teachers actually want instead? Molly Esquivel, a 6th grader teacher, a fifth-grade teacher at a public school in Fullerton, California, doesn’t want to get rid of technology entirely. She thinks that teachers should get more say in how tech is used in their classrooms” When she taught at a public school in Fullerton, California…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I was asked by the principal to give the kids iReady. You have to.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I was asked by the principal to give the kids iReady. You have to.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Molly pushed back because she didn’t think the program was a good fit for her students. But her district had purchased the iReady program and was requiring teachers to use it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Molly pushed back because she didn’t think the program was a good fit for her students. But her district had purchased the iReady program and was requiring teachers to use it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>The principal came back at me and said, you have to do this. So there are mandates, there are requirements.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>The principal came back at me and said, you have to do this. So there are mandates, there are requirements.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To her, that’s the bigger issue. Decisions about teaching are increasingly being made far away from the classroom.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> That skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person. And that to me is not sound practice, sound pedagogy and completely, as I said, sidelining not only the expert, but the human. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> That skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person. And that to me is not sound practice, sound pedagogy and completely, as I said, sidelining not only the expert, but the human. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Molly wants more opportunities for students to interact with each other and with their teacher. She says the difference feels obvious.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living breathing organism. Kids are interacting with each other or even interacting with themselves and they’re moving and evolving and growing [00:26:28][18.3]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living breathing organism. Kids are interacting with each other or even interacting with themselves and they’re moving and evolving and growing [00:26:28][18.3]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Compare that to a classroom where every student is working on a device.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>It means kids have headphones on, their heads are tilted down to look at a screen.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>They are now interacting with an inanimate object. That doesn’t sit right. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t look right. That’s not what classrooms would even be drawn as or what we would ever imagine them to be.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>They are now interacting with an inanimate object. That doesn’t sit right. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t look right. That’s not what classrooms would even be drawn as or what we would ever imagine them to be.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> For teachers like Molly, the goal is to make sure technology serves learning rather than replacing the relationships that make learning possible. Amy Tyson is a child and adolescent psychologist and the founder of EverySchool. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> For teachers like Molly, the goal is to make sure technology serves learning rather than replacing the relationships that make learning possible. Amy Tyson is a child and adolescent psychologist and the founder of EverySchool. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We were sold devices and told that this was innovation. That like merely having the device in the classroom equaled innovation. But what we ended up doing was just replacing traditional methods that we know work, that are tried and true, with devices that are just less effective.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We were sold devices and told that this was innovation. That like merely having the device in the classroom equaled innovation. But what we ended up doing was just replacing traditional methods that we know work, that are tried and true, with devices that are just less effective.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At her organization, EverySchool, she has worked to synthesize research so that teachers don’t have to. A big thing she did that many folks don’t do was that she focused on research that wasn’t funded by people with a stake in these tech tools. A big finding that may surprise you is that there isn’t conclusive evidence saying that tech is making kids smarter or improves learning. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At her organization, EverySchool, she has worked to synthesize research so that teachers don’t have to. A big thing she did that many folks don’t do was that she focused on research that wasn’t funded by people with a stake in these tech tools. A big finding that may surprise you is that there isn’t conclusive evidence saying that tech is making kids smarter or improves learning. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> Shortly after the widespread adoption of school issue devices, which happened around the year 2012, we began to see an alarming downturn in academic outcomes also beginning in 2012. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> Shortly after the widespread adoption of school issue devices, which happened around the year 2012, we began to see an alarming downturn in academic outcomes also beginning in 2012. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now, we can’t pin this all on edtech. There are a variety of factors that may be contributing, but at a minimum it’s safe to say it isn’t helping. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now, we can’t pin this all on edtech. There are a variety of factors that may be contributing, but at a minimum it’s safe to say it isn’t helping. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech has flourished in the classroom, our test scores, and I’d also like to say notably, the scores on loneliness, which are important for student health and well-being, continue to slip down year after year. So there’s really zero indication that it’s helping and I would say that there is mounting evidence that it is harming . [00:11:40][13.1]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech has flourished in the classroom, our test scores, and I’d also like to say notably, the scores on loneliness, which are important for student health and well-being, continue to slip down year after year. So there’s really zero indication that it’s helping and I would say that there is mounting evidence that it is harming . [00:11:40][13.1]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> A lot of schools use ed tech tools \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech and TechEd are not the same thing. But teaching how to using technology, teaching transformative technology skills is not the same thing as using technology to teach every subject. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Would argue that students are far more likely to be missing out on soft skill development, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem solving, interpersonal skills, empathy, creativity, even eye contact at this point.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Would argue that students are far more likely to be missing out on soft skill development, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem solving, interpersonal skills, empathy, creativity, even eye contact at this point.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Amy also debunks that EdTech is neutral. You might hear edtech is a tool… like a pencil\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Screens do have uniquely negative effects that like a pen just doesn’t have. Screens hijack our attention, they distract us into a constant state of multitasking, they infiltrate our reward system, give us constant bursts of dopamine. It’s not the same thing as a pencil. It is not a neutral learning tool. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Screens do have uniquely negative effects that like a pen just doesn’t have. Screens hijack our attention, they distract us into a constant state of multitasking, they infiltrate our reward system, give us constant bursts of dopamine. It’s not the same thing as a pencil. It is not a neutral learning tool. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And that brings us back to Lila and her son. Who was definitely not using his ipad like a pencil.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>Algebra’s hard. It’s not very hard to scroll YouTube. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>Algebra’s hard. It’s not very hard to scroll YouTube. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This is Lila again. Talking about her son. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> This year we, before the first day of school, we notified the principal that our child would not be taking home his device and we opted him out of the iReady program. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> This year we, before the first day of school, we notified the principal that our child would not be taking home his device and we opted him out of the iReady program. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And teachers were very accommodating. One of his teachers was actually quite excited and said that she’d do a one-on-one novel study with him while other students used the iReady program on the IPad.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And teachers were very accommodating. One of his teachers was actually quite excited and said that she’d do a one-on-one novel study with him while other students used the iReady program on the IPad.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And that just speaks to the trade-offs that are being made in favor of these ed tech apps. You know, our kids could be doing rigorous novel study, reading real books. Which is so rare now. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And that just speaks to the trade-offs that are being made in favor of these ed tech apps. You know, our kids could be doing rigorous novel study, reading real books. Which is so rare now. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Since Lila first started asking questions, LAUSD has adopted new limits on student screen time, including restrictions on classroom device use and new options for families to opt out of bringing devices home. It’s a sign that some districts are beginning to rethink their relationship with technology. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Psychologist Amy Tyson and her EverySchool colleagues came up with something called the ed tech triangle , a framework designed to help schools make those decisions more intentionally. Picture a triangle with the pointy tip facing downwards\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Psychologist Amy Tyson and her EverySchool colleagues came up with something called the ed tech triangle , a framework designed to help schools make those decisions more intentionally. Picture a triangle with the pointy tip facing downwards\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At the smallest pointy tip is Disruptive technology\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>And that’s tech that disrupts learning and breeds habitual use. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning, like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning, like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So really it’s something that we encourage educators to use to really to avoid using if possible. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> One level up in the triangle is restrictive technology.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> That’s restricting learning outcomes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So, use sparingly and in very specific situations if you do end up needing to use it. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So, use sparingly and in very specific situations if you do end up needing to use it. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Third from the bottom Second from the top is supportive technology. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Third from the bottom Second from the top is supportive technology. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Supportive is the area that supports learning in helpful ways. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Supportive is the area that supports learning in helpful ways. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>It can be helpful to be used in moderation. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>It can be helpful to be used in moderation. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And at the very top is \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And at the very top is \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Transformative, which is a technology that produces a unique outcome or develops a high level skill. [00:08:55][6.5]\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Transformative, which is a technology that produces a unique outcome or develops a high level skill. [00:08:55][6.5]\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We’re talking about skill development. So. It’s very hard to teach robotics if you aren’t programming a robot, if you’re not using a device. That’s teaching a high level skill, it’s producing a unique outcome.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We’re talking about skill development. So. It’s very hard to teach robotics if you aren’t programming a robot, if you’re not using a device. That’s teaching a high level skill, it’s producing a unique outcome.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In other words, technology should be hardest to justify when it’s simply replacing something that already works. Its strongest case is when students are doing something they couldn’t do otherwise. And some school leaders are already using frameworks like this to make hard decisions, including rolling back one-to-one devices altogether.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In other words, technology should be hardest to justify when it’s simply replacing something that already works. Its strongest case is when students are doing something they couldn’t do otherwise. And some school leaders are already using frameworks like this to make hard decisions, including rolling back one-to-one devices altogether.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>My name is Inga Esping. I’m the principal of McPherson Middle School at McPhersen, Kansas.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>My name is Inga Esping. I’m the principal of McPherson Middle School at McPhersen, Kansas.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In the spring of 2024, Inge and other leaders at McPherson Middle School were reviewing their data. For years, the school had been making steady academic gains. But now, that progress was slowing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In the spring of 2024, Inge and other leaders at McPherson Middle School were reviewing their data. For years, the school had been making steady academic gains. But now, that progress was slowing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>We were starting to feel a little like we were plateauing. So our question was, how do we continue the momentum that we’re on to really improve the culture and the academic experience in our school? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>We were starting to feel a little like we were plateauing. So our question was, how do we continue the momentum that we’re on to really improve the culture and the academic experience in our school? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At McPherson, every student had a Chromebook they carried to and from school. Teachers began raising a possibility that echoed what parents like Lila had been saying: maybe the devices were getting in the way. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At McPherson, every student had a Chromebook they carried to and from school. Teachers began raising a possibility that echoed what parents like Lila had been saying: maybe the devices were getting in the way. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They were frustrated by the distractions. They just didn’t feel that it was enhancing learning to the level that they were hoping to.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They were frustrated by the distractions. They just didn’t feel that it was enhancing learning to the level that they were hoping to.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Teachers told administrators that when students were on their laptops, they ended up on laptops too. They spent less time circulating, less time connecting, more time monitoring screens.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Teachers told administrators that when students were on their laptops, they ended up on laptops too. They spent less time circulating, less time connecting, more time monitoring screens.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused, problem solve, really to get involved. But they too felt really tied to their own devices. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused, problem solve, really to get involved. But they too felt really tied to their own devices. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teachers found themselves policing tabs and websites. And over time, those constant corrections began to strain relationships with students. Some students felt a sense of ownership over their chromebook like “you can’t tell me what to do. This is mine.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teachers found themselves policing tabs and websites. And over time, those constant corrections began to strain relationships with students. Some students felt a sense of ownership over their chromebook like “you can’t tell me what to do. This is mine.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> And how that would sometimes cause a challenge of not knowing exactly what was and wasn’t homework concerned about the amount of hours their students were online and saying that they’re working on school work when in fact that wasn’t always the case.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> And how that would sometimes cause a challenge of not knowing exactly what was and wasn’t homework concerned about the amount of hours their students were online and saying that they’re working on school work when in fact that wasn’t always the case.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The two words that changed everything were what if. As in, What if they didn’t do school this way anymore?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The two words that changed everything were what if. As in, What if they didn’t do school this way anymore?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What if we helped our students understand this is a tool that can be very powerful to use. But at this point, the way we’ve approached it right now, it feels like more of a distraction. And we have such important work that we’re trying to do here in school, we want you to refocus.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> School leaders began digging into the research –much of the same research Amy Tyson pointed to— showing that one-to-one devices often fail to deliver on their promises.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Instead of having students carrying Chromebooks all day, McPherson invested in classroom carts to keep devices in the room and had teachers use them only when teachers believed they genuinely add value.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>As we came back this school year, we started really training our teachers. This is coming. We’re not sure when. We are unsure exactly the timeline. Actually over the last two days, students have returned to their Chromebooks. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So students will actually come back and have zero Chromebook time for their first few weeks in our spring semester. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> McPherson is in a fortunate position. Teachers still have access to physical books, worksheets, and materials. These are resources some schools no longer have because they may have completely replaced them with digital books or ed tech programs.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> McPherson is in a fortunate position. Teachers still have access to physical books, worksheets, and materials. These are resources some schools no longer have because they may have completely replaced them with digital books or ed tech programs.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>All we’ve done is give guidance. Please use them as sparingly as possible. Think about when they really enhance the lesson, enhance the learning.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So, over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals or not. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So, over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals or not. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Inge is clear-eyed about the limits of this approach. Keeping Chromebooks at school won’t magically solve every problem. But she hopes it’s a start. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Inge is clear-eyed about the limits of this approach. Keeping Chromebooks at school won’t magically solve every problem. But she hopes it’s a start. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What I’m most proud of the work here is that I have a staff who is really brave to try something different. They’re allowing us to make this change knowing that we’re going to face unknowns, we’re going to face challenges.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What I’m most proud of the work here is that I have a staff who is really brave to try something different. They’re allowing us to make this change knowing that we’re going to face unknowns, we’re going to face challenges.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Her hope isn’t that other schools copy McPherson exactly, but that they feel empowered to ask their own “what if” questions.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Her hope isn’t that other schools copy McPherson exactly, but that they feel empowered to ask their own “what if” questions.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> I would just encourage. Schools who are also interested in joining us in this initiative to be brave, acknowledge that there’s going to be challenges, communicate with your stakeholders when those challenges arise and seek your community members, your students, your parents, seek their input so that you can really build the program and the school that you hope to see. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> I would just encourage. Schools who are also interested in joining us in this initiative to be brave, acknowledge that there’s going to be challenges, communicate with your stakeholders when those challenges arise and seek your community members, your students, your parents, seek their input so that you can really build the program and the school that you hope to see. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED. This episode was made possible by the Stuart Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When Los Angeles parent Lila Byock’s son started middle school, his grades suddenly collapsed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It didn’t make sense. “He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school,” Byock said. She and her husband were confused and concerned.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Teachers assured the family that their son understood the material and the problem wasn’t academics. “They said, ‘He just can’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/63519/distracted-students-understanding-these-3-myths-of-attention-span-can-help\">stay on task\u003c/a> on his iPad,’” she continued.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That answer surprised Byock. Like many parents, she assumed that after pandemic remote learning ended, classrooms had largely returned to face-to-face instruction. Instead, she learned her son was spending much of his school day on a district-issued device.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“He was scrolling YouTube Shorts during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles with classmates during class,” Byock said. Other students watched streaming shows during lunch on school-issued iPads, and one student even showed pornography on a school device, according to Byock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>After talking with her son, Byock realized he wasn’t trying to break rules, but rather, he felt trapped by distractions he couldn’t seem to resist. “It was eroding his self-esteem,” she said. “He told us, ‘I want to stop, and I don’t think I can.'”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When Byock asked school administrators how devices were being used and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66432/little-kids-outsmart-content-blockers-what-can-be-done-about-devices-in-school\">what safeguards existed\u003c/a>, the school’s answers didn’t satisfy her. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Byock’s experience reflects a larger shift in American classrooms. Over the last 15 years, schools invested billions of dollars in laptops, tablets and educational software, often under the promise that technology would personalize learning and prepare students for a digital future. Today, some educators and parents are beginning to ask whether those tools changed classrooms in ways they never intended. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2555651076\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>The promise of education technology\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For decades, education technology — also called ed tech — has been marketed as a way to make learning more customized, efficient and equitable. Writer and ed tech historian \u003ca href=\"https://audreywatters.com/\">Audrey Watters\u003c/a> said those promises stretch back long before laptops or artificial intelligence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the early 1900s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/history-standardized-testing-united-states\">educators embraced standardized testing and intelligence testing\u003c/a> as a way to make learning more measurable and objective. That same logic eventually shaped educational software, including the creation of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/far-reaching-legacy-first-teaching-machines\">“teaching machines”\u003c/a> designed to automatically grade multiple choice questions and aspirationally automate teaching. Personal computers entered classrooms in the 1980s, internet-connected learning expanded in the 1990s and 2000s, and after 2010 districts rapidly adopted one-to-one laptop programs. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the rapid push to remote learning made the full transition to digital learning nearly complete by providing students and schools with internet connectivity, devices and curriculum. Schools have long since reopened, but the reliance on ed tech continues.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>“We see this long history of this desire to automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can engineer things so that they’re optimized,” Watters said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>However, classrooms don’t work that way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Humans are messier,” she added. Students don’t all develop, think or learn in identical ways. “This desire to standardize and optimize things as a science has great appeal but I’m not sure it’s actually practical or realistic.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Watters is particularly skeptical of one of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62365/one-size-fits-all-math-homework-may-be-more-helpful-than-you-think\">ed tech’s central promises: personalization\u003c/a>. Educational software often claims to tailor instruction to each student’s needs. But Watters says that promise begins with an assumption that teachers themselves lack sufficient insight into their students.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Teachers have long incorporated videos, computers and other digital tools into lessons. The difference today is that many instructional decisions are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60110/personalized-learning-is-more-than-an-edtech-marketing-term-it-requires-good-teachers\">increasingly shaped by software platforms\u003c/a> designed outside the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“There’s some margin for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies,” Watters said. “They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with their tools.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That concern resonates with Molly Esquivel, a fifth-grade teacher in Fullerton, California. She recalled being instructed to administer the reading program i-Ready to her students, despite believing it wasn’t the right instructional choice. When she objected, “the principal came back at me and said, ‘You have to do this,’” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For Esquivel, the issue extends beyond one software program.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person,” she said. “ And that, to me, is not sound practice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said it is obvious when students are on physical materials as opposed to individually on devices. “I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living, breathing organism,” she said. Students interact with one another; they move and solve problems together. When every student is on a device, “they are now interacting with an inanimate object.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Some schools are pulling back on tech use\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At McPherson Middle School in Kansas, Principal Inge Esping said teachers began raising concerns that district-issued Chromebooks were becoming distractions rather than instructional tools. Teachers found themselves spending more time monitoring screens than interacting with students. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“They, too, felt really tied to their own devices,” Esping said of educators. “They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused [and] problem solve.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66374/screens-are-leaving-schools-fast-though-some-students-with-disabilities-rely-on-them\">Rather than eliminating technology\u003c/a>, school leaders and teachers at Esping decided to change how students access it. Instead of taking Chromebooks everywhere, devices remain on classroom carts and are used when teachers believe they add instructional value. The shift wasn’t framed as a ban, Esping said, but as an opportunity to reevaluate their relationship to technology. “Over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals [related to technology] or not,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since Lila Byock first began raising concerns with Schools Beyond Screens – the advocacy group she founded because of her son’s experience in school – the \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2026/lausd-screen-time-limits/759492\">Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted grade-level limits on student screen time\u003c/a>. The new policy prohibits screen use altogether in kindergarten and first grade, and allows families to opt out of taking district devices home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1429\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66518\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2000x1429.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/08/SBS-group-photo-2048x1463.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Schools Beyond Screens-affiliated families and educators gather at the LAUSD Board Headquarters to show support for a new screen time policy.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She sees the policy as progress, even if she believes more work remains. “One of the things we’ve been pushing for is a moratorium on AI use in the classroom on student devices until the district develops a comprehensive AI policy,” Byock noted.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Her family’s story began with one struggling student, but the conversation it helped spark has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/66306/schools-and-states-are-now-setting-limits-on-screen-time-for-students\">grown into something much larger\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During the summer, Byock went to drop off her son’s enrollment papers and one of the school’s administrators mentioned that this year parents can expect a renewed focus on hands-on learning and more \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64992/taking-exams-in-blue-books-its-back-to-help-curb-ai-use-and-rampant-cheating\">pencil-and-paper activities\u003c/a>. In order to accommodate analog learning, the school had ordered “tons of extra paper.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2555651076\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Welcome to MindShift, where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Nimah Gobir. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> During the 2024-25 school year, Lila Byock’s son had just started middle school. And then something shifted. He began bringing home the worst grades he had ever received. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>He’d always been a bright, curious, engaged kid who did really well in school And my husband and I were confused and concerned. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The thing is – it wasn’t that Lila’s son didn’t understand the material. His teachers actually told her he’s above grade level. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> They said, “He just can’t stay on task on his iPad.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>music\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> They were talking about his school-issued iPad — \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>one that every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District receives under a one-to-one device model. In class, students were required to use an online program called i-Ready to complete assignments. But there was nothing stopping them from opening another tab — and doing, well… basically anything else.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> We said, well, how much time is he spending on his iPad? And they said, Well, we use it sort of for everything all day. And that was… a complete revelation for us. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> As Lila started asking more questions, she learned what her son — and many of his classmates — were actually doing during the school day.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> Our child was. Scrolling YouTube shorts all during math class. He was playing Fortnite battles along with many of his other classmates during class. A student at lunchtime was watching Squid Game on his school issued iPad. Um, and, you know, my son watched that with him. Um, somebody showed him porn on a school issued device.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> After talking it through with her son, Lila realized he was just as frustrated as she was. He’d always been engaged in school, and now he felt trapped in habits he couldn’t seem to stop. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> It was like it was eroding his self-esteem. And he told us, you know, I want to stop and I don’t think I can.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Worse yet, There were no clear policies. No safeguards. When Lila realized how much the IPads were being used, she sent a list of questions to the school’s administrators \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And the answers I got back were just completely unsatisfying. It was as if no one had ever thought about these things before and [00:06:20][32.1]Lila Byock: [00:07:00] that raised every red flag for me. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Lila is far from alone. Versions of her story are coming from parents all over the country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In 2024, many public schools responded to concerns about distraction by banning student cell phones. But in many cases, the screen time didn’t disappear, it just shifted to school-issued devices. So today on MindShift, we’re asking 3 big questions : What role should education technology actually play in the classroom? When does it help — and when does it get in the way? And is it time to rethink the one-to-one device model altogether? All of that and more, after the break.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To understand how schools got to a place where students spend so much of the day on screens, it helps to zoom out.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Audrey Watters is a writer and historian who studies education technology. She says the debates we’re having about ed tech today stretch back to way before students were using laptops..\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We see this sort of long history of this desire to sort of automate education, automate teaching, automate testing, that’s very much bound up in really this very old story of this idea that if we can just, if we can just measure everything, then perhaps we can sort of engineer things so that they’re optimized.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Audrey says some of the earliest ed tech promises didn’t start with computers at all — they started with standardized testing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> The idea of creating a multiple choice test was so that you could get rid of any sort of subjectivity and make this field more objective. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>You want to be able to develop a machine that can administer, grade, and teach more efficiently, more objectively, than teachers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Efficiency. Objectivity. Optimization. Those ideas have shaped education technology ever since. According to the National Education Policy Center 13 million students across the US use iReady in their classrooms. In it, students work on lessons that adjust based on their answers, so if they miss a lot of answers on a certain subject, they get more questions that help them practice that area. There are other similar programs in use like Khan Academy, Ascend Math and ReadTheory.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>As recent as 2024, schools spent 30 billion on education tech. It is projected to increase.The promise to schools is that these products will measure growth, identify areas of need, and fill in learning gaps if you use their adaptive learning models\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Audrey says that every wave of ed tech promises to improve learning, but underneath those promises is a deep discomfort with how human and unpredictable classrooms actually are.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>But Audrey says that way of thinking however, runs into a problem. Learning doesn’t behave like a machine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> We want to think of education as a science. I think we want to think about learning as a science. And I don’t say this as though it’s not, but that doesn’t seem to ever quite entirely capture what happens both individually, what makes us love certain subjects for example, be curious and interested in certain ideas and then be utterly indifferent to others. I’m not sure that we can sort of science our way out of that. [00:03:00][31.2]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>The appeal is easy to understand. If every student learns differently, wouldn’t it be helpful to have software that could adapt to each child’s needs? That’s been one of ed tech’s most powerful selling points. But Audrey says the focus on personalization begins with a troubling assumption.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters:\u003c/strong> There is this notion from outside of the classroom that somehow teachers don’t know what’s happening and that they need this sort of science and they need this technology in order to actually understand students and then be able to personalize or individualize what they’re doing to meet those students’ needs. [00:09:45][18.9]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To make one thing clear, teachers have used technology creatively for decades — They might show short videos to illustrate a concept or even take students on a virtual field trip. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Oftentimes learning with tech is shaped by the companies that make the tools\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Audrey Watters: \u003c/strong>They’ve already decided what teaching and learning look like with theirs with their tools. – Of course, there’s some margins for experimentation and play, of course, but mostly you’re still sort of you’ve lost your agency and autonomy because the whole sort of vision of what things look like is really in the hands of these technology companies. [00:12:29][19.8]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Audrey’s argument is that education technology has failed because it was built to standardize learning. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Lila Byock, the parent we heard from earlier, was watching what happened when learning was done almost entirely through a screen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> For my son, um, school became the place where he could essentially have unrestricted screen time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>While she was going through this, she felt isolated. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>I started confiding in some other parents of middle schoolers and every single person I talked to said, oh, thank God it’s not just us. Everyone was dealing with the same thing and no one was talking about it because we had all just kind of accepted the idea that for some reason our kids needed these internet connected devices. On their desks all day in school. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Together, Lila and likeminded parents and teachers formed a group called Schools Beyond Screens to push for changes in how schools use technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>There’s so much parental and teacher outrage and discontent about the hours and hours and hours our kids are spending on these apps, and I believe we’re going to see a shift in some of those policies.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> But if schools do decide to change course, what would teachers actually want instead? Molly Esquivel, a 6th grader teacher, a fifth-grade teacher at a public school in Fullerton, California, doesn’t want to get rid of technology entirely. She thinks that teachers should get more say in how tech is used in their classrooms” When she taught at a public school in Fullerton, California…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I was asked by the principal to give the kids iReady. You have to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Molly pushed back because she didn’t think the program was a good fit for her students. But her district had purchased the iReady program and was requiring teachers to use it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>The principal came back at me and said, you have to do this. So there are mandates, there are requirements.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> To her, that’s the bigger issue. Decisions about teaching are increasingly being made far away from the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> That skips over the very foundation of curriculum and instruction and goes right to handing over that pedagogic power to a device rather than a person. And that to me is not sound practice, sound pedagogy and completely, as I said, sidelining not only the expert, but the human. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Molly wants more opportunities for students to interact with each other and with their teacher. She says the difference feels obvious.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel:\u003c/strong> I oftentimes refer to my classroom as a living breathing organism. Kids are interacting with each other or even interacting with themselves and they’re moving and evolving and growing [00:26:28][18.3]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Compare that to a classroom where every student is working on a device.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>It means kids have headphones on, their heads are tilted down to look at a screen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Molly Esquivel: \u003c/strong>They are now interacting with an inanimate object. That doesn’t sit right. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t look right. That’s not what classrooms would even be drawn as or what we would ever imagine them to be.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> For teachers like Molly, the goal is to make sure technology serves learning rather than replacing the relationships that make learning possible. Amy Tyson is a child and adolescent psychologist and the founder of EverySchool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We were sold devices and told that this was innovation. That like merely having the device in the classroom equaled innovation. But what we ended up doing was just replacing traditional methods that we know work, that are tried and true, with devices that are just less effective.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At her organization, EverySchool, she has worked to synthesize research so that teachers don’t have to. A big thing she did that many folks don’t do was that she focused on research that wasn’t funded by people with a stake in these tech tools. A big finding that may surprise you is that there isn’t conclusive evidence saying that tech is making kids smarter or improves learning. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> Shortly after the widespread adoption of school issue devices, which happened around the year 2012, we began to see an alarming downturn in academic outcomes also beginning in 2012. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Now, we can’t pin this all on edtech. There are a variety of factors that may be contributing, but at a minimum it’s safe to say it isn’t helping. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech has flourished in the classroom, our test scores, and I’d also like to say notably, the scores on loneliness, which are important for student health and well-being, continue to slip down year after year. So there’s really zero indication that it’s helping and I would say that there is mounting evidence that it is harming . [00:11:40][13.1]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> A lot of schools use ed tech tools \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> EdTech and TechEd are not the same thing. But teaching how to using technology, teaching transformative technology skills is not the same thing as using technology to teach every subject. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Would argue that students are far more likely to be missing out on soft skill development, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, problem solving, interpersonal skills, empathy, creativity, even eye contact at this point.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Amy also debunks that EdTech is neutral. You might hear edtech is a tool… like a pencil\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Screens do have uniquely negative effects that like a pen just doesn’t have. Screens hijack our attention, they distract us into a constant state of multitasking, they infiltrate our reward system, give us constant bursts of dopamine. It’s not the same thing as a pencil. It is not a neutral learning tool. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And that brings us back to Lila and her son. Who was definitely not using his ipad like a pencil.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>Algebra’s hard. It’s not very hard to scroll YouTube. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This is Lila again. Talking about her son. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock:\u003c/strong> This year we, before the first day of school, we notified the principal that our child would not be taking home his device and we opted him out of the iReady program. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And teachers were very accommodating. One of his teachers was actually quite excited and said that she’d do a one-on-one novel study with him while other students used the iReady program on the IPad.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lila Byock: \u003c/strong>And that just speaks to the trade-offs that are being made in favor of these ed tech apps. You know, our kids could be doing rigorous novel study, reading real books. Which is so rare now. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Since Lila first started asking questions, LAUSD has adopted new limits on student screen time, including restrictions on classroom device use and new options for families to opt out of bringing devices home. It’s a sign that some districts are beginning to rethink their relationship with technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Psychologist Amy Tyson and her EverySchool colleagues came up with something called the ed tech triangle , a framework designed to help schools make those decisions more intentionally. Picture a triangle with the pointy tip facing downwards\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At the smallest pointy tip is Disruptive technology\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>And that’s tech that disrupts learning and breeds habitual use. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning, like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So really it’s something that we encourage educators to use to really to avoid using if possible. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Think of activities that pull students away from learning like unrestricted access to cell phones, or other excess screen time uses.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> One level up in the triangle is restrictive technology.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> That’s restricting learning outcomes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson:\u003c/strong> So, use sparingly and in very specific situations if you do end up needing to use it. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>These are tools that may be convenient, but don’t necessarily deepen learning. For example, reading a digital worksheet instead of a paper one, or completing an activity on a screen that could be done just as effectively without one. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Third from the bottom Second from the top is supportive technology. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Supportive is the area that supports learning in helpful ways. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>It can be helpful to be used in moderation. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This might include things like speech-to-text tools, accessibility features, or software that helps students organize their work– technology that supports learning but doesn’t fundamentally change it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> And at the very top is \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>Transformative, which is a technology that produces a unique outcome or develops a high level skill. [00:08:55][6.5]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Amy Tyson: \u003c/strong>We’re talking about skill development. So. It’s very hard to teach robotics if you aren’t programming a robot, if you’re not using a device. That’s teaching a high level skill, it’s producing a unique outcome.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> In other words, technology should be hardest to justify when it’s simply replacing something that already works. Its strongest case is when students are doing something they couldn’t do otherwise. And some school leaders are already using frameworks like this to make hard decisions, including rolling back one-to-one devices altogether.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>My name is Inga Esping. I’m the principal of McPherson Middle School at McPhersen, Kansas.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>In the spring of 2024, Inge and other leaders at McPherson Middle School were reviewing their data. For years, the school had been making steady academic gains. But now, that progress was slowing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>We were starting to feel a little like we were plateauing. So our question was, how do we continue the momentum that we’re on to really improve the culture and the academic experience in our school? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>At McPherson, every student had a Chromebook they carried to and from school. Teachers began raising a possibility that echoed what parents like Lila had been saying: maybe the devices were getting in the way. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They were frustrated by the distractions. They just didn’t feel that it was enhancing learning to the level that they were hoping to.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> Teachers told administrators that when students were on their laptops, they ended up on laptops too. They spent less time circulating, less time connecting, more time monitoring screens.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> They want to be busy around their classroom and helping students remain focused, problem solve, really to get involved. But they too felt really tied to their own devices. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Teachers found themselves policing tabs and websites. And over time, those constant corrections began to strain relationships with students. Some students felt a sense of ownership over their chromebook like “you can’t tell me what to do. This is mine.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> And how that would sometimes cause a challenge of not knowing exactly what was and wasn’t homework concerned about the amount of hours their students were online and saying that they’re working on school work when in fact that wasn’t always the case.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> The two words that changed everything were what if. As in, What if they didn’t do school this way anymore?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What if we helped our students understand this is a tool that can be very powerful to use. But at this point, the way we’ve approached it right now, it feels like more of a distraction. And we have such important work that we’re trying to do here in school, we want you to refocus.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> School leaders began digging into the research –much of the same research Amy Tyson pointed to— showing that one-to-one devices often fail to deliver on their promises.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Instead of having students carrying Chromebooks all day, McPherson invested in classroom carts to keep devices in the room and had teachers use them only when teachers believed they genuinely add value.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>As we came back this school year, we started really training our teachers. This is coming. We’re not sure when. We are unsure exactly the timeline. Actually over the last two days, students have returned to their Chromebooks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>This wasn’t a ban. And it wasn’t a rigid policy. It was more of a reset.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So students will actually come back and have zero Chromebook time for their first few weeks in our spring semester. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir:\u003c/strong> McPherson is in a fortunate position. Teachers still have access to physical books, worksheets, and materials. These are resources some schools no longer have because they may have completely replaced them with digital books or ed tech programs.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>All we’ve done is give guidance. Please use them as sparingly as possible. Think about when they really enhance the lesson, enhance the learning.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping: \u003c/strong>So, over this next year, we’ll really assess how often are we on screens to consider if we need to have additional goals or not. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Inge is clear-eyed about the limits of this approach. Keeping Chromebooks at school won’t magically solve every problem. But she hopes it’s a start. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> What I’m most proud of the work here is that I have a staff who is really brave to try something different. They’re allowing us to make this change knowing that we’re going to face unknowns, we’re going to face challenges.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nimah Gobir: \u003c/strong>Her hope isn’t that other schools copy McPherson exactly, but that they feel empowered to ask their own “what if” questions.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Inge Esping:\u003c/strong> I would just encourage. Schools who are also interested in joining us in this initiative to be brave, acknowledge that there’s going to be challenges, communicate with your stakeholders when those challenges arise and seek your community members, your students, your parents, seek their input so that you can really build the program and the school that you hope to see. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED. This episode was made possible by the Stuart Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>This year brings a new challenge for Armaghan Khan and many other teachers in the nation’s second-largest school district: Ban screen time for younger students, and significantly limit it for older kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be a big impact for me,” says Khan, who’s spent his career in the Los Angeles Unified School District. “I would say about 75% of our work was on some kind of screen-based activity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a science teacher, Khan has embraced technology — not only because his students at Johnnie L. Cochran Middle School can perform large-scale experiments on their laptops, like a car crash simulator to understand things like Newtonian forces, but also because it’s his best option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My hands are kind of tied in terms of just what I can offer,” he says. “We have a lab space, but we do not have a lab budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5791657/states-schools-restricting-screen-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Many districts and a growing number of states\u003c/u>\u003c/a> have passed similar limits this year, but the rapid roll out in Los Angeles for teachers and the district’s more than 400,000 students is unique. The school board passed the resolution this spring: Starting this week, 1st grade and under will have no screen time at all. In November, the rest of elementary school classes will have limits, with middle and high school students following later in the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules are a departure for LAUSD, which only a few years ago was a national leader in bringing technology into the classroom. Khan said he was surprised by the new policy and subsequent lack of guidance: “I don’t feel like I’m being set up for success.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A rapid rollout\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pia Sadaqatmal, the district’s new chief academic officer who is overseeing the new screen time rules, says she knows it’s not flawless: “There is no perfect solution on how to roll out to a school district the size of ours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She encourages teachers to see this year as a transition year and not expect overnight improvements. “We have one of the first school districts in the nation to adopt a policy at this scale,” she says. “We know that we are going to be learning along the way at each phase.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students will have software on their school-issued tablets or computers that will keep track of the amount of screen time used per week. The software will not shut the device off once the limit is reached; instead, it collects data for the district to comb through at the end of the year. The hope is that the data gathered will help the district make tweaks to the rule and better understand what worked this year and what didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certain things are exempt, like virtual textbooks, but teachers are still trying to figure out where everything else fits.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Filling the gaps\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I have more questions than I do sort of immediate … concerns around it,” says Kirti Baranwal, a teacher librarian at William Jefferson Clinton Middle School. This is her 28th year with the school district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think generally screen time limits are good,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the district banned cell phones, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5630384/many-states-tried-to-create-phone-free-learning-spaces-this-year-heres-how-it-went\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>growing standard for many states\u003c/u>\u003c/a> around the country. So Baranwal did a lesson on screen addiction and asked her students to report their own screen time. Many came back with 8 or 10 hours a day — even with the ban in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I was like, when are you sleeping?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research shows that for kids who don’t have the resources to play on sports teams or attend arts programs, their time outside of school is occupied, \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2025-common-sense-census-web-2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>often by their phone\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. Baranwal, like Khan in his science classroom, thinks just unplugging or turning screens off ends up leaving holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that we don’t want students on phones, Baranwal says. But then, “what is it that we want kids doing?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the school year just beginning, the Los Angeles school district is trying to figure that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003ch2>Corrections:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>August 11, 2026\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAn earlier version of this story incorrectly said the Los Angeles Unified School District would install software that tracks screen time on students’ personal tablets or computers. The software will only be on school-issued devices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AILSA CHANG, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School begins tomorrow in the country’s second-largest school district, with one big difference from past years- there are sweeping new limits on screen time for students. The new rule in the Los Angeles school district comes just a few years after a major push there to bring technology into the classroom. NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo talked to LA educators about how they’re dealing with the shake-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: Armaghan Khan is heading back to school for the eighth time as a middle school science teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ARMAGHAN KHAN: The beginning of every year has its own sort of anxiety attached to it, but I’m always excited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: This year brings a new kind of challenge for him and his colleagues at Cochran Middle School. They’re going old-school – turning off the computers and putting away screens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KHAN: This is going to be a big impact for me. As a science teacher, technology is kind of the backbone of my curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: While they were on summer vacation, the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a resolution to limit screen time for all of its students. It’s part of a nationwide discussion in states and school districts about how much time students spend looking at devices. Many districts in some states have passed similar limits this year, but the rapid rollout in LA for its more than 400,000 students is unique. Starting this week, first grade and under will have no screen time, and starting in November, the rest of elementary school will have limits, with middle and high school students following later in the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KHAN: I would say about 75% of our work was on some kind of screen-based activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Not only because his students can perform large-scale experiments on their laptops, like a car crash simulator to understand things like Newtonian forces but, also, it’s because it’s his best option. He has a space for in-person experiments, but no budget for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KHAN: I don’t feel like I’m being set up for success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PIA SADAQATMAL: We know that there’s no perfect solution in how to roll out to a school district the size of ours, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: That’s the district’s chief academic officer, Pia Sadaqatmal. She’s overseeing the screen time change and says this year is a transition year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SADAQATMAL: We have one of the first school districts in the nation to adopt a policy at this scale. So we know that we are going to be learning along the way at each phase and incorporating those learnings as we roll out the next group of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Students will have software on their personal tablets or computers that will keep track of the amount of screen time used per week. Certain things are exempt, like virtual textbooks, but teachers are still trying to figure out where everything else fits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KIRTI BARANWAL: I have more questions than I do, sort of, immediate concerns around it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: That’s Kirti Baranwal, a longtime librarian at Clinton Middle School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARANWAL: I think, generally, screen time limits are good, right? Like, we just don’t want kids on screens all the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Last year, the district banned cellphones, a growing standard for many states around the country. So Baranwal did a lesson on screen addiction and asked her students to report their own screen time. Many came back with eight or 10 hours a day, even with the ban in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARANWAL: Well, I was like, when are you sleeping? Like, what is happening?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: She says for kids who don’t have the resources to play on sports teams or attend arts programs, their time outside of school is occupied often by their phone. She, like Kahn and his science classroom, thinks just cutting things out only ends up leaving holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARANWAL: Like, OK. We don’t want kids on phones. What is it that we want kids doing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: The Los Angeles school district is trying to figure that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sequoia Carrillo, NPR News, Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF INSTUPENDO’S “COMFORT CHAIN”)\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This year brings a new challenge for Armaghan Khan and many other teachers in the nation’s second-largest school district: Ban screen time for younger students, and significantly limit it for older kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to be a big impact for me,” says Khan, who’s spent his career in the Los Angeles Unified School District. “I would say about 75% of our work was on some kind of screen-based activity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a science teacher, Khan has embraced technology — not only because his students at Johnnie L. Cochran Middle School can perform large-scale experiments on their laptops, like a car crash simulator to understand things like Newtonian forces, but also because it’s his best option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My hands are kind of tied in terms of just what I can offer,” he says. “We have a lab space, but we do not have a lab budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5791657/states-schools-restricting-screen-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Many districts and a growing number of states\u003c/u>\u003c/a> have passed similar limits this year, but the rapid roll out in Los Angeles for teachers and the district’s more than 400,000 students is unique. The school board passed the resolution this spring: Starting this week, 1st grade and under will have no screen time at all. In November, the rest of elementary school classes will have limits, with middle and high school students following later in the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules are a departure for LAUSD, which only a few years ago was a national leader in bringing technology into the classroom. Khan said he was surprised by the new policy and subsequent lack of guidance: “I don’t feel like I’m being set up for success.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A rapid rollout\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Pia Sadaqatmal, the district’s new chief academic officer who is overseeing the new screen time rules, says she knows it’s not flawless: “There is no perfect solution on how to roll out to a school district the size of ours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She encourages teachers to see this year as a transition year and not expect overnight improvements. “We have one of the first school districts in the nation to adopt a policy at this scale,” she says. “We know that we are going to be learning along the way at each phase.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students will have software on their school-issued tablets or computers that will keep track of the amount of screen time used per week. The software will not shut the device off once the limit is reached; instead, it collects data for the district to comb through at the end of the year. The hope is that the data gathered will help the district make tweaks to the rule and better understand what worked this year and what didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certain things are exempt, like virtual textbooks, but teachers are still trying to figure out where everything else fits.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Filling the gaps\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I have more questions than I do sort of immediate … concerns around it,” says Kirti Baranwal, a teacher librarian at William Jefferson Clinton Middle School. This is her 28th year with the school district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think generally screen time limits are good,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the district banned cell phones, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5630384/many-states-tried-to-create-phone-free-learning-spaces-this-year-heres-how-it-went\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>growing standard for many states\u003c/u>\u003c/a> around the country. So Baranwal did a lesson on screen addiction and asked her students to report their own screen time. Many came back with 8 or 10 hours a day — even with the ban in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I was like, when are you sleeping?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research shows that for kids who don’t have the resources to play on sports teams or attend arts programs, their time outside of school is occupied, \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2025-common-sense-census-web-2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>often by their phone\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. Baranwal, like Khan in his science classroom, thinks just unplugging or turning screens off ends up leaving holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We know that we don’t want students on phones, Baranwal says. But then, “what is it that we want kids doing?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the school year just beginning, the Los Angeles school district is trying to figure that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\u003ch2>Corrections:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>August 11, 2026\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAn earlier version of this story incorrectly said the Los Angeles Unified School District would install software that tracks screen time on students’ personal tablets or computers. The software will only be on school-issued devices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AILSA CHANG, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School begins tomorrow in the country’s second-largest school district, with one big difference from past years- there are sweeping new limits on screen time for students. The new rule in the Los Angeles school district comes just a few years after a major push there to bring technology into the classroom. NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo talked to LA educators about how they’re dealing with the shake-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: Armaghan Khan is heading back to school for the eighth time as a middle school science teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ARMAGHAN KHAN: The beginning of every year has its own sort of anxiety attached to it, but I’m always excited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: This year brings a new kind of challenge for him and his colleagues at Cochran Middle School. They’re going old-school – turning off the computers and putting away screens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KHAN: This is going to be a big impact for me. As a science teacher, technology is kind of the backbone of my curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: While they were on summer vacation, the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a resolution to limit screen time for all of its students. It’s part of a nationwide discussion in states and school districts about how much time students spend looking at devices. Many districts in some states have passed similar limits this year, but the rapid rollout in LA for its more than 400,000 students is unique. Starting this week, first grade and under will have no screen time, and starting in November, the rest of elementary school will have limits, with middle and high school students following later in the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KHAN: I would say about 75% of our work was on some kind of screen-based activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Not only because his students can perform large-scale experiments on their laptops, like a car crash simulator to understand things like Newtonian forces but, also, it’s because it’s his best option. He has a space for in-person experiments, but no budget for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KHAN: I don’t feel like I’m being set up for success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PIA SADAQATMAL: We know that there’s no perfect solution in how to roll out to a school district the size of ours, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: That’s the district’s chief academic officer, Pia Sadaqatmal. She’s overseeing the screen time change and says this year is a transition year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SADAQATMAL: We have one of the first school districts in the nation to adopt a policy at this scale. So we know that we are going to be learning along the way at each phase and incorporating those learnings as we roll out the next group of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Students will have software on their personal tablets or computers that will keep track of the amount of screen time used per week. Certain things are exempt, like virtual textbooks, but teachers are still trying to figure out where everything else fits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KIRTI BARANWAL: I have more questions than I do, sort of, immediate concerns around it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: That’s Kirti Baranwal, a longtime librarian at Clinton Middle School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARANWAL: I think, generally, screen time limits are good, right? Like, we just don’t want kids on screens all the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: Last year, the district banned cellphones, a growing standard for many states around the country. So Baranwal did a lesson on screen addiction and asked her students to report their own screen time. Many came back with eight or 10 hours a day, even with the ban in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARANWAL: Well, I was like, when are you sleeping? Like, what is happening?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: She says for kids who don’t have the resources to play on sports teams or attend arts programs, their time outside of school is occupied often by their phone. She, like Kahn and his science classroom, thinks just cutting things out only ends up leaving holes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARANWAL: Like, OK. We don’t want kids on phones. What is it that we want kids doing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRILLO: The Los Angeles school district is trying to figure that out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sequoia Carrillo, NPR News, Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF INSTUPENDO’S “COMFORT CHAIN”)\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>BOSTON — Over the course of one frantic, late-July weekend, 98 teens representing all 50 states put their busy lives on hold to try to do something remarkable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students, most of them high school juniors and seniors, gathered in a precise replica of the U.S. Senate chamber and attempted what the real, adult Congress has largely failed to do: draft and pass “legislation” to help the nation’s K-12 schools navigate \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/14/nx-s1-5674741/ai-schools-education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the questions and chaos\u003c/a> created by artificial intelligence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should students be allowed to use AI on assignments? What about on tests? Is it schools’ job to teach the nation’s children what AI is and how to use it? There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/05/nx-s1-5779757/school-ai-education-students-teachers-poll-critical-thinking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no national policy for AI use in schools\u003c/a>, meaning states and school districts have had to scramble to craft their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to actually help and try to change the country for the better,” said student Gabriel Sutphin, representing South Carolina, speaking from the chamber floor at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To these teens, the stakes for getting ahead of AI are clear. They pointed out how adult leaders were slow to protect students from the risks of other tech developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We missed the mark with social media and phones,” said Hunter Wurzel, a high school senior representing Ohio. “That’s been a huge talking point already [this weekend], is how we failed to implement those things into education and teach the youth how to use them.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wurzel and his 97 colleagues were handpicked by their school leaders and hosted by a handful of education- and tech-focused groups, including the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, AASA (The School Superintendents Association), and Day of AI, a nonprofit launched out of MIT’s RAISE AI literacy initiative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At times during the weekend, where NPR was able to watch the events unfold, the bill seemed doomed, only to be revived by a flurry of student-led negotiation, old-fashioned compromises and some spirited speeches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[This bill] is about who gets a seat at the table. Today, students have that seat,” Bena Mejia Romero of Connecticut told her fellow senators before the final vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, their Students First Act passed overwhelmingly, 82-16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the bill’s requirements: States should provide AI literacy as soon as students get access to classroom devices; AI use should be banned on all graded tests; and teachers can require an oral defense of any project from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5492397/ai-schools-teachers-students?unified=true&renderPlatform=nprone_ios\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">student suspected of using AI inappropriately\u003c/a>. (You can read the full bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/30/nx-s1-5853571/students-set-ai-policy#bill\">at the end of this article\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The adults themselves haven’t been able to come to consensus on this, right? And so now it falls to the kids. Let them lead the way,” said Jeffrey Riley, the executive director of Day of AI and former education commissioner of Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the Students First Act isn’t actually law, any more than the teens are actually senators, AASA plans to send the text to its members: 10,000 school leaders across the country, many of whom are right now crafting their own AI rules in the absence of regulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Rules for students\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When students arrived at the start of the weekend, they were presented with a stew of policies that they had suggested in the run-up to the event. Then they were divided into subcommittees — focused on students, educators, administrators and families — to debate the dozens of proposals and create a coherent bill they could all support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The student-focused section of the final bill includes 15 provisions, several focused on a concern many of the senators shared: that teens are using AI to do their thinking for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without guidance and guardrails, “[AI use] is just gonna go unhinged,” said Campbell McHenry, a high school junior from Mississippi. “Everyone’s gonna stop learning and start relying on AI. Instead of using it as a tool, they’re gonna use it as a brain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F31%2Fbe%2F614f0b1b4243a1938739d8d2e2cb%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-005.JPG\" alt=\"Student senators representing (from left to right) Colorado, Arkansas, North Carolina, New Mexico and Connecticut meet in their assigned subcommittee to debate the AI bill's student-focused provisions.\">\u003cfigcaption>Student senators representing (from left to right) Colorado, Arkansas, North Carolina, New Mexico and Connecticut meet in their assigned subcommittee to debate the AI bill’s student-focused provisions. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Among the bill’s student-focused proposals:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Approved uses\u003c/strong>: Students should not be allowed to use AI for writing, “though editing, brainstorming and studying” with AI should be allowed after eighth grade.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Prove mastery\u003c/strong>: Students permitted to use AI should have to cite how they used it and demonstrate their grasp of a subject through discussions, handwritten tests or oral defenses.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Plagiarism review\u003c/strong>: Any student suspected of using AI inappropriately should have their work reviewed not just by AI checker software, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5492397/ai-schools-teachers-students?renderPlatform=nprone_ios&unified=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which can be unreliable\u003c/a>, but also two school officials.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>One of the most contentious issues was deciding when students should first be exposed to AI in the classroom: High school? Middle school? Earlier?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lucia Herrera, a Missouri high schooler, took issue with an early draft of the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing that says students need to be proficient before using it,” Herrera told her subcommittee colleagues. “It’s basically saying they can use it whenever. Which I think is a misuse of it.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her subcommittee’s proposed solution: require schools to teach AI literacy as soon as devices are introduced in the classroom, including misinformation, plagiarism, bias in AI design, student privacy, appropriate academic use and AI’s environmental impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3738x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F63%2F01%2Fa6777694447680086165b146e2f9%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-017.jpg\" alt=\"Sophia Fenn of Washington state took the work seriously, going line by line through the proposals and making detailed notes about what she would like to amend or strike altogether.\">\u003cfigcaption>Sophia Fenn of Washington state took the work seriously, going line by line through the proposals and making detailed notes about what she would like to amend or strike altogether. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the provision came up later that day, before the full Senate, Connecticut’s Bena Mejia Romero told her fellow student lawmakers they should support the new requirement. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>If we’re going to be using devices, we should know the dangers and the benefits that they have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one of the senators from California, Om Lala, argued that requiring schools to begin teaching AI literacy would be a heavy lift. “Teachers already are pretty under-resourced.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tristan Tjetjep of Tennessee added that he worried how “underprivileged schools” would pay for this new instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly, the students had run headlong into \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/473636949/schoolmoney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. schools’ funding inequities\u003c/a> — a problem they attempted to resolve with a requirement that the federal government chip in funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Rules for educators, parents and caregivers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Students First Act not only covers students’ use of AI but also insists on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5492397/ai-schools-teachers-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rules for educators\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Approved teacher use of AI\u003c/strong>: Allowed for tasks including lesson planning, making practice materials, providing feedback and improving instruction.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Must have a clear AI policy\u003c/strong>: Each semester, teachers need to post “a clear, written AI usage policy,” explaining when AI is allowed and when it’s not.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>What’s more, if an AI detector flags potential inappropriate AI use in a student paper, the bill says “teachers must personally investigate the issue before reporting the student to admin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The student senators struggled with the 10 provisions in the bill’s parents/guardians section because, as Isabella Stringer of New Hampshire said on the Senate floor, “We cannot legislate parenthood. Schools cannot tell parents what or how to teach your children.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As such, some of the provisions here suggest rather than tell. For instance, one says simply that parents should encourage balanced technology habits and emphasize the importance of ethical academic behavior at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F74%2Fdb%2F0e9f08d84ec387cfe9c1ddfa383e%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-040.JPG\" alt=\"The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate sits on the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus and is home to the world's only full-scale replica of the U.S. Senate chamber.\">\u003cfigcaption>The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate sits on the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus and is home to the world’s only full-scale replica of the U.S. Senate chamber. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The early version of the bill also gave parents a full veto over their students’ AI access, but many of the senators argued that AI is here to stay and students must be taught how to use it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Giving [parents] the complete say, especially in middle to high school, in what their child can and can’t do with AI is gonna limit [students] because a lot of [adults] don’t even know what AI is themselves,” said junior Tatiyana Reaves of North Carolina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one of the weekend’s more passionate exchanges, senators debated what should happen if a student attempts to use a school-based AI tool, like a chatbot, “for emotional support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several teens worried that if a student confided sensitive information about, say, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5561981/ai-students-schools-teachers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">their sexuality\u003c/a> or a mental health crisis, they should be able to trust that it would be kept private.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Dylan Dornack of Iowa argued on the Senate floor that, for students in crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts, the technology must alert a \u003cem>human\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This could be lifesaving,” Dornack told his colleagues, “whether or not that student is fearful that they might get outed. This is just one of those things that has to be taken to trusted adults.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6439x4293+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F25%2Fd4%2F0578ac934294b32e55308a0b3d41%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-056.jpg\" alt=\"Wehiwaalani Gapero of Hawaii was one of dozens of students who chose to address their colleagues for a minute each before the final votes of the weekend were cast.\">\u003cfigcaption>Wehiwaalani Gapero of Hawaii was one of dozens of students who chose to address their colleagues for a minute each before the final votes of the weekend were cast. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the students agreed: When a school chatbot detects a student in need of emotional support, it should not fulfill the student’s request but instead alert school officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>The rush to passage\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At the end of the whirlwind weekend, the student senators gathered in the replica chamber and more than half volunteered to address their colleagues for one minute each.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dornack was the first to speak and called the bill an important, if imperfect, foundation for schools’ AI policies. “You have to lay the blocks before you can have the building. So here I say, let’s lay the blocks and let’s pass this\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2Fc8%2Fca171e364dbab8cdf737b2e58d3a%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-027.JPG\" alt=\"In the final minutes before a key vote, student senators from (left to right) Minnesota and Washington state confer with their colleague.\">\u003cfigcaption>In the final minutes before a key vote, student senators from (left to right) Minnesota and Washington state confer with their colleague. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Jadelynn Petitjean of Alabama called the bill an “unstable foundation” and opposed it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier in the day, West Virginia’s Ethan Liu had also opposed it, highlighting several contradictions in the bill, including amendments that both restricted students’ AI access while appearing to give teachers wide discretion over when and how AI is used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought it reflected really badly on us. I had a whole different speech planned out against this bill, actually. It was really good,” Liu told the Senate chamber before the final vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at the last minute, the event’s organizers allowed the students to iron out a few of the bill’s inconsistencies, and, as a result, Liu changed his vote, saying “this bill is in much better shape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Student after student walked to the microphone at the front of the chamber, and most endorsed the bill, including Kendall Terao-Toma of Hawaii:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>This is for our future — not just for education but for the workforce we will join, the economy that we will build and the communities we will lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-123933/nirvi-shah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348780034/nicole-cohen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>; audio story produced by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348774853/lauren-migaki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Lauren Migaki\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"bill\">Read the full text of the Students First Act:\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 1px solid #d8dee2; border-radius: 0.5rem; width: 100%; height: 100%; aspect-ratio: 612 / 792;\" src=\"https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/28508881-17-s2026-the-students-first-act-final-bill-passed-84-14/?embed=1&title=1\" width=\"612\" height=\"792\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>BOSTON — Over the course of one frantic, late-July weekend, 98 teens representing all 50 states put their busy lives on hold to try to do something remarkable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students, most of them high school juniors and seniors, gathered in a precise replica of the U.S. Senate chamber and attempted what the real, adult Congress has largely failed to do: draft and pass “legislation” to help the nation’s K-12 schools navigate \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/14/nx-s1-5674741/ai-schools-education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the questions and chaos\u003c/a> created by artificial intelligence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should students be allowed to use AI on assignments? What about on tests? Is it schools’ job to teach the nation’s children what AI is and how to use it? There is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/06/05/nx-s1-5779757/school-ai-education-students-teachers-poll-critical-thinking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no national policy for AI use in schools\u003c/a>, meaning states and school districts have had to scramble to craft their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to actually help and try to change the country for the better,” said student Gabriel Sutphin, representing South Carolina, speaking from the chamber floor at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To these teens, the stakes for getting ahead of AI are clear. They pointed out how adult leaders were slow to protect students from the risks of other tech developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We missed the mark with social media and phones,” said Hunter Wurzel, a high school senior representing Ohio. “That’s been a huge talking point already [this weekend], is how we failed to implement those things into education and teach the youth how to use them.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wurzel and his 97 colleagues were handpicked by their school leaders and hosted by a handful of education- and tech-focused groups, including the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, AASA (The School Superintendents Association), and Day of AI, a nonprofit launched out of MIT’s RAISE AI literacy initiative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At times during the weekend, where NPR was able to watch the events unfold, the bill seemed doomed, only to be revived by a flurry of student-led negotiation, old-fashioned compromises and some spirited speeches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[This bill] is about who gets a seat at the table. Today, students have that seat,” Bena Mejia Romero of Connecticut told her fellow senators before the final vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, their Students First Act passed overwhelmingly, 82-16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the bill’s requirements: States should provide AI literacy as soon as students get access to classroom devices; AI use should be banned on all graded tests; and teachers can require an oral defense of any project from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5492397/ai-schools-teachers-students?unified=true&renderPlatform=nprone_ios\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">student suspected of using AI inappropriately\u003c/a>. (You can read the full bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/07/30/nx-s1-5853571/students-set-ai-policy#bill\">at the end of this article\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The adults themselves haven’t been able to come to consensus on this, right? And so now it falls to the kids. Let them lead the way,” said Jeffrey Riley, the executive director of Day of AI and former education commissioner of Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the Students First Act isn’t actually law, any more than the teens are actually senators, AASA plans to send the text to its members: 10,000 school leaders across the country, many of whom are right now crafting their own AI rules in the absence of regulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Rules for students\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When students arrived at the start of the weekend, they were presented with a stew of policies that they had suggested in the run-up to the event. Then they were divided into subcommittees — focused on students, educators, administrators and families — to debate the dozens of proposals and create a coherent bill they could all support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The student-focused section of the final bill includes 15 provisions, several focused on a concern many of the senators shared: that teens are using AI to do their thinking for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without guidance and guardrails, “[AI use] is just gonna go unhinged,” said Campbell McHenry, a high school junior from Mississippi. “Everyone’s gonna stop learning and start relying on AI. Instead of using it as a tool, they’re gonna use it as a brain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F31%2Fbe%2F614f0b1b4243a1938739d8d2e2cb%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-005.JPG\" alt=\"Student senators representing (from left to right) Colorado, Arkansas, North Carolina, New Mexico and Connecticut meet in their assigned subcommittee to debate the AI bill's student-focused provisions.\">\u003cfigcaption>Student senators representing (from left to right) Colorado, Arkansas, North Carolina, New Mexico and Connecticut meet in their assigned subcommittee to debate the AI bill’s student-focused provisions. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Among the bill’s student-focused proposals:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Approved uses\u003c/strong>: Students should not be allowed to use AI for writing, “though editing, brainstorming and studying” with AI should be allowed after eighth grade.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Prove mastery\u003c/strong>: Students permitted to use AI should have to cite how they used it and demonstrate their grasp of a subject through discussions, handwritten tests or oral defenses.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Plagiarism review\u003c/strong>: Any student suspected of using AI inappropriately should have their work reviewed not just by AI checker software, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5492397/ai-schools-teachers-students?renderPlatform=nprone_ios&unified=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which can be unreliable\u003c/a>, but also two school officials.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>One of the most contentious issues was deciding when students should first be exposed to AI in the classroom: High school? Middle school? Earlier?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lucia Herrera, a Missouri high schooler, took issue with an early draft of the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s nothing that says students need to be proficient before using it,” Herrera told her subcommittee colleagues. “It’s basically saying they can use it whenever. Which I think is a misuse of it.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her subcommittee’s proposed solution: require schools to teach AI literacy as soon as devices are introduced in the classroom, including misinformation, plagiarism, bias in AI design, student privacy, appropriate academic use and AI’s environmental impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3738x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F63%2F01%2Fa6777694447680086165b146e2f9%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-017.jpg\" alt=\"Sophia Fenn of Washington state took the work seriously, going line by line through the proposals and making detailed notes about what she would like to amend or strike altogether.\">\u003cfigcaption>Sophia Fenn of Washington state took the work seriously, going line by line through the proposals and making detailed notes about what she would like to amend or strike altogether. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the provision came up later that day, before the full Senate, Connecticut’s Bena Mejia Romero told her fellow student lawmakers they should support the new requirement. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>If we’re going to be using devices, we should know the dangers and the benefits that they have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one of the senators from California, Om Lala, argued that requiring schools to begin teaching AI literacy would be a heavy lift. “Teachers already are pretty under-resourced.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tristan Tjetjep of Tennessee added that he worried how “underprivileged schools” would pay for this new instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suddenly, the students had run headlong into \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/473636949/schoolmoney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. schools’ funding inequities\u003c/a> — a problem they attempted to resolve with a requirement that the federal government chip in funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Rules for educators, parents and caregivers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The Students First Act not only covers students’ use of AI but also insists on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/12/16/nx-s1-5492397/ai-schools-teachers-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rules for educators\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Approved teacher use of AI\u003c/strong>: Allowed for tasks including lesson planning, making practice materials, providing feedback and improving instruction.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Must have a clear AI policy\u003c/strong>: Each semester, teachers need to post “a clear, written AI usage policy,” explaining when AI is allowed and when it’s not.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>What’s more, if an AI detector flags potential inappropriate AI use in a student paper, the bill says “teachers must personally investigate the issue before reporting the student to admin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The student senators struggled with the 10 provisions in the bill’s parents/guardians section because, as Isabella Stringer of New Hampshire said on the Senate floor, “We cannot legislate parenthood. Schools cannot tell parents what or how to teach your children.\u003cem>“\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As such, some of the provisions here suggest rather than tell. For instance, one says simply that parents should encourage balanced technology habits and emphasize the importance of ethical academic behavior at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F74%2Fdb%2F0e9f08d84ec387cfe9c1ddfa383e%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-040.JPG\" alt=\"The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate sits on the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus and is home to the world's only full-scale replica of the U.S. Senate chamber.\">\u003cfigcaption>The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate sits on the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus and is home to the world’s only full-scale replica of the U.S. Senate chamber. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The early version of the bill also gave parents a full veto over their students’ AI access, but many of the senators argued that AI is here to stay and students must be taught how to use it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Giving [parents] the complete say, especially in middle to high school, in what their child can and can’t do with AI is gonna limit [students] because a lot of [adults] don’t even know what AI is themselves,” said junior Tatiyana Reaves of North Carolina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one of the weekend’s more passionate exchanges, senators debated what should happen if a student attempts to use a school-based AI tool, like a chatbot, “for emotional support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several teens worried that if a student confided sensitive information about, say, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5561981/ai-students-schools-teachers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">their sexuality\u003c/a> or a mental health crisis, they should be able to trust that it would be kept private.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Dylan Dornack of Iowa argued on the Senate floor that, for students in crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts, the technology must alert a \u003cem>human\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This could be lifesaving,” Dornack told his colleagues, “whether or not that student is fearful that they might get outed. This is just one of those things that has to be taken to trusted adults.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6439x4293+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F25%2Fd4%2F0578ac934294b32e55308a0b3d41%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-056.jpg\" alt=\"Wehiwaalani Gapero of Hawaii was one of dozens of students who chose to address their colleagues for a minute each before the final votes of the weekend were cast.\">\u003cfigcaption>Wehiwaalani Gapero of Hawaii was one of dozens of students who chose to address their colleagues for a minute each before the final votes of the weekend were cast. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the students agreed: When a school chatbot detects a student in need of emotional support, it should not fulfill the student’s request but instead alert school officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>The rush to passage\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>At the end of the whirlwind weekend, the student senators gathered in the replica chamber and more than half volunteered to address their colleagues for one minute each.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dornack was the first to speak and called the bill an important, if imperfect, foundation for schools’ AI policies. “You have to lay the blocks before you can have the building. So here I say, let’s lay the blocks and let’s pass this\u003cem>.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2Fc8%2Fca171e364dbab8cdf737b2e58d3a%2Fkesner-npr-studentai-027.JPG\" alt=\"In the final minutes before a key vote, student senators from (left to right) Minnesota and Washington state confer with their colleague.\">\u003cfigcaption>In the final minutes before a key vote, student senators from (left to right) Minnesota and Washington state confer with their colleague. \u003ccite> (Kieran Kesner for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Jadelynn Petitjean of Alabama called the bill an “unstable foundation” and opposed it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier in the day, West Virginia’s Ethan Liu had also opposed it, highlighting several contradictions in the bill, including amendments that both restricted students’ AI access while appearing to give teachers wide discretion over when and how AI is used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought it reflected really badly on us. I had a whole different speech planned out against this bill, actually. It was really good,” Liu told the Senate chamber before the final vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But at the last minute, the event’s organizers allowed the students to iron out a few of the bill’s inconsistencies, and, as a result, Liu changed his vote, saying “this bill is in much better shape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Student after student walked to the microphone at the front of the chamber, and most endorsed the bill, including Kendall Terao-Toma of Hawaii:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“\u003c/em>This is for our future — not just for education but for the workforce we will join, the economy that we will build and the communities we will lead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-123933/nirvi-shah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348780034/nicole-cohen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>; audio story produced by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348774853/lauren-migaki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Lauren Migaki\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3 id=\"bill\">Read the full text of the Students First Act:\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "No Internet, No Screen Time? FCC Weighs Cutting Subsidy That Lowers School Internet Bills",
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"content": "\u003cp>A program that helps connect schools and libraries to the internet at discounted rates is under review by the Federal Communications Commission. Educators and advocates are bracing for the funding to shrink or be eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/general/e-rate-schools-libraries-usf-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">E-Rate program\u003c/a>, created in the 1990s, has considerable bipartisan support. The agency’s recent focus on the program has left educators, including David Thurston, on edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thurston oversees technology for the 33 school districts nested inside California’s San Bernardino County. The area covers more than 20,000 square miles of Southern California: “We have mountain regions, far-flung desert regions, and then our urban and suburban areas. We’re a really diverse county,” Thurston says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county already built the infrastructure to get internet access from the edge of Los Angeles all the way to the state’s eastern border, but the spending doesn’t end once the fiber-optic cables are installed. Internet access bills come monthly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no doing without,” he says. School districts “are gonna have to pick up the costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For San Bernardino districts, that’s tens of thousands of dollars every month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are ongoing, essentially, utility costs,” he says. “That’s what E-Rate pays for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A “healthy” program \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>E-Rate has had a notable impact since its founding. It was created by Congress in 1996, when only 14% of schools and libraries could access the internet. That number is now near 100%. The FCC has overseen the program through both Democratic and Republican administrations, so when the agency \u003ca href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-422148A1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced a full review of the program\u003c/a> in late June, some were confused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By its own data and its own measurement, the program is healthy,” Thurston says. “The program is doing what it needs to and is important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others saw this coming. The \u003ca href=\"https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf#page=888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Project 2025 blueprint singled out federal broadband policy\u003c/a> as a target for cutting agency spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr helped write that chapter of the document, compiled by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/19/nx-s1-5640006/trump-has-rolled-out-many-of-the-project-2025-policies-he-once-claimed-ignorance-about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was meant to guide the second Trump administration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less predictable was the chairman’s reasoning for \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-review-e-rate-program-ensure-congresss-vision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reviewing the program\u003c/a>: kids getting too much screen time. In the now-approved \u003ca href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-422168A1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notice of proposed rulemaking\u003c/a>, the FCC calls for a review “to better protect children when using E-Rate-funded networks, including to limit screen time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His \u003ca href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-26-41A2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prepared statement at the commission’s June hearing\u003c/a> focused heavily on the dangers of screen time for kids and the growing body of research around it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since January, states including Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5791657/states-schools-restricting-screen-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have passed some form of legislation\u003c/a> that calls for reevaluating technology’s role in teaching and testing, and more than 10 other states are considering similar restrictions. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the country, recently \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/education/lausd-screentime-policy-board-education-ipad-laptop-limit-proposal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approved a policy\u003c/a> to limit screen time for its students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some advocates for limiting screen time at school say gutting E-Rate funding isn’t the way to reduce how much time kids are spending on devices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe there are ways of strengthening school policies to promote more limited and privacy-protecting use of EdTech without taking away critical E-Rate funding,” said Josh Golin, executive director at Fairplay, a nonprofit focused on digital safety for kids, in a statement to NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although states and districts are searching for ways to limit screen time, few — if any — are looking to operate without the internet altogether. Many schools rely on internet-based systems to track attendance, monitor school bus routes and give tests required by their state. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab2_22.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">48 states now have some kind of online component with exams\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bob Bocher, a senior fellow with the American Library Association (ALA), says that because the program is written into the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC likely cannot fully eliminate it. And last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-354_0861.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Supreme Court ruled\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service-fund\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Universal Service Fund\u003c/a>, which collects the money that schools and libraries in turn use to lower internet costs, is constitutional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the FCC could change the way the E-Rate program is run to make it more complicated, so the ALA is still worried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bocher, who helped work on the original law back in the ’90s, worries the program could become so onerous it drives schools and libraries away by design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like death by a thousand cuts,” he says, “death by a thousand rules and regulations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Keeping up with the rest of the world\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While internet access has expanded significantly since 1996, internet pricing and options haven’t changed the way Bocher or his contemporaries expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A common assumption that a lot of people had [was] … competition will evolve,” he says. “And then drive down the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In cities, this may be true, but for many rural and remote areas, competition for internet service providers, or ISPs, is nonexistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In rural Alaska, we don’t have numerous options,” says Patrick Mayer, superintendent for the remote Alaska Gateway School District. “We have one provider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His district, where some students \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/alaska-gateway-school/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rely on planes\u003c/a> to get to school in the winter months, has just under 400 students. Still, the district spends more than half a million dollars per year to ensure it has internet access at its six schools. The price tag is high, but the connection is what allows them to keep up with the rest of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It means the difference between having a school in the 21st century,” Mayer says, “or a school in the 20th century.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The expansion of connectivity in his district allows students to take dual-enrollment courses online with a local college and access virtual speech and occupational therapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To backfill that funding,” he says, “would be very, very difficult.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He imagines there would be no way around cutting down on staff and student services to find money to pay the district’s entire internet bill. For now, he’s focused on making some noise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the FCC officially publishes notice of its planned review, the public can comment for 60 days. After that, there will be a reply comment period of 30 days, followed by a full review of all of that input by the agency. The process can take a long time, but Mayer and other advocates are already working to draw attention to the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spent a few days this month in Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators about the importance of keeping Alaska’s students connected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-123933/nirvi-shah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A program that helps connect schools and libraries to the internet at discounted rates is under review by the Federal Communications Commission. Educators and advocates are bracing for the funding to shrink or be eliminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/general/e-rate-schools-libraries-usf-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">E-Rate program\u003c/a>, created in the 1990s, has considerable bipartisan support. The agency’s recent focus on the program has left educators, including David Thurston, on edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thurston oversees technology for the 33 school districts nested inside California’s San Bernardino County. The area covers more than 20,000 square miles of Southern California: “We have mountain regions, far-flung desert regions, and then our urban and suburban areas. We’re a really diverse county,” Thurston says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county already built the infrastructure to get internet access from the edge of Los Angeles all the way to the state’s eastern border, but the spending doesn’t end once the fiber-optic cables are installed. Internet access bills come monthly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no doing without,” he says. School districts “are gonna have to pick up the costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For San Bernardino districts, that’s tens of thousands of dollars every month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are ongoing, essentially, utility costs,” he says. “That’s what E-Rate pays for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A “healthy” program \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>E-Rate has had a notable impact since its founding. It was created by Congress in 1996, when only 14% of schools and libraries could access the internet. That number is now near 100%. The FCC has overseen the program through both Democratic and Republican administrations, so when the agency \u003ca href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-422148A1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced a full review of the program\u003c/a> in late June, some were confused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By its own data and its own measurement, the program is healthy,” Thurston says. “The program is doing what it needs to and is important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others saw this coming. The \u003ca href=\"https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf#page=888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Project 2025 blueprint singled out federal broadband policy\u003c/a> as a target for cutting agency spending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr helped write that chapter of the document, compiled by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/01/19/nx-s1-5640006/trump-has-rolled-out-many-of-the-project-2025-policies-he-once-claimed-ignorance-about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">was meant to guide the second Trump administration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less predictable was the chairman’s reasoning for \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-review-e-rate-program-ensure-congresss-vision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reviewing the program\u003c/a>: kids getting too much screen time. In the now-approved \u003ca href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-422168A1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notice of proposed rulemaking\u003c/a>, the FCC calls for a review “to better protect children when using E-Rate-funded networks, including to limit screen time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His \u003ca href=\"https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-26-41A2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">prepared statement at the commission’s June hearing\u003c/a> focused heavily on the dangers of screen time for kids and the growing body of research around it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since January, states including Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5791657/states-schools-restricting-screen-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have passed some form of legislation\u003c/a> that calls for reevaluating technology’s role in teaching and testing, and more than 10 other states are considering similar restrictions. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the country, recently \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/education/lausd-screentime-policy-board-education-ipad-laptop-limit-proposal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approved a policy\u003c/a> to limit screen time for its students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some advocates for limiting screen time at school say gutting E-Rate funding isn’t the way to reduce how much time kids are spending on devices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe there are ways of strengthening school policies to promote more limited and privacy-protecting use of EdTech without taking away critical E-Rate funding,” said Josh Golin, executive director at Fairplay, a nonprofit focused on digital safety for kids, in a statement to NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although states and districts are searching for ways to limit screen time, few — if any — are looking to operate without the internet altogether. Many schools rely on internet-based systems to track attendance, monitor school bus routes and give tests required by their state. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab2_22.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">48 states now have some kind of online component with exams\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bob Bocher, a senior fellow with the American Library Association (ALA), says that because the program is written into the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC likely cannot fully eliminate it. And last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-354_0861.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Supreme Court ruled\u003c/a> that \u003ca href=\"https://www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service-fund\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Universal Service Fund\u003c/a>, which collects the money that schools and libraries in turn use to lower internet costs, is constitutional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the FCC could change the way the E-Rate program is run to make it more complicated, so the ALA is still worried.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bocher, who helped work on the original law back in the ’90s, worries the program could become so onerous it drives schools and libraries away by design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like death by a thousand cuts,” he says, “death by a thousand rules and regulations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Keeping up with the rest of the world\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While internet access has expanded significantly since 1996, internet pricing and options haven’t changed the way Bocher or his contemporaries expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A common assumption that a lot of people had [was] … competition will evolve,” he says. “And then drive down the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In cities, this may be true, but for many rural and remote areas, competition for internet service providers, or ISPs, is nonexistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In rural Alaska, we don’t have numerous options,” says Patrick Mayer, superintendent for the remote Alaska Gateway School District. “We have one provider.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His district, where some students \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/alaska-gateway-school/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rely on planes\u003c/a> to get to school in the winter months, has just under 400 students. Still, the district spends more than half a million dollars per year to ensure it has internet access at its six schools. The price tag is high, but the connection is what allows them to keep up with the rest of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It means the difference between having a school in the 21st century,” Mayer says, “or a school in the 20th century.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The expansion of connectivity in his district allows students to take dual-enrollment courses online with a local college and access virtual speech and occupational therapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To backfill that funding,” he says, “would be very, very difficult.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He imagines there would be no way around cutting down on staff and student services to find money to pay the district’s entire internet bill. For now, he’s focused on making some noise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the FCC officially publishes notice of its planned review, the public can comment for 60 days. After that, there will be a reply comment period of 30 days, followed by a full review of all of that input by the agency. The process can take a long time, but Mayer and other advocates are already working to draw attention to the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spent a few days this month in Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators about the importance of keeping Alaska’s students connected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-123933/nirvi-shah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Her daughter must be dead. This is what Archie Gottesman concluded when checking the location of her middle daughter, who had claimed to be out with friends on a warm summer night in New York City. The phone tracker, and phone, and phone owner—a young woman in her mid-20s—was positioned right near the Hudson River, unmoving, for hours. “I was sure she was in trouble,” Gottesman told me. There was nothing she could do, other than call and call and rouse her husband to join in the worry. (The young woman’s companion answered his phone. They’d been having drinks.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many parents, Gottesman keeps tabs on her kids’ location through her phone’s tracking app. It’s a widespread practice: about \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36877491/\">half\u003c/a> of parents track their teenagers, while a quarter \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/01/25/parents-relationship-with-their-young-adult-children/\">continue\u003c/a> doing so when those children become young adults. According to Pew Foundation \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/01/25/parents-relationship-with-their-young-adult-children/\">research,\u003c/a> females dominate the space: young women (31%) are tracked more often than young men (21%), and mothers do more surveilling than fathers\u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/maps/answer/15437054?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid\">. Google Maps\u003c/a> and regular \u003ca href=\"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/find-my/id1514844621\">Apple\u003c/a> watches and phones allow parents to locate their children’s whereabouts instantly. \u003ca href=\"https://www.life360.com/learn/how-does-life360-work\">Life360\u003c/a>, another popular app, includes extra features, like crash detection in car accidents over 25mph, and driving summaries that provide a “weekly snapshot of everyone’s driving behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much has been written about the \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10238636/\">drawbacks\u003c/a> of tracking on children. Following adolescents electronically may thwart their independence and undermine trust when it’s carried out in secret. It can muddy accountability for the young person’s safety: an adolescent who knows he’s tracked may absolve himself of any personal responsibility to mind his whereabouts; Mom will save him. And kids who resent their parents’ surveillance can find ways to circumvent the digital intrusion by parking their phone at home, allowing the battery to die, or otherwise outsmarting the technology. According to Lisa \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/well/family/should-you-track-your-teens-location.html\">Damour\u003c/a>, clinical psychologist and author of \u003cem>The Emotional Lives of Teenagers\u003c/em>, “When it comes to knowing what is going on with a teenager, having their location cannot take the place of having a sturdy, working relationship.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how does child tracking affect the parents who monitor their offspring? “(U)sually people are using it to replace uncertainty with certainty,” \u003ca href=\"https://megjay.com/\">Meg Jay\u003c/a>, an author and clinical psychologist, wrote me in an email. The more anxious the parent, the more likely they are to check their kids’ locations. “Therapists call people like this reassurance junkies, because instead of living with the discomfort of uncertainty for a while, they look for data or information that things are OK,” she added. That reassurance can be short lived. Observing their kids partying into the wee hours, dining at a fast-food joint for the seventh time that week, or spending the night in a mysterious location \u003cem>provokes\u003c/em> parent anxiety—and often generates friction between partners on what to do, Jay added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to the extent that tracking provides a flash of security, that feeling may be misguided: location tracking is a blunt instrument that can be easily misread; one child “trapped” in at an unfamiliar place may be carrying out a harmless project, while another apparently secure in an apartment or dorm can be taking foolish risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regular surveillance also slows the growth of something subtler, said Lenore Skenazy, the president of \u003ca href=\"https://letgrow.org/resource/worlds-worst-mom/\">Let Grow\u003c/a>: a trust muscle. Before location tracking was possible and information ubiquitous, it was normal for parents to be ignorant about their kids’ every move, and mothers and fathers learned to believe in their children and the community; the default state for sane parents was typically “everything is OK.” But with location devices, that mindset shifts to “everything might \u003cem>not\u003c/em> be OK”—so I’d better check. Despite declining \u003ca href=\"https://www.unh.edu/ccrc/trends-child-victimization\">rates\u003c/a> of violence against children, Skenazy said, “everything goes to death,” she told me. “Fear is winning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts have tips for parents who want to cut back on location tracking. A part of the answer is striving to tolerate uncertainty, Jay wrote. “Have faith in your child and how you raised them,” and remind yourself that it’s natural for adolescents to separate from their parents. If easy access to digital surveillance is too tempting, limit the technology to one person’s phone, that of a partner or sibling, she added. Skenazy reminds parents that kids build confidence when they figure out how to fix their own troubles. If parents swoop in at the first sign of trouble—a tire goes flat, a ride doesn’t show, people at the party seem sketchy—young people don’t develop the self-reliance that comes from solving their own problems. Improving parent-child communication, and learning how to manage uncertainty, is healthier for both generations\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, not all child tracking is grounded in distrust, especially when it involves young adults. Some parents report that they track for practical reasons: knowing where their kids are helps them decide when to call. “For fun. Curiosity. To know when they’ll show up,” said Sue Greenberg, a mother of three adult kids whose location she follows. And these adult kids reciprocate, so that they too can “keep an eye” on their distant parents. “Our kids like tracking us more than we like tracking them,” explained Lisa McGahan about her four children, adding that it helps them figure out where their frequently on-the-go parents have disappeared to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their offspring’s status as adults doesn’t eliminate parents’ worry when the location tracker behaves suspiciously. Just ask Gottesman, who “absolutely loves” the technology despite the panic it caused when her daughter had apparently expired by the Hudson River. “It’s not all fun and games,” she told me.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Her daughter must be dead. This is what Archie Gottesman concluded when checking the location of her middle daughter, who had claimed to be out with friends on a warm summer night in New York City. The phone tracker, and phone, and phone owner—a young woman in her mid-20s—was positioned right near the Hudson River, unmoving, for hours. “I was sure she was in trouble,” Gottesman told me. There was nothing she could do, other than call and call and rouse her husband to join in the worry. (The young woman’s companion answered his phone. They’d been having drinks.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many parents, Gottesman keeps tabs on her kids’ location through her phone’s tracking app. It’s a widespread practice: about \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36877491/\">half\u003c/a> of parents track their teenagers, while a quarter \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/01/25/parents-relationship-with-their-young-adult-children/\">continue\u003c/a> doing so when those children become young adults. According to Pew Foundation \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/01/25/parents-relationship-with-their-young-adult-children/\">research,\u003c/a> females dominate the space: young women (31%) are tracked more often than young men (21%), and mothers do more surveilling than fathers\u003ca href=\"https://support.google.com/maps/answer/15437054?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid\">. Google Maps\u003c/a> and regular \u003ca href=\"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/find-my/id1514844621\">Apple\u003c/a> watches and phones allow parents to locate their children’s whereabouts instantly. \u003ca href=\"https://www.life360.com/learn/how-does-life360-work\">Life360\u003c/a>, another popular app, includes extra features, like crash detection in car accidents over 25mph, and driving summaries that provide a “weekly snapshot of everyone’s driving behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much has been written about the \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10238636/\">drawbacks\u003c/a> of tracking on children. Following adolescents electronically may thwart their independence and undermine trust when it’s carried out in secret. It can muddy accountability for the young person’s safety: an adolescent who knows he’s tracked may absolve himself of any personal responsibility to mind his whereabouts; Mom will save him. And kids who resent their parents’ surveillance can find ways to circumvent the digital intrusion by parking their phone at home, allowing the battery to die, or otherwise outsmarting the technology. According to Lisa \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/well/family/should-you-track-your-teens-location.html\">Damour\u003c/a>, clinical psychologist and author of \u003cem>The Emotional Lives of Teenagers\u003c/em>, “When it comes to knowing what is going on with a teenager, having their location cannot take the place of having a sturdy, working relationship.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how does child tracking affect the parents who monitor their offspring? “(U)sually people are using it to replace uncertainty with certainty,” \u003ca href=\"https://megjay.com/\">Meg Jay\u003c/a>, an author and clinical psychologist, wrote me in an email. The more anxious the parent, the more likely they are to check their kids’ locations. “Therapists call people like this reassurance junkies, because instead of living with the discomfort of uncertainty for a while, they look for data or information that things are OK,” she added. That reassurance can be short lived. Observing their kids partying into the wee hours, dining at a fast-food joint for the seventh time that week, or spending the night in a mysterious location \u003cem>provokes\u003c/em> parent anxiety—and often generates friction between partners on what to do, Jay added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to the extent that tracking provides a flash of security, that feeling may be misguided: location tracking is a blunt instrument that can be easily misread; one child “trapped” in at an unfamiliar place may be carrying out a harmless project, while another apparently secure in an apartment or dorm can be taking foolish risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regular surveillance also slows the growth of something subtler, said Lenore Skenazy, the president of \u003ca href=\"https://letgrow.org/resource/worlds-worst-mom/\">Let Grow\u003c/a>: a trust muscle. Before location tracking was possible and information ubiquitous, it was normal for parents to be ignorant about their kids’ every move, and mothers and fathers learned to believe in their children and the community; the default state for sane parents was typically “everything is OK.” But with location devices, that mindset shifts to “everything might \u003cem>not\u003c/em> be OK”—so I’d better check. Despite declining \u003ca href=\"https://www.unh.edu/ccrc/trends-child-victimization\">rates\u003c/a> of violence against children, Skenazy said, “everything goes to death,” she told me. “Fear is winning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts have tips for parents who want to cut back on location tracking. A part of the answer is striving to tolerate uncertainty, Jay wrote. “Have faith in your child and how you raised them,” and remind yourself that it’s natural for adolescents to separate from their parents. If easy access to digital surveillance is too tempting, limit the technology to one person’s phone, that of a partner or sibling, she added. Skenazy reminds parents that kids build confidence when they figure out how to fix their own troubles. If parents swoop in at the first sign of trouble—a tire goes flat, a ride doesn’t show, people at the party seem sketchy—young people don’t develop the self-reliance that comes from solving their own problems. Improving parent-child communication, and learning how to manage uncertainty, is healthier for both generations\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, not all child tracking is grounded in distrust, especially when it involves young adults. Some parents report that they track for practical reasons: knowing where their kids are helps them decide when to call. “For fun. Curiosity. To know when they’ll show up,” said Sue Greenberg, a mother of three adult kids whose location she follows. And these adult kids reciprocate, so that they too can “keep an eye” on their distant parents. “Our kids like tracking us more than we like tracking them,” explained Lisa McGahan about her four children, adding that it helps them figure out where their frequently on-the-go parents have disappeared to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their offspring’s status as adults doesn’t eliminate parents’ worry when the location tracker behaves suspiciously. Just ask Gottesman, who “absolutely loves” the technology despite the panic it caused when her daughter had apparently expired by the Hudson River. “It’s not all fun and games,” she told me.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>CONCORD, Calif. — Ninth grader Soraya Martin is a bubbly, social teenager who recently found a new passion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a very creative writer, I love to write stories for fun,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stories come naturally to Soraya, but reading and writing don’t. That’s because she has dyslexia. “Academically, school has always been a really big challenge for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then last school year, she started using technology that allows her to do a number of things: dictate her writing rather than type, listen to books rather than read them on a page and take photos of notes on the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It changed everything. Instead of getting caught up in whether a word is spelled right, Soraya finds that with speech-to-text built into her school laptop, she can simply let the words flow from her brain out of her mouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started getting really good grades,” she says. “It made me feel like … I’m not stupid, I have so much to say and it just made me like ‘I can do this, I can do school and I can be good at it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This, her mom, Heather Martin, says, is the kind of promise screens hold for students like her daughter — students she worries are being forgotten in the nationwide backlash against screens in schools. Screens are increasingly being blamed for getting in the way of student learning: More than 30 states have banned cellphones in school. Some states have gone further with proposals or policies to entirely remove screens like laptops and tablets from classrooms. In late May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/us-surgeon-generals-advisory-warning-on-the-harms-of-screen-use.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a surgeon general’s advisory\u003c/a> warning of the “harms of screen use,” citing its effects on children’s health and educational outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the pivot away from screens in schools has come from parents who are concerned screen use is getting in the way of their children’s learning — an argument Heather Martin hears in her own community in Concord, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. She shares some of those concerns, but says, “Never once in the conversation has there been a discussion, except for me bringing it up with the other parents, about kids with disabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates worry those students are also being left out of the national conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Screen-time policy proposals are often “a blunt instrument”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities make up a quickly growing share of students in this country — there are more than 8 million of them. Many rely on assistive technology to get through the school day, including for note-taking, reading and writing. For example, blind and low-vision students may use screen reading or magnifying software to read. Others, like Soraya, use speech-to-text and audiobooks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5791657/states-schools-restricting-screen-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alabama, Tennessee and Utah already have laws limiting screens\u003c/a> that take effect as early as July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My concern is that that’s a really fast period of time for this to happen,” says Lindsay Jones, CEO of the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), an education research nonprofit that focuses on making learning environments accessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones points out that some of these laws do make exceptions to restrictions on screens for students with disabilities — often a line in the text mentions assistive technology. But she says that should be the bare minimum and worries many policy proposals are “a very blunt instrument.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve moved so fast that we’ve really left our educators and our communities of people with disabilities this summer to figure it out,” she says. Perhaps with more time and input from disabled people, policies would better protect their rights, Jones adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond concerns about state- and school-level bans on cellphones and screens, disability advocates point out that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324746/trump-education-department-layoffs-closure-reorganization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the shrunken U.S. Department of Education\u003c/a> is far less equipped to enforce civil rights. Those rights include access to assistive technology for students with disabilities. The Trump administration also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/22/nx-s1-5791680/doj-disability-web-access-delay-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently delayed a long-expected digital accessibility rule\u003c/a> for public institutions, including schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>“For some kids, the screen is their accessibility tool”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Soraya’s high school in northern California, this past school year was the first that students’ phones were locked up in pouches for the entirety of the school day — as they are in many schools across the country. Heather Martin worries the phone ban could open the door to a broader ban on screens at her daughter’s school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A completely screen-free environment feels like it’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” she says. “It’s not looking at ‘screen free’ versus ‘accessibility free.’ And for some kids, the screen \u003cem>is \u003c/em>their accessibility tool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she talks about the change at her school, Soraya tenses up. “I hate them,” she says of the locked pouches. She says her phone isn’t just a distraction, it’s a safety net to call her parents if she has a panic attack, for example. And she feels singled out when she has to ask to get her phone out of its locked pouch for note-taking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soraya’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5810192/special-education-teachers-ai-ieps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">individualized education program (IEP)\u003c/a>, a legal document that outlines the accommodations and modifications she is supposed to receive at school, says she can use her phone for note-taking, along with other assistive technology. But because the cellphone ban is new, her teachers are still adjusting. Because she has several different classes and teachers throughout the day, she says it’s easy for some teachers to be unfamiliar with her accommodations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the kind of “unintended consequence” Jones worries about as she considers a near future in which more schools move away from technology that she says has been game-changing for people with disabilities. When technology is used intentionally, she says, it can “actually allow us to create much more flexible environments, and those are really needed for people with disabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones’ organization, CAST, invented an educational framework called \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5247585/teacher-training-special-education-disabilities-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Universal Design for Learning\u003c/a> that encourages educators to design their classrooms to account for the different ways students learn. For instance, a teacher might give a math lesson using blocks, a diagram and a video to help impress the same lesson upon diverse learners. Or perhaps class reading is provided as an e-book so students with low-vision can magnify the text, while those with dyslexia can listen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As screen limits ripple through the nation’s schools, Jones hopes people with disabilities aren’t forgotten. “We need educators, we need people with disabilities, we need assistive technology providers,” to weigh in on how such policies are implemented in the classroom, says Jones. “That is going to be the best way forward for everyone to achieve their goals without trampling on people’s rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Soraya, using these kinds of tools has led her to embrace her learning differences. In fact, she just finished researching and writing a series of essays exploring how people with dyslexia learn. She has straight As for the first time in her life, but more importantly, she says she can express herself in a deeper, more meaningful way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have so much more to say … It made me feel more confident in myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-123933/nirvi-shah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SCOTT DETROW, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long ago, the goal at many schools was to bring technology into classrooms. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Dozens of states have already banned cellphones in school, and several are going further, getting all kinds of screens out of classrooms. But as NPR’s Jonaki Mehta reports, students with disabilities and learning differences feel left out of the conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JONAKI MEHTA, BYLINE: Ninth grader Soraya Martin loves playing water polo, doing her friends’ nails, and recently, she’s found a love for writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA MARTIN: It’s my favorite subject. I’m a very creative writer. I love to just write stories for fun, but academically, school has always been a really big challenge for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Soraya goes to public school in Concord, about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. When we sat down on her living room sofa, she told me she was diagnosed with dyslexia in first grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: For me to sit down and read a book, I can’t see the words straight, they jumble up in my head. I’ll read a paragraph, and then I completely forget what I just read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Soraya also has anxiety and ADHD. And it’s been a journey for her to accept she isn’t less intelligent than her peers. She just learns differently. And for that, she needs tools, like software on her computer that lets her dictate her writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: I have speech-to-text. I have read aloud tools, audio books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: She only got a phone in seventh grade, but it was a game changer because she could take pictures of notes on the board. That way, she could spend time in class actually listening. Soraya says, until last year, she refused any assistive technology because like any kid, it just sucked to feel different. But once she started using things like speech-to-text more freely…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: I started getting really good grades, and I had so much more to say. And it made me feel more confident in myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Disability advocates say it’s those kinds of gains that technology in the classroom can allow for some students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HEATHER MARTIN: A completely screen-free environment feels like it’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: That’s Soraya’s mom, Heather Martin, who Soraya calls her biggest advocate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARTIN: It’s not looking at screen-free versus accessibility-free, and for some kids, the screen is their accessibility tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: So far, Soraya’s school isn’t going screen-free, but this was the first year it banned cellphones. Teachers and students are still adjusting, but at times, it’s been stressful for Soraya, like when she’s had to ask for permission to get her phone unlocked to take notes. And Heather worries this could be a slippery slope toward no screens. She says that debate has heated up for parents in her community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARTIN: And never once in the conversation has there been a discussion, except for me bringing it up, about kids with disabilities or…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Heather shares the concerns around screens being a distraction. But she wants parents and policymakers to realize not every screen is the same for every child. Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school district, is the first major district to require screen time limits. And states like Iowa, Utah and Alabama, already have laws on the books limiting screens, and some of them do have carveouts for kids with disabilities. But advocates have concerns about how thoughtfully assistive technology is being considered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KATE BARTLEIN: We see how quickly things are moving in terms of removing screens from classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: That’s Kate Bartlein of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. She says the jury is still out on what kind of screen use is good or bad and that nuance is often missing in the national debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARTLEIN: Good instruction is good instruction. So having an educator who’s able to provide good instruction, whether that be through screens or not, can support learners of all different types.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Bartlein saw this with her own 11-year-old son who goes to school outside Minneapolis. He has dysgraphia, meaning he struggles with handwriting. And his teachers thought all he was capable of was writing simple words and sentences until they gave assistive technology a shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARTLEIN: And using speech-to-text, he wrote this beautiful, impressive essay about his experience in an inclusive theater program and was able to use all of these incredible vocabulary words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: His teachers told Bartlein they were amazed he could write an essay at several grade levels above where he’d been before. This is the same kind of drastic change Heather Martin says she’s seen in Soraya since she started using assistive tools. For the first time in her life, Soraya has straight A’s, but more importantly, says Heather, her daughter can truly express herself now. Soraya pulls up an essay she’s working on at school that’s about a very relevant subject.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: Can my mom just read it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: Just read the introduction, this part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARTIN: OK. (Reading) School is supposed to be a place where everyone has a fair chance to learn. My main question from my research is why school expectations do not match how students with dyslexia actually need to be taught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Both parents hope that as legislators and school leaders shape screen time policies, they remember the kinds of possibilities screens hold for kids like theirs. Jonaki Mehta, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>CONCORD, Calif. — Ninth grader Soraya Martin is a bubbly, social teenager who recently found a new passion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m a very creative writer, I love to write stories for fun,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stories come naturally to Soraya, but reading and writing don’t. That’s because she has dyslexia. “Academically, school has always been a really big challenge for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then last school year, she started using technology that allows her to do a number of things: dictate her writing rather than type, listen to books rather than read them on a page and take photos of notes on the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It changed everything. Instead of getting caught up in whether a word is spelled right, Soraya finds that with speech-to-text built into her school laptop, she can simply let the words flow from her brain out of her mouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started getting really good grades,” she says. “It made me feel like … I’m not stupid, I have so much to say and it just made me like ‘I can do this, I can do school and I can be good at it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This, her mom, Heather Martin, says, is the kind of promise screens hold for students like her daughter — students she worries are being forgotten in the nationwide backlash against screens in schools. Screens are increasingly being blamed for getting in the way of student learning: More than 30 states have banned cellphones in school. Some states have gone further with proposals or policies to entirely remove screens like laptops and tablets from classrooms. In late May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/us-surgeon-generals-advisory-warning-on-the-harms-of-screen-use.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a surgeon general’s advisory\u003c/a> warning of the “harms of screen use,” citing its effects on children’s health and educational outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the pivot away from screens in schools has come from parents who are concerned screen use is getting in the way of their children’s learning — an argument Heather Martin hears in her own community in Concord, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. She shares some of those concerns, but says, “Never once in the conversation has there been a discussion, except for me bringing it up with the other parents, about kids with disabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates worry those students are also being left out of the national conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Screen-time policy proposals are often “a blunt instrument”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities make up a quickly growing share of students in this country — there are more than 8 million of them. Many rely on assistive technology to get through the school day, including for note-taking, reading and writing. For example, blind and low-vision students may use screen reading or magnifying software to read. Others, like Soraya, use speech-to-text and audiobooks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/01/nx-s1-5791657/states-schools-restricting-screen-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alabama, Tennessee and Utah already have laws limiting screens\u003c/a> that take effect as early as July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My concern is that that’s a really fast period of time for this to happen,” says Lindsay Jones, CEO of the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), an education research nonprofit that focuses on making learning environments accessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones points out that some of these laws do make exceptions to restrictions on screens for students with disabilities — often a line in the text mentions assistive technology. But she says that should be the bare minimum and worries many policy proposals are “a very blunt instrument.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve moved so fast that we’ve really left our educators and our communities of people with disabilities this summer to figure it out,” she says. Perhaps with more time and input from disabled people, policies would better protect their rights, Jones adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond concerns about state- and school-level bans on cellphones and screens, disability advocates point out that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5324746/trump-education-department-layoffs-closure-reorganization\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the shrunken U.S. Department of Education\u003c/a> is far less equipped to enforce civil rights. Those rights include access to assistive technology for students with disabilities. The Trump administration also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/04/22/nx-s1-5791680/doj-disability-web-access-delay-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently delayed a long-expected digital accessibility rule\u003c/a> for public institutions, including schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>“For some kids, the screen is their accessibility tool”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Soraya’s high school in northern California, this past school year was the first that students’ phones were locked up in pouches for the entirety of the school day — as they are in many schools across the country. Heather Martin worries the phone ban could open the door to a broader ban on screens at her daughter’s school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A completely screen-free environment feels like it’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” she says. “It’s not looking at ‘screen free’ versus ‘accessibility free.’ And for some kids, the screen \u003cem>is \u003c/em>their accessibility tool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she talks about the change at her school, Soraya tenses up. “I hate them,” she says of the locked pouches. She says her phone isn’t just a distraction, it’s a safety net to call her parents if she has a panic attack, for example. And she feels singled out when she has to ask to get her phone out of its locked pouch for note-taking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soraya’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/20/nx-s1-5810192/special-education-teachers-ai-ieps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">individualized education program (IEP)\u003c/a>, a legal document that outlines the accommodations and modifications she is supposed to receive at school, says she can use her phone for note-taking, along with other assistive technology. But because the cellphone ban is new, her teachers are still adjusting. Because she has several different classes and teachers throughout the day, she says it’s easy for some teachers to be unfamiliar with her accommodations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the kind of “unintended consequence” Jones worries about as she considers a near future in which more schools move away from technology that she says has been game-changing for people with disabilities. When technology is used intentionally, she says, it can “actually allow us to create much more flexible environments, and those are really needed for people with disabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones’ organization, CAST, invented an educational framework called \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5247585/teacher-training-special-education-disabilities-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Universal Design for Learning\u003c/a> that encourages educators to design their classrooms to account for the different ways students learn. For instance, a teacher might give a math lesson using blocks, a diagram and a video to help impress the same lesson upon diverse learners. Or perhaps class reading is provided as an e-book so students with low-vision can magnify the text, while those with dyslexia can listen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As screen limits ripple through the nation’s schools, Jones hopes people with disabilities aren’t forgotten. “We need educators, we need people with disabilities, we need assistive technology providers,” to weigh in on how such policies are implemented in the classroom, says Jones. “That is going to be the best way forward for everyone to achieve their goals without trampling on people’s rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Soraya, using these kinds of tools has led her to embrace her learning differences. In fact, she just finished researching and writing a series of essays exploring how people with dyslexia learn. She has straight As for the first time in her life, but more importantly, she says she can express herself in a deeper, more meaningful way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have so much more to say … It made me feel more confident in myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-123933/nirvi-shah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SCOTT DETROW, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long ago, the goal at many schools was to bring technology into classrooms. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Dozens of states have already banned cellphones in school, and several are going further, getting all kinds of screens out of classrooms. But as NPR’s Jonaki Mehta reports, students with disabilities and learning differences feel left out of the conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JONAKI MEHTA, BYLINE: Ninth grader Soraya Martin loves playing water polo, doing her friends’ nails, and recently, she’s found a love for writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA MARTIN: It’s my favorite subject. I’m a very creative writer. I love to just write stories for fun, but academically, school has always been a really big challenge for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Soraya goes to public school in Concord, about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. When we sat down on her living room sofa, she told me she was diagnosed with dyslexia in first grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: For me to sit down and read a book, I can’t see the words straight, they jumble up in my head. I’ll read a paragraph, and then I completely forget what I just read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Soraya also has anxiety and ADHD. And it’s been a journey for her to accept she isn’t less intelligent than her peers. She just learns differently. And for that, she needs tools, like software on her computer that lets her dictate her writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: I have speech-to-text. I have read aloud tools, audio books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: She only got a phone in seventh grade, but it was a game changer because she could take pictures of notes on the board. That way, she could spend time in class actually listening. Soraya says, until last year, she refused any assistive technology because like any kid, it just sucked to feel different. But once she started using things like speech-to-text more freely…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: I started getting really good grades, and I had so much more to say. And it made me feel more confident in myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Disability advocates say it’s those kinds of gains that technology in the classroom can allow for some students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HEATHER MARTIN: A completely screen-free environment feels like it’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: That’s Soraya’s mom, Heather Martin, who Soraya calls her biggest advocate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARTIN: It’s not looking at screen-free versus accessibility-free, and for some kids, the screen is their accessibility tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: So far, Soraya’s school isn’t going screen-free, but this was the first year it banned cellphones. Teachers and students are still adjusting, but at times, it’s been stressful for Soraya, like when she’s had to ask for permission to get her phone unlocked to take notes. And Heather worries this could be a slippery slope toward no screens. She says that debate has heated up for parents in her community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARTIN: And never once in the conversation has there been a discussion, except for me bringing it up, about kids with disabilities or…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Heather shares the concerns around screens being a distraction. But she wants parents and policymakers to realize not every screen is the same for every child. Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school district, is the first major district to require screen time limits. And states like Iowa, Utah and Alabama, already have laws on the books limiting screens, and some of them do have carveouts for kids with disabilities. But advocates have concerns about how thoughtfully assistive technology is being considered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KATE BARTLEIN: We see how quickly things are moving in terms of removing screens from classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: That’s Kate Bartlein of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. She says the jury is still out on what kind of screen use is good or bad and that nuance is often missing in the national debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARTLEIN: Good instruction is good instruction. So having an educator who’s able to provide good instruction, whether that be through screens or not, can support learners of all different types.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Bartlein saw this with her own 11-year-old son who goes to school outside Minneapolis. He has dysgraphia, meaning he struggles with handwriting. And his teachers thought all he was capable of was writing simple words and sentences until they gave assistive technology a shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BARTLEIN: And using speech-to-text, he wrote this beautiful, impressive essay about his experience in an inclusive theater program and was able to use all of these incredible vocabulary words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: His teachers told Bartlein they were amazed he could write an essay at several grade levels above where he’d been before. This is the same kind of drastic change Heather Martin says she’s seen in Soraya since she started using assistive tools. For the first time in her life, Soraya has straight A’s, but more importantly, says Heather, her daughter can truly express herself now. Soraya pulls up an essay she’s working on at school that’s about a very relevant subject.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: Can my mom just read it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SORAYA: Just read the introduction, this part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARTIN: OK. (Reading) School is supposed to be a place where everyone has a fair chance to learn. My main question from my research is why school expectations do not match how students with dyslexia actually need to be taught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Both parents hope that as legislators and school leaders shape screen time policies, they remember the kinds of possibilities screens hold for kids like theirs. Jonaki Mehta, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Lila Byock’s oldest son was 11, she began to worry about how much time he spent on his school-issued iPad. It seemed as if he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the point that he was one day penalized for not having his iPad with him during PE class,” she recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She asked his school in central Los Angeles to explain why there was so much digital learning, even years after the COVID-19 pandemic: “There was no justification for why it was better,” she said. “It was just sort of, ‘Well, we got these things during COVID and might as well keep using them.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Byock started talking to fellow parents and formed \u003ca href=\"https://www.schoolsbeyondscreens.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Schools Beyond Screens\u003c/a>, an advocacy group with thousands of parents, beginning in Los Angeles but eventually expanding around the United States. She says whenever she talks to parents, they all have the same question: “This is an emergency — what can we do about it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, after months of petitions and demonstrations, the school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted unanimously to limit screen time for all grade levels, beginning in the fall, with a particular focus on eliminating it entirely for elementary-age students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move is an about-face for a district that, since the pandemic, has \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2024/lausd-launches-ed-the-nations-first-ai-personal-assistant-for-students/708127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">focused on bringing technology into the classroom\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>States sprint to limit screen time\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The shift in the nation’s second-largest school district aligns with a flurry of recent state movement. Since January, Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia have passed some form of legislation to reevaluate technology’s role in education instruction and assessment, and more than 10 other states are considering similar restrictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>T. Philip Nichols, an associate professor of English education at Baylor University, called the move by LAUSD “the pendulum swing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nichols, who has researched technology’s role in public education for years, says all the recent activity is a shocking but welcome surprise. The proliferation of laptops, tablets and interactive whiteboards, he said, “aren’t just neutral tools. They shape the ways that we think. They shape the way that we communicate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposed legislation in Vermont recently \u003ca href=\"https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/BILLS/H-0830/H-0830%20As%20Introduced.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cited Nichols’ work in a bill\u003c/a> that would allow parents to opt their kids out of screen time. His research argues that widespread computer use has not delivered on higher test scores or student achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vermont bill also raises concerns about student data privacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These platforms are … also gathering data about how students are participating in them so that they can sell products back to schools,” Nichols said. “When you are reading a textbook, that textbook is not reading you back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How much tech is too much?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Still, some advocates \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-technology-good-or-bad-for-learning/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">note decades of research\u003c/a> on the potential for computers and technology to streamline learning and provide useful information for students and educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tracy Weeks, the senior director of education policy and strategy at the education technology company Instructure, says rushing to broadly ban screen time in schools is rash: “It’s sort of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instructure creates \u003ca href=\"https://www.instructure.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">digital classroom-management tools\u003c/a> like Canvas and Mastery, used by about 30% of K-12 students nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about things like screen time,” she says, “[it] gets really hard because not all minutes are equal depending on what you’re actually doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She argues that doomscrolling and passively watching videos are different from the interactive activities that many teachers use to keep kids engaged.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A bipartisan push\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>LAUSD’s vote to limit screen time gave district administrators a June deadline to craft an official policy. The directive also seeks to roll out the new rules this fall in classrooms. Parents and teachers will not know the scope of those rules until sometime this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The projected rollout in LA is fast but echoes other proposed legislation. In Utah, a \u003ca href=\"https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/static/HB0273.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">back-to-basics law to limit screen time\u003c/a> goes into effect on July 1 and gives the state board of education until the end of the calendar year to draft a new policy for schools, though when that will be enforced in classrooms is still unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to help kids build healthier habits with technology,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vce-G0Gp4gs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">press conference\u003c/a>. “We’re not going to get this exactly right on the first try, but we’re certainly moving in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Missouri, the state House passed a bill on limiting screen time this spring. The proposal, like others making their way through state legislatures, was introduced by a Republican lawmaker. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support in the House and is now on its way to the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kathy Steinhoff is a Democratic state representative and former teacher who ended up voting for the Missouri bill. She says that at first she was dubious: “When I saw that bill and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way that I could get behind this.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initial proposal called for no more than 45 minutes of screen time per day and mandated cursive writing instruction. Steinhoff says she understood the research behind the proposal but did not agree with prescribing such rigid instructions for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Teaching is a bit of an art,” she said. “And when you try to make it more of a checklist … it loses its ability to really, I think, have a meaningful education for our kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, though, she said changes in the legislation made it less rigid and gave school districts more room to set their own policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The version that passed Missouri’s House is similar to the one LAUSD voted on — school districts must \u003ca href=\"https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills261/sumpdf/HB2230P.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">come up with their own policies on limiting screen time\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big difference? The timeline. Steinhoff argued that even the 2027 deadline in Missouri’s current bill is too tight a turnaround.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Lila Byock’s oldest son was 11, she began to worry about how much time he spent on his school-issued iPad. It seemed as if he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the point that he was one day penalized for not having his iPad with him during PE class,” she recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She asked his school in central Los Angeles to explain why there was so much digital learning, even years after the COVID-19 pandemic: “There was no justification for why it was better,” she said. “It was just sort of, ‘Well, we got these things during COVID and might as well keep using them.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Byock started talking to fellow parents and formed \u003ca href=\"https://www.schoolsbeyondscreens.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Schools Beyond Screens\u003c/a>, an advocacy group with thousands of parents, beginning in Los Angeles but eventually expanding around the United States. She says whenever she talks to parents, they all have the same question: “This is an emergency — what can we do about it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, after months of petitions and demonstrations, the school board of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted unanimously to limit screen time for all grade levels, beginning in the fall, with a particular focus on eliminating it entirely for elementary-age students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move is an about-face for a district that, since the pandemic, has \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2024/lausd-launches-ed-the-nations-first-ai-personal-assistant-for-students/708127\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">focused on bringing technology into the classroom\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>States sprint to limit screen time\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The shift in the nation’s second-largest school district aligns with a flurry of recent state movement. Since January, Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia have passed some form of legislation to reevaluate technology’s role in education instruction and assessment, and more than 10 other states are considering similar restrictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>T. Philip Nichols, an associate professor of English education at Baylor University, called the move by LAUSD “the pendulum swing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nichols, who has researched technology’s role in public education for years, says all the recent activity is a shocking but welcome surprise. The proliferation of laptops, tablets and interactive whiteboards, he said, “aren’t just neutral tools. They shape the ways that we think. They shape the way that we communicate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposed legislation in Vermont recently \u003ca href=\"https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/BILLS/H-0830/H-0830%20As%20Introduced.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cited Nichols’ work in a bill\u003c/a> that would allow parents to opt their kids out of screen time. His research argues that widespread computer use has not delivered on higher test scores or student achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vermont bill also raises concerns about student data privacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These platforms are … also gathering data about how students are participating in them so that they can sell products back to schools,” Nichols said. “When you are reading a textbook, that textbook is not reading you back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How much tech is too much?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Still, some advocates \u003ca href=\"https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-technology-good-or-bad-for-learning/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">note decades of research\u003c/a> on the potential for computers and technology to streamline learning and provide useful information for students and educators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tracy Weeks, the senior director of education policy and strategy at the education technology company Instructure, says rushing to broadly ban screen time in schools is rash: “It’s sort of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instructure creates \u003ca href=\"https://www.instructure.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">digital classroom-management tools\u003c/a> like Canvas and Mastery, used by about 30% of K-12 students nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about things like screen time,” she says, “[it] gets really hard because not all minutes are equal depending on what you’re actually doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She argues that doomscrolling and passively watching videos are different from the interactive activities that many teachers use to keep kids engaged.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A bipartisan push\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>LAUSD’s vote to limit screen time gave district administrators a June deadline to craft an official policy. The directive also seeks to roll out the new rules this fall in classrooms. Parents and teachers will not know the scope of those rules until sometime this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The projected rollout in LA is fast but echoes other proposed legislation. In Utah, a \u003ca href=\"https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/static/HB0273.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">back-to-basics law to limit screen time\u003c/a> goes into effect on July 1 and gives the state board of education until the end of the calendar year to draft a new policy for schools, though when that will be enforced in classrooms is still unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to help kids build healthier habits with technology,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vce-G0Gp4gs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">press conference\u003c/a>. “We’re not going to get this exactly right on the first try, but we’re certainly moving in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Missouri, the state House passed a bill on limiting screen time this spring. The proposal, like others making their way through state legislatures, was introduced by a Republican lawmaker. The bill passed with strong bipartisan support in the House and is now on its way to the state Senate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kathy Steinhoff is a Democratic state representative and former teacher who ended up voting for the Missouri bill. She says that at first she was dubious: “When I saw that bill and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s no way that I could get behind this.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initial proposal called for no more than 45 minutes of screen time per day and mandated cursive writing instruction. Steinhoff says she understood the research behind the proposal but did not agree with prescribing such rigid instructions for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Teaching is a bit of an art,” she said. “And when you try to make it more of a checklist … it loses its ability to really, I think, have a meaningful education for our kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, though, she said changes in the legislation made it less rigid and gave school districts more room to set their own policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The version that passed Missouri’s House is similar to the one LAUSD voted on — school districts must \u003ca href=\"https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills261/sumpdf/HB2230P.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">come up with their own policies on limiting screen time\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big difference? The timeline. Steinhoff argued that even the 2027 deadline in Missouri’s current bill is too tight a turnaround.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For English professor Dan Cryer, using generative artificial intelligence to write a college essay is like bringing a forklift to the gym.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If all we needed was the weights moved, then that would be great,” says Cryer, who teaches at Johnson County Community College outside Kansas City, Kansas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But we need the muscles developed, and students going through the process of writing are developing those muscles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cryer says AI has also added a new type of labor for professors like him: trying to determine whether a student’s work is their own. He says that problem is compounded by the fact that his community college, like many other higher education institutions around the U.S., provides students access to AI tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the advent of these tools has created a new burden for students too: finding the line between responsible and irresponsible AI use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not fair to them,” Cryer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than three years after ChatGPT debuted, generative AI has become a part of everyday life, and professors and students are still figuring out how or whether they should use it, especially in humanities courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent survey suggests many students are diving right in: According to a poll by \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/academics/2025/08/29/survey-college-students-views-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inside Higher Ed and the Generation Lab\u003c/a> conducted last July, about 85% of undergraduates were using AI for coursework, including to brainstorm ideas, outline papers and study for exams. Roughly 19% of students also reported using AI to write full essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than half of students who used AI for coursework had mixed feelings about it, reporting that it helps them sometimes but can also make them think less deeply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aysa Tarana, a recent college graduate, was in her first year at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities when ChatGPT was released. She says she started using the chatbot for little tasks, like suggestions for topics to research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tarana says she eventually stopped using AI because it made her feel like “I was outsourcing my thinking, and that felt really weird.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s exactly what Cryer worries about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After spending a sabbatical studying generative AI, he came to his own conclusion: Cryer believes educators should use AI tools as little as possible in their teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seems to be one of the main purposes of these tools is to keep you from having to think so hard,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cryer says he now devotes more time to persuading his students of the value of putting in the work to become better writers. He says he explains to them that the goal of their education is the process, not the product — because society doesn’t need more college essays. “What we need is students to go through the process of writing research papers so they can become better thinkers, so they can put together a cogent argument, so they can differentiate between a good source and a bad source,” Cryer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if students rely on AI to do their work for them, Cryer says, it could end up cheating them out of the education they signed up for.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A professor who sees value in generative AI\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Charlotte, N.C., Leslie Clement says she has come to view generative AI as a powerful collaborator that can enhance student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We encourage [students] to use it because we know they’re going to use it, but to use it in a responsible way,” says Clement, a professor of English, Spanish and African studies at the historically Black Johnson C. Smith University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clement says she allows students to use AI to create outlines for their papers, get feedback on ideas and compare different sources of information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clement also co-created a course called “African Diaspora and AI” that examines how AI impacts people of African descent globally, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dangerous mining of cobalt\u003c/a>, a crucial component in AI technologies, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The course also covers potential future benefits of AI, as well as the contributions of Black researchers and scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at Afrofuturism, how students can use these tools to reimagine their futures,” Clement says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says her goal has always been to foster critical, ethical and inclusive thinking — and she wants her students to apply those skills to their use of AI tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want students not only to use the tools for good but also to interrogate them,” Clement says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The AI study buddy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A couple of hours northeast of Clement, in Durham, N.C., pre-med student Anjali Tatini has found her own ways to use AI for good. Tatini is double majoring in global health and neuroscience and says AI tools have helped her better understand some of the complicated subjects she has been studying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take last semester, when Tatini, a 19-year-old sophomore at Duke University, says she was confused by some concepts in a biology course. She turned to Gemini — Google’s AI chatbot — for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d be like, ‘This is the concept — can you explain what it means?'” Tatini recalls. “And it would just respond to me. And if it was too high level, I could ask it to dumb it down a little bit, which was very helpful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other classes, like chemistry, Tatini says she has used AI to create practice problems to help her prepare for exams; in a marketing class, she has used it for brainstorming ideas; in statistics, she has used it to help her generate lines of code for data analyses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s helpful to have a tutor on demand, Tatini says, because she’s not always able to meet with her professors in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have jobs, I have other classes, I have clubs. I don’t have the time always to make all these office hours,” she says. “So it’s nice to have something that’s on my own time, able to respond to me the same way that maybe a person would.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatini draws the line at having AI write for her. She says she’ll use these tools to help outline and organize her ideas, but the actual writing is all hers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I’m putting something out, I want it to be something that I’m proud to say this is mine. So I would never use AI to write something because it wouldn’t sound like me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>“What you produce is like a fingerprint to the world”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nearby, in Chapel Hill, Hannah Elder, a 21-year-old junior at the University of North Carolina, also takes pride in owning her writing assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m such a strong believer in cultivating your own thoughts and being able to articulate them,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder is a pre-law student, and she takes a mix of courses, including public policy and philosophy classes. She says she uses generative AI to proofread her work and to check it against course rubrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Elder says she’d never use it to write or generate ideas for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learning how to formulate her own ideas and beliefs and communicate them through writing has been one of the most valuable parts of her college experience, Elder says. She worries that if students lean on AI to do that for them, they won’t learn to think for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I use notebook paper still [for] all my notes, because I just believe so strongly in what you write down and what you produce is like a fingerprint to the world. And I think in some sense that’s being lost,” Elder says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Elder doesn’t think the solution is to ban AI entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t deny that it’s going to be a part of [the college experience],” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wants educators to integrate AI instruction into curricula so students can learn to see the line between beneficial and harmful use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If teachers incorporate it in a responsible way through academics,” she says, “I think it’ll be seen less as a cheat code and more just like, ‘Oh, here’s the reality of this, and here’s how I can use it well, and here’s how it can help me.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was supported by a grant from the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tarbellcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and the Omidyar Network’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://omidyar.com/update/omidyar-network-announces-2026-class-of-reporters-in-residence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Reporters in Residence program\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For English professor Dan Cryer, using generative artificial intelligence to write a college essay is like bringing a forklift to the gym.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If all we needed was the weights moved, then that would be great,” says Cryer, who teaches at Johnson County Community College outside Kansas City, Kansas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But we need the muscles developed, and students going through the process of writing are developing those muscles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cryer says AI has also added a new type of labor for professors like him: trying to determine whether a student’s work is their own. He says that problem is compounded by the fact that his community college, like many other higher education institutions around the U.S., provides students access to AI tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the advent of these tools has created a new burden for students too: finding the line between responsible and irresponsible AI use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not fair to them,” Cryer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than three years after ChatGPT debuted, generative AI has become a part of everyday life, and professors and students are still figuring out how or whether they should use it, especially in humanities courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent survey suggests many students are diving right in: According to a poll by \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/academics/2025/08/29/survey-college-students-views-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inside Higher Ed and the Generation Lab\u003c/a> conducted last July, about 85% of undergraduates were using AI for coursework, including to brainstorm ideas, outline papers and study for exams. Roughly 19% of students also reported using AI to write full essays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than half of students who used AI for coursework had mixed feelings about it, reporting that it helps them sometimes but can also make them think less deeply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aysa Tarana, a recent college graduate, was in her first year at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities when ChatGPT was released. She says she started using the chatbot for little tasks, like suggestions for topics to research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tarana says she eventually stopped using AI because it made her feel like “I was outsourcing my thinking, and that felt really weird.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s exactly what Cryer worries about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After spending a sabbatical studying generative AI, he came to his own conclusion: Cryer believes educators should use AI tools as little as possible in their teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seems to be one of the main purposes of these tools is to keep you from having to think so hard,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cryer says he now devotes more time to persuading his students of the value of putting in the work to become better writers. He says he explains to them that the goal of their education is the process, not the product — because society doesn’t need more college essays. “What we need is students to go through the process of writing research papers so they can become better thinkers, so they can put together a cogent argument, so they can differentiate between a good source and a bad source,” Cryer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if students rely on AI to do their work for them, Cryer says, it could end up cheating them out of the education they signed up for.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A professor who sees value in generative AI\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Charlotte, N.C., Leslie Clement says she has come to view generative AI as a powerful collaborator that can enhance student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We encourage [students] to use it because we know they’re going to use it, but to use it in a responsible way,” says Clement, a professor of English, Spanish and African studies at the historically Black Johnson C. Smith University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clement says she allows students to use AI to create outlines for their papers, get feedback on ideas and compare different sources of information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clement also co-created a course called “African Diaspora and AI” that examines how AI impacts people of African descent globally, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dangerous mining of cobalt\u003c/a>, a crucial component in AI technologies, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The course also covers potential future benefits of AI, as well as the contributions of Black researchers and scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at Afrofuturism, how students can use these tools to reimagine their futures,” Clement says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says her goal has always been to foster critical, ethical and inclusive thinking — and she wants her students to apply those skills to their use of AI tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want students not only to use the tools for good but also to interrogate them,” Clement says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The AI study buddy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A couple of hours northeast of Clement, in Durham, N.C., pre-med student Anjali Tatini has found her own ways to use AI for good. Tatini is double majoring in global health and neuroscience and says AI tools have helped her better understand some of the complicated subjects she has been studying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take last semester, when Tatini, a 19-year-old sophomore at Duke University, says she was confused by some concepts in a biology course. She turned to Gemini — Google’s AI chatbot — for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d be like, ‘This is the concept — can you explain what it means?'” Tatini recalls. “And it would just respond to me. And if it was too high level, I could ask it to dumb it down a little bit, which was very helpful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other classes, like chemistry, Tatini says she has used AI to create practice problems to help her prepare for exams; in a marketing class, she has used it for brainstorming ideas; in statistics, she has used it to help her generate lines of code for data analyses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s helpful to have a tutor on demand, Tatini says, because she’s not always able to meet with her professors in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have jobs, I have other classes, I have clubs. I don’t have the time always to make all these office hours,” she says. “So it’s nice to have something that’s on my own time, able to respond to me the same way that maybe a person would.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tatini draws the line at having AI write for her. She says she’ll use these tools to help outline and organize her ideas, but the actual writing is all hers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I’m putting something out, I want it to be something that I’m proud to say this is mine. So I would never use AI to write something because it wouldn’t sound like me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>“What you produce is like a fingerprint to the world”\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nearby, in Chapel Hill, Hannah Elder, a 21-year-old junior at the University of North Carolina, also takes pride in owning her writing assignments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m such a strong believer in cultivating your own thoughts and being able to articulate them,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder is a pre-law student, and she takes a mix of courses, including public policy and philosophy classes. She says she uses generative AI to proofread her work and to check it against course rubrics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Elder says she’d never use it to write or generate ideas for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Learning how to formulate her own ideas and beliefs and communicate them through writing has been one of the most valuable parts of her college experience, Elder says. She worries that if students lean on AI to do that for them, they won’t learn to think for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I use notebook paper still [for] all my notes, because I just believe so strongly in what you write down and what you produce is like a fingerprint to the world. And I think in some sense that’s being lost,” Elder says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Elder doesn’t think the solution is to ban AI entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t deny that it’s going to be a part of [the college experience],” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wants educators to integrate AI instruction into curricula so students can learn to see the line between beneficial and harmful use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If teachers incorporate it in a responsible way through academics,” she says, “I think it’ll be seen less as a cheat code and more just like, ‘Oh, here’s the reality of this, and here’s how I can use it well, and here’s how it can help me.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Stacks of worksheets sit atop desks and tables in Chanea Bond’s Fort Worth classroom. Her students all have their own school-issued laptops, but Bond has swapped computers for paper — lots of paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each class begins with several minutes of journaling in notebooks, and nearly all assignments must be handwritten and physically turned in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you walk into almost any one of my classes today, you will see that all of my students are handwriting,” Bond says, “and they are journaling, and they are constantly and consistently doing everything with a pen or a pencil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bond teaches at Southwest High School in the Fort Worth Independent School District, which serves mostly students from low-income backgrounds. She says going almost entirely analog is the best way she’s found to keep generative artificial intelligence out of her American literature and composition classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people say to me: ‘Aren’t you afraid that they’re going to get behind?’ And my response is: ‘I know that when my students leave my class that they know how to think and they know how to write.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent data suggests educators may be embracing AI more than they’re eschewing it, like Bond has. Roughly 60% of surveyed teachers said they used AI at least a little in their classroom, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/technology/chatgpt-for-teachers-a-boon-a-bust-or-just-meh/2025/11?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 2025\u003c/a> poll from the EdWeek Research Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially, Bond says she tried to incorporate AI into her teaching. She had students read and annotate the poem \u003cem>Still I Rise\u003c/em> by Maya Angelou, and then she allowed them to use AI to write a thesis statement for a literary analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was terrible,” she says, adding that it was clear the students who used AI weren’t really engaging with the text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They didn’t know the material because they had outsourced that level of thinking and they didn’t have to come to a conclusion or an argument about the text they were studying on their own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She realized her students couldn’t always discern whether what AI generated was valuable or not, and they still needed to build foundational skills, like how to write a thesis and construct an argument.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are those skills going to be built, if not here?” Bond asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What AI-free teaching looks like\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bond says journaling by hand at the start of every class gets her students in the practice of writing and builds their confidence to write longer pieces. It also allows Bond to learn their writing voices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that I have a lot of students who don’t believe that their voices sound academic enough,” Bond says. “I like to give them low stakes opportunities to start cultivating what they want to say and how they want to say it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1600x1066+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcd%2F11%2F2e2ab82e478d9171130deeaf2c0a%2Fai-ban3.jpg\" alt=\"Bond provides her students with dictionaries, so they don't have to rely on technology to look up words. And she sometimes uses a pocket instructor book for ideas to get students to talk about and engage with literature.\">\u003cfigcaption>Bond provides her students with dictionaries, so they don’t have to rely on technology to look up words. And she sometimes uses a pocket instructor book for ideas to get students to talk about and engage with literature. \u003ccite> (Nitashia Johnson for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And instead of grading only the final essay or presentation, Bond grades the different parts of the process, including the thesis, the outline, the bibliography and the handwritten draft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The steps matter to the cumulative overall grade because that’s how I know that the thinking is happening,” Bond says. “I think a student is less likely to turn in something that is written by AI if they’ve had to show me the beginning, the middle and the end, and the different pieces that go into it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When students reach the final stages of this process, Bond has them type their essays out. Unless they have accommodations for a disability, Bond says this is the only time students use computers in her class.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The response from students\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Meyah Alvarez, a junior, was initially confused by Bond’s approach. She says at the beginning of the school year, she turned in a typed outline for a poetry analysis podcast and Bond told her to re-do it by hand because it would help her think and write better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was different, but I do like it now,” Alvarez says. “I feel like it actually does get my brain thinking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Literature classes haven’t always been Alvarez’s favorite, but she says she loves Bond’s lessons. She likes the interactive nature of her assignments and that Bond gives students opportunities to write about their opinions and experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ms. Bond’s approach is very good. Like, she makes it to where AI can’t even really help you at this point,” Alvarez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1600x1066+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F83%2Ff5%2Fbb18d15643908e6204ed3fb97679%2Fai-ban4.jpg\" alt=\"Bond's classroom includes a display of handwritten thank you notes from students.\">\u003cfigcaption>Bond’s classroom includes a display of handwritten thank you notes from students. \u003ccite> (Nitashia Johnson for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Several of Bond’s students told NPR they appreciate Bond’s AI ban because they’re opposed to the technology for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/10/14/nx-s1-5565147/google-ai-data-centers-growth-environment-electricity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">environmental\u003c/a> and ethical reasons. But virtually all of them say AI-use on school assignments is widespread among their peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe some of us don’t want to admit that we use it because it’s kind of a cultural taboo,” says sophomore Eligh Ellison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ellison says he’s used AI to help him with schoolwork in the past, and to brainstorm names for characters in stories he writes. But he supports Bond’s AI ban. He says her class is an opportunity to figure out what \u003cem>he \u003c/em>thinks — not what AI thinks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that AI does have a time and a place, but especially as it’s still evolving and a lot of us are still yet to make solid opinions, we’re standing on shaky ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even students who have gotten caught using AI in Bond’s class say they’ve learned from the experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>T, a junior, says he turned to AI after waiting until the last minute to complete a bibliography on his chosen research topic: the adultification of children. His family requested we only use his first initial so he can talk freely without it impacting college applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It probably wasn’t smart, but also I had other work to do. So I put it through AI. I had it write it for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bond says she realized immediately that T had used AI. She was disappointed, but she tried not to take it personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He really felt overwhelmed and he got to a point where he felt really afraid of not turning something in, and so he turned something in,” Bond says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>T redid the assignment from scratch with help from Bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says he now has this advice for students who may be tempted to use AI to do their schoolwork for them: “Take a second and think about it. Would you rather really grow from an experience of actually doing some work and critically thinking about the things you’re writing or talking about, or just taking nothing away from it and just use a robot?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How others are embracing the technology\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not every teacher agrees with Bond’s approach – including her friend, Brett Vogelsinger, who teaches English at Central Bucks High School South outside Philadelphia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says he tries to model responsible AI use to his students, showing them the difference between using the technology to cheat and using it to advance their learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vogelsinger says he wants his students to be able “to determine that this particular use is shortcutting and shortchanging my thinking and this use is pushing me and actually making me think more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he allows AI use on some assignments — so long as students are transparent about \u003cem>how\u003c/em> they used it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even Vogelsinger, who wrote a book about using AI in writing instruction, says he’s still figuring out how and when to incorporate AI into teaching: “We’re very much in the experimental phase of all this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And while Bond and many of her students see the value of an AI-free classroom, the federal government, some states and some school districts are embracing the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miami-Dade County Public Schools, one of the country’s largest districts, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wlrn.org/education/2025-05-19/miami-schools-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gives high schoolers access to Google’s Gemini chatbot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The future is now,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz8GI5piLT4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in a video\u003c/a> published on the Google for Education YouTube account. “We have to embrace the fact that AI is becoming an important tool for not only learning, but teaching.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New Jersey set aside \u003ca href=\"https://www.nj.gov/education/news/2025/NewJerseyDepartmentofEducationAnnouncesGrantAwardstoSupportArtificialIntelligenceInnovationinEducation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over a million dollars in grants\u003c/a> last year to advance classroom AI use. The governor at the time, Phil Murphy, said it was an effort to invest in “the next generation of tech leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And last spring, the Trump administration issued an executive order to expand AI education in K-12 schools through public-private partnerships and grants for AI teacher training. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education also supports “responsible adoption of AI” in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1600x1066+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8e%2F1b%2F375713144fa09bb8195ad5c1ff92%2Fai-ban5.jpg\" alt=\"Chanea Bond disagrees with the argument that not incorporating AI into lessons puts her students at risk of falling behind. 'I just don't see a world where students learning how to think and learning how to articulate themselves puts them at a disadvantage,' she says.\">\u003cfigcaption>Chanea Bond disagrees with the argument that not incorporating AI into lessons puts her students at risk of falling behind. “I just don’t see a world where students learning how to think and learning how to articulate themselves puts them at a disadvantage,” she says. \u003ccite> (Nitashia Johnson for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bond says she’s open to changing her mind, but right now she doesn’t see much value in AI for her students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s less harmful to me to make sure that they can do the things without the AI than to try and push the AI into my classroom knowing that, at least for some of them, it’s going to mean that they don’t get to acquire the skills that they need,” Bond says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was supported by a grant from the\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tarbellcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem> Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and the Omidyar Network’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://omidyar.com/update/omidyar-network-announces-2026-class-of-reporters-in-residence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Reporters in Residence program\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Stacks of worksheets sit atop desks and tables in Chanea Bond’s Fort Worth classroom. Her students all have their own school-issued laptops, but Bond has swapped computers for paper — lots of paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each class begins with several minutes of journaling in notebooks, and nearly all assignments must be handwritten and physically turned in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you walk into almost any one of my classes today, you will see that all of my students are handwriting,” Bond says, “and they are journaling, and they are constantly and consistently doing everything with a pen or a pencil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bond teaches at Southwest High School in the Fort Worth Independent School District, which serves mostly students from low-income backgrounds. She says going almost entirely analog is the best way she’s found to keep generative artificial intelligence out of her American literature and composition classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people say to me: ‘Aren’t you afraid that they’re going to get behind?’ And my response is: ‘I know that when my students leave my class that they know how to think and they know how to write.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recent data suggests educators may be embracing AI more than they’re eschewing it, like Bond has. Roughly 60% of surveyed teachers said they used AI at least a little in their classroom, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/technology/chatgpt-for-teachers-a-boon-a-bust-or-just-meh/2025/11?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 2025\u003c/a> poll from the EdWeek Research Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially, Bond says she tried to incorporate AI into her teaching. She had students read and annotate the poem \u003cem>Still I Rise\u003c/em> by Maya Angelou, and then she allowed them to use AI to write a thesis statement for a literary analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was terrible,” she says, adding that it was clear the students who used AI weren’t really engaging with the text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They didn’t know the material because they had outsourced that level of thinking and they didn’t have to come to a conclusion or an argument about the text they were studying on their own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She realized her students couldn’t always discern whether what AI generated was valuable or not, and they still needed to build foundational skills, like how to write a thesis and construct an argument.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where are those skills going to be built, if not here?” Bond asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What AI-free teaching looks like\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bond says journaling by hand at the start of every class gets her students in the practice of writing and builds their confidence to write longer pieces. It also allows Bond to learn their writing voices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that I have a lot of students who don’t believe that their voices sound academic enough,” Bond says. “I like to give them low stakes opportunities to start cultivating what they want to say and how they want to say it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1600x1066+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcd%2F11%2F2e2ab82e478d9171130deeaf2c0a%2Fai-ban3.jpg\" alt=\"Bond provides her students with dictionaries, so they don't have to rely on technology to look up words. And she sometimes uses a pocket instructor book for ideas to get students to talk about and engage with literature.\">\u003cfigcaption>Bond provides her students with dictionaries, so they don’t have to rely on technology to look up words. And she sometimes uses a pocket instructor book for ideas to get students to talk about and engage with literature. \u003ccite> (Nitashia Johnson for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And instead of grading only the final essay or presentation, Bond grades the different parts of the process, including the thesis, the outline, the bibliography and the handwritten draft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The steps matter to the cumulative overall grade because that’s how I know that the thinking is happening,” Bond says. “I think a student is less likely to turn in something that is written by AI if they’ve had to show me the beginning, the middle and the end, and the different pieces that go into it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When students reach the final stages of this process, Bond has them type their essays out. Unless they have accommodations for a disability, Bond says this is the only time students use computers in her class.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The response from students\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Meyah Alvarez, a junior, was initially confused by Bond’s approach. She says at the beginning of the school year, she turned in a typed outline for a poetry analysis podcast and Bond told her to re-do it by hand because it would help her think and write better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was different, but I do like it now,” Alvarez says. “I feel like it actually does get my brain thinking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Literature classes haven’t always been Alvarez’s favorite, but she says she loves Bond’s lessons. She likes the interactive nature of her assignments and that Bond gives students opportunities to write about their opinions and experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ms. Bond’s approach is very good. Like, she makes it to where AI can’t even really help you at this point,” Alvarez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1600x1066+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F83%2Ff5%2Fbb18d15643908e6204ed3fb97679%2Fai-ban4.jpg\" alt=\"Bond's classroom includes a display of handwritten thank you notes from students.\">\u003cfigcaption>Bond’s classroom includes a display of handwritten thank you notes from students. \u003ccite> (Nitashia Johnson for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Several of Bond’s students told NPR they appreciate Bond’s AI ban because they’re opposed to the technology for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/10/14/nx-s1-5565147/google-ai-data-centers-growth-environment-electricity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">environmental\u003c/a> and ethical reasons. But virtually all of them say AI-use on school assignments is widespread among their peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe some of us don’t want to admit that we use it because it’s kind of a cultural taboo,” says sophomore Eligh Ellison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ellison says he’s used AI to help him with schoolwork in the past, and to brainstorm names for characters in stories he writes. But he supports Bond’s AI ban. He says her class is an opportunity to figure out what \u003cem>he \u003c/em>thinks — not what AI thinks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that AI does have a time and a place, but especially as it’s still evolving and a lot of us are still yet to make solid opinions, we’re standing on shaky ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even students who have gotten caught using AI in Bond’s class say they’ve learned from the experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>T, a junior, says he turned to AI after waiting until the last minute to complete a bibliography on his chosen research topic: the adultification of children. His family requested we only use his first initial so he can talk freely without it impacting college applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It probably wasn’t smart, but also I had other work to do. So I put it through AI. I had it write it for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bond says she realized immediately that T had used AI. She was disappointed, but she tried not to take it personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He really felt overwhelmed and he got to a point where he felt really afraid of not turning something in, and so he turned something in,” Bond says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>T redid the assignment from scratch with help from Bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says he now has this advice for students who may be tempted to use AI to do their schoolwork for them: “Take a second and think about it. Would you rather really grow from an experience of actually doing some work and critically thinking about the things you’re writing or talking about, or just taking nothing away from it and just use a robot?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How others are embracing the technology\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not every teacher agrees with Bond’s approach – including her friend, Brett Vogelsinger, who teaches English at Central Bucks High School South outside Philadelphia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says he tries to model responsible AI use to his students, showing them the difference between using the technology to cheat and using it to advance their learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vogelsinger says he wants his students to be able “to determine that this particular use is shortcutting and shortchanging my thinking and this use is pushing me and actually making me think more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he allows AI use on some assignments — so long as students are transparent about \u003cem>how\u003c/em> they used it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even Vogelsinger, who wrote a book about using AI in writing instruction, says he’s still figuring out how and when to incorporate AI into teaching: “We’re very much in the experimental phase of all this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And while Bond and many of her students see the value of an AI-free classroom, the federal government, some states and some school districts are embracing the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miami-Dade County Public Schools, one of the country’s largest districts, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wlrn.org/education/2025-05-19/miami-schools-ai\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gives high schoolers access to Google’s Gemini chatbot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The future is now,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz8GI5piLT4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in a video\u003c/a> published on the Google for Education YouTube account. “We have to embrace the fact that AI is becoming an important tool for not only learning, but teaching.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New Jersey set aside \u003ca href=\"https://www.nj.gov/education/news/2025/NewJerseyDepartmentofEducationAnnouncesGrantAwardstoSupportArtificialIntelligenceInnovationinEducation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over a million dollars in grants\u003c/a> last year to advance classroom AI use. The governor at the time, Phil Murphy, said it was an effort to invest in “the next generation of tech leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And last spring, the Trump administration issued an executive order to expand AI education in K-12 schools through public-private partnerships and grants for AI teacher training. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education also supports “responsible adoption of AI” in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1600x1066+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8e%2F1b%2F375713144fa09bb8195ad5c1ff92%2Fai-ban5.jpg\" alt=\"Chanea Bond disagrees with the argument that not incorporating AI into lessons puts her students at risk of falling behind. 'I just don't see a world where students learning how to think and learning how to articulate themselves puts them at a disadvantage,' she says.\">\u003cfigcaption>Chanea Bond disagrees with the argument that not incorporating AI into lessons puts her students at risk of falling behind. “I just don’t see a world where students learning how to think and learning how to articulate themselves puts them at a disadvantage,” she says. \u003ccite> (Nitashia Johnson for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bond says she’s open to changing her mind, but right now she doesn’t see much value in AI for her students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s less harmful to me to make sure that they can do the things without the AI than to try and push the AI into my classroom knowing that, at least for some of them, it’s going to mean that they don’t get to acquire the skills that they need,” Bond says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Teachers Are Using Software To See If Students Used AI. What Happens When It's Wrong?",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ailsa Ostovitz has been accused of using AI on three assignments in two different classes this school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s mentally exhausting because it’s like I know this is my work,” says Ostovitz, 17. “I know that this is my brain putting words and concepts onto paper for other people to comprehend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ostovitz, a junior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., shared with NPR one of the accusations she received from a teacher. The message, from September, included a screenshot from an AI detection program showing a 30.76% probability Ostovitz had used AI on a writing assignment that included a description of the music she listens to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I write about music. I love music. Why would I use AI to write something that I like talking about?” Ostovitz says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ostovitz reached out to her teacher about the assignment via the school’s online learning platform. “I said, seriously, I didn’t use AI. Can you try a different detector?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teacher didn’t respond, and docked Ostovitz’s grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ostovitz’s mom, Stephanie Rizk, says her daughter is a high-achieving student who cares about doing well in school and she was alarmed when the teacher jumped to conclusions about Ostovitz’s work so early in the school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Get to know their level of skill, and then maybe your AI detector is useful,” Rizk says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rizk told NPR she met with the teacher in mid-November and the teacher said they never saw her daughter’s message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb7%2F5f%2F00fd856e4f39a758216bbe6df52b%2Fnpr-ed-harlan-ai-detection-software-education-schools-27.jpg\" alt=\"Ostovitz says she now runs all her homework assignments through multiple AI detection tools before she turns them in.\">\u003cfigcaption>Ostovitz says she now runs all her homework assignments through multiple AI detection tools before she turns them in. \u003ccite> (Beck Harlan | NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The school district, Prince George’s County Public Schools, made clear in a statement that Ostovitz’s teacher used an AI detection tool on their own and that the district doesn’t pay for this software.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During staff training, we advise educators not to rely on such tools, as multiple sources have documented their potential inaccuracies and inconsistencies,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PGCPS declined to make Ostovitz’s teacher available for an interview. Rizk told NPR that after their meeting, the teacher no longer believed Ostovitz used AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what happened to Ostovitz isn’t surprising.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 40% of surveyed 6th- to 12th-grade teachers used AI detection tools during the last school year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/FINAL-CDT-2025-Hand-in-Hand-Polling-100225-accessible.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a nationally representative poll\u003c/a> by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389114020_Accuracy_and_Reliability_of_AI-Generated_Text_Detection_Tools_A_Literature_Review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">numerous\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40979-023-00146-z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41239-024-00487-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies\u003c/a> showing that AI detection tools are far from reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s now fairly well established in the academic integrity field that these tools are not fit for purpose,” says Mike Perkins, a leading researcher on academic integrity and AI at British University Vietnam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perkins found that some of the most popular AI detectors — including Turnitin, GPTZero and Copyleaks — flagged some things as AI that weren’t, and vice versa. Their accuracy rates dropped even further when AI text was manipulated to appear more human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We saw some really concerning problems with some of the most prolific AI text detection tools,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those problems, NPR found that school districts from Utah to Ohio to \u003ca href=\"https://mynbc15.com/news/local/mobile-county-public-schools-using-ai-to-catch-students-using-it-to-cheat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alabama\u003c/a> are spending thousands of dollars on these tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why one of the nation’s largest districts uses AI detection software\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Near Miami, Broward County Public Schools is spending more than $550,000 on a three-year contract with Turnitin. The long-standing ed-tech company has historically provided schools with plagiarism detection software; in 2023, it introduced an AI detection feature. When educators put student work through this tool, it generates a percentage, which reflects the amount of text the software determines was likely generated by AI. One caveat: \u003ca href=\"https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22774058814093-AI-writing-detection-in-the-new-enhanced-Similarity-Report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to the company\u003c/a>, scores of 20% or lower are less reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Turnitin tool is something that helps us facilitate conversation and feedback, not grading,” says Sherri Wilson, director of innovative learning for the Broward school district, which enrolls more than 230,000 students and is one of the largest school districts in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson says the district is “totally aware” of the research showing AI detection tools, including Turnitin, aren’t 100% accurate or reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turnitin also acknowledges this: \u003ca href=\"https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/28457596598925-AI-writing-detection-in-the-classic-report-view#h_01J2XYZH1SEN7QAZZSDHZVF1P2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On the company’s website\u003c/a>, it says, “our AI writing detection may not always be accurate … so it should not be used as the sole basis for adverse actions against a student.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turnitin wrote in a statement to NPR that it’s more important to avoid falsely accusing students of cheating than to catch all AI writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson says the Turnitin tool is still valuable because it saves teachers time by quickly scanning student work for suspected AI use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason that Broward teachers have access to the tool, Wilson says, is that the district participates in academic programs, such as International Baccalaureate, or IB, in which student work must be authenticated by teachers before it is sent out for external review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both of the programs Broward offers, IB and International Education at Cambridge, told NPR that schools are not required to use AI detection software as part of the authentication process. Nonetheless, Broward told NPR in a statement, “we have chosen to provide our teachers with [Turnitin] as one of the tools to meet the requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wilson says teachers are the ultimate authority on whether a student’s work is their own — not the AI detection tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re using these tools as feedback to then have those teachable moments with students,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why one teacher uses AI detection tools\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Language and literature teacher John Grady says, for him, AI detection tools provide “a jumping off point” to start a conversation with a student who may have used AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa9%2F06%2F57e19a7d4b1bbc3005b0769098da%2F251112-aidetectiontools-johngrady-007.jpg\" alt=\"Shaker Heights High School teacher John Grady says he puts all student essays through GPTZero – but it isn't the only tool he relies on to determine if a student's work is their own. \">\u003cfigcaption>Shaker Heights High School teacher John Grady says he puts all student essays through GPTZero – but it isn’t the only tool he relies on to determine if a student’s work is their own. \u003ccite> (Dustin Franz for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s certainly not foolproof,” he says. “But it gives you something to hang your hat on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grady teaches at Shaker Heights High School, part of the Shaker Heights City School District outside Cleveland. The district serves roughly 4,400 students, and is paying GPTZero, another AI detection software company, about $5,600 this year for annual licenses for 27 of the district’s teachers. The tool calculates a percentage likelihood that a student’s work is AI-generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grady says he puts all student essays through GPTZero; if the tool shows more than a 50% likelihood AI was used for the assignment, Grady digs deeper. That includes using revision history tools to see how much time a student spent on an assignment, and how many edits they made during the writing process. If it appears that a student made only a few edits and spent hardly any time writing, he’ll check in with that student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’ll say, ‘Hey, this flagged. Can you talk to me about why?’ I’d say the bulk of the time, like 75%, if it was AI, they’d be like, ‘Yeah, I did.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, well now you’ve got to rewrite it with less credit,'” Grady says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edward Tian, co-founder and CEO of GPTZero, says this is how educators \u003cem>should\u003c/em> be using his company’s tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We definitely don’t believe this is a punishment tool,” Tian says. “This needs to be a tool in the toolkit and not the final smoking gun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says it’s important to understand that a GPTZero probability score under 50% means it’s more likely the text was human versus AI-generated. He says scores over 50% warrant closer examination — like what Grady describes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tian doesn’t dispute the research that shows GPTZero isn’t always reliable. But he notes that there are educators, like Grady, who still find it valuable for the information it provides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says that tools like his offer a “signal on what’s happening in your classroom” but that teachers should always follow up with students if that signal shows something concerning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The AI detection skeptics\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shaker Heights junior Zi Shi, whose first language is Mandarin, says his writing style can sometimes look like AI “because of the repetition of words I use. I feel like it’s because of how limited my vocabulary is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi — who isn’t a student of Grady’s — says he’s still working on his writing skills and he’s concerned that AI detection software might be biased against non-native English speakers like himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some educators share this concern, though the research so far is limited and contradictory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi says an assignment he completed for his English class earlier this fall was flagged by GPTZero as possibly AI-generated. He says his teacher suggested that his use of an online tool called Grammarly may have triggered the detection software. Grammarly uses AI to correct grammar and, if prompted, generate text. (The teacher confirmed Shi’s account with NPR.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi says he only used Grammarly to clean up his writing and that he wrote the assignment himself. “It was definitely disappointing to see the comment of it being flagged as AI,” Shi says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi thinks AI detectors should be thought of as a “smoke alarm, where it’s a sign, or warning. But, you know, sometimes it could be like a false alarm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He questions whether the school district should be spending thousands of dollars on AI detection software. He says that money could be better spent on professional development for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carrie Cofer, a high school English teacher in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District — just a few miles from Shaker Heights — shares that view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, as an experiment, she uploaded a chapter of her Ph.D. dissertation into GPTZero. “And it came up with like 89% or 91% AI-written, and I’m like, ‘Oh, no, I don’t think that’s right, because it was all mine,'” Cofer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fad%2F56%2F029881c04814ad2115c526051ab3%2F251112-aidetectiontools-carrie-cofer-002.jpg\" alt=\"In Cleveland, English teacher Carrie Cofer says educators will need to adapt to AI by changing how they teach and assess student learning.\">\u003cfigcaption>In Cleveland, English teacher Carrie Cofer says educators will need to adapt to AI by changing how they teach and assess student learning. \u003ccite> (Dustin Franz for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cofer is helping her district shape its AI policy and guidelines; she says Cleveland schools don’t currently pay for AI detection software and she’d advocate against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s an efficacious use of their money,” Cofer says. “The kids are going to get around it one way or the other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some workarounds that students could turn to include using AI detection software themselves, to workshop assignments so they don’t get flagged, and using \u003ca href=\"https://www.grammarly.com/ai-humanizer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“AI humanizer” programs\u003c/a>, which claim to make AI-generated writing appear more human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, she says, teachers will need to adapt to AI by changing how they teach and assess student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Maryland, high school junior Ailsa Ostovitz is also adapting. She now runs all her homework assignments through multiple AI detection tools before she turns them in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The writing is her own, she says, but she’ll rewrite sentences the software identifies as possibly AI-generated, an extra step that adds about half an hour to every assignment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I’ve definitely become more vigilant about presenting my work as mine and not AI,” she explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She doesn’t want to take any chances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was supported by a grant from the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tarbellcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Audio story produced by: Lauren Migaki\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How can you tell if a student has used artificial intelligence to do their schoolwork? Teachers say it’s a huge challenge. Many are turning to AI detection software for help. Just one problem – this software doesn’t always work. So what does that mean for students? Reporter Lee Gaines has the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEE GAINES: High school junior Ailsa Ostovitz has been accused of using AI to complete her homework assignments three times so far this school year in two different classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AILSA OSTOVITZ: It’s mentally exhausting because it’s, like, I know this is my work. I know that this is, like, my brain putting words and concepts onto paper for other people to comprehend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: The 17-year-old attends Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. She shared messages she received from a teacher. In one case from September, the teacher sent her a screenshot from an AI detection program. It showed about a 30% probability she had used AI to complete a writing assignment. That assignment included a description of the music she listens to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: I write about music. I love music. Why would I use AI to write something that I like talking about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Ostovitz lost points on the assignment. She sent a message to her teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: I said, seriously, I didn’t use AI. Can you try a different detector?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: But she never heard back. Ostovitz’s mom, Stephanie Rizk, told NPR she met with the teacher in mid-November. The teacher said they never saw Ostovitz’s message. Her district, Prince George’s County Public Schools, made clear in a statement that Ostovitz’s teacher used an AI detection tool on their own, and the district doesn’t pay for this software. It said, quote, “during staff training, we advise educators not to rely on such tools, as multiple sources have documented their potential inaccuracies and inconsistencies.” The district declined to make the teacher available for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: I think I’ve definitely become more vigilant with presenting my work as mine and not AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Ostovitz says the experience changed the way she does her homework. She now runs all her assignments through AI detection software.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: That part is really frustrating, where I am putting it through AI checkers and then rewriting my own work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Rizk told NPR that after their meeting, the teacher said they no longer believe Ostovitz used AI. What happened to Ostovitz isn’t totally surprising. Numerous research studies have found that AI detection tools are far from perfect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MIKE PERKINS: We saw some really concerning problems with some of the most prolific AI text detection tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Mike Perkins is a leading researcher on academic integrity at British University Vietnam. He found that some of the most popular AI detectors flagged some things as AI that weren’t, and vice versa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PERKINS: And it’s now fairly well established in the academic integrity field that these tools are not fit for purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Not fit for purpose – and yet, more than 40% of surveyed middle and high school teachers used AI detection tools during the last school year. That’s according to a nationally representative poll by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SHERRI WILSON: The Turnitin tool is something that helps us facilitate conversation and feedback, not grading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Sherri Wilson is director of innovative learning for Broward County Public Schools in Florida, one of the largest districts in the country. It has a contract with a company called Turnitin for plagiarism and AI detection – a contract worth more than half a million dollars. Wilson says she knows AI detection tools like Turnitin aren’t always accurate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WILSON: That is why the human agency can never be removed in this process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: In a statement, Turnitin says their AI detection tool is just one data point in assessing whether a student’s work is their own. It also says it’s more important to avoid falsely accusing students than to catch all AI writing. Wilson says teachers aren’t automatically punishing students if their work is flagged as AI-generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WILSON: They’re using these tools as feedback to then have those teachable moments with students to recalibrate and resubmit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: That’s how John Grady uses AI detection software. He teaches language and literature courses at Shaker Heights High School outside Cleveland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JOHN GRADY: So usually I just call a student over, and I’ll show them the report. And I’ll say, hey, this flagged. Can you talk to me about why? I’d say the bulk of the time – like 75% – if it was AI they’d be like, oh, yeah, I did. And I’m like, OK. Well, now you got to rewrite it with less credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Grady’s public school district is spending about $5,600 on annual subscriptions to GPTZero, another AI detection software. He knows it isn’t 100% reliable. He also uses revision history tools that allow him to see the progression of a student’s writing over time. One thing he likes about GPTZero is if he’s suspicious about a student’s assignment…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GRADY: It’s something to kind of hang your hat on, where I can say, like, look, it’s been flagged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EDWARD TIAN: We definitely don’t believe this is a punishment tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: That’s GPTZero CEO, Edward Tian. He doesn’t dispute the research that says GPTZero and other tools aren’t always accurate, but he says they can still help teachers. For example, if his software finds a more than 50% probability that an essay was written by AI, Tian says that should trigger further investigation by the teacher. It should never be the sole measure of whether a student’s work is their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TIAN: But if this is a conversation starter, actually we found a lot of teachers get a lot of value there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Just a few miles away from Shaker Heights, teacher Carrie Cofer thinks AI detection tools are a waste of school resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRIE COFER: I don’t think the AI detection software is reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: She teaches high school English in the Cleveland school district. Cofer says students who use AI have found ways to fool detectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>COFER: Like, they go in and change a couple of words in or change something around, and it’s not going to detect that it’s AI-generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Her district doesn’t currently pay for an AI detection tool, and Cofer says she’d advocate against it. Instead, Cofer says teachers are the best AI detectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>COFER: You can’t replace a teacher’s experience and instinct when it comes to any kind of classroom work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: That’s one thing all the educators NPR spoke with did agree on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For NPR News, I’m Lee Gaines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLY: And that reporting was supported by a grant from the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ailsa Ostovitz has been accused of using AI on three assignments in two different classes this school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s mentally exhausting because it’s like I know this is my work,” says Ostovitz, 17. “I know that this is my brain putting words and concepts onto paper for other people to comprehend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ostovitz, a junior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., shared with NPR one of the accusations she received from a teacher. The message, from September, included a screenshot from an AI detection program showing a 30.76% probability Ostovitz had used AI on a writing assignment that included a description of the music she listens to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I write about music. I love music. Why would I use AI to write something that I like talking about?” Ostovitz says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ostovitz reached out to her teacher about the assignment via the school’s online learning platform. “I said, seriously, I didn’t use AI. Can you try a different detector?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teacher didn’t respond, and docked Ostovitz’s grade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ostovitz’s mom, Stephanie Rizk, says her daughter is a high-achieving student who cares about doing well in school and she was alarmed when the teacher jumped to conclusions about Ostovitz’s work so early in the school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Get to know their level of skill, and then maybe your AI detector is useful,” Rizk says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rizk told NPR she met with the teacher in mid-November and the teacher said they never saw her daughter’s message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb7%2F5f%2F00fd856e4f39a758216bbe6df52b%2Fnpr-ed-harlan-ai-detection-software-education-schools-27.jpg\" alt=\"Ostovitz says she now runs all her homework assignments through multiple AI detection tools before she turns them in.\">\u003cfigcaption>Ostovitz says she now runs all her homework assignments through multiple AI detection tools before she turns them in. \u003ccite> (Beck Harlan | NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The school district, Prince George’s County Public Schools, made clear in a statement that Ostovitz’s teacher used an AI detection tool on their own and that the district doesn’t pay for this software.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During staff training, we advise educators not to rely on such tools, as multiple sources have documented their potential inaccuracies and inconsistencies,” the statement said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PGCPS declined to make Ostovitz’s teacher available for an interview. Rizk told NPR that after their meeting, the teacher no longer believed Ostovitz used AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what happened to Ostovitz isn’t surprising.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 40% of surveyed 6th- to 12th-grade teachers used AI detection tools during the last school year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/FINAL-CDT-2025-Hand-in-Hand-Polling-100225-accessible.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a nationally representative poll\u003c/a> by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s despite \u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389114020_Accuracy_and_Reliability_of_AI-Generated_Text_Detection_Tools_A_Literature_Review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">numerous\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40979-023-00146-z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41239-024-00487-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies\u003c/a> showing that AI detection tools are far from reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s now fairly well established in the academic integrity field that these tools are not fit for purpose,” says Mike Perkins, a leading researcher on academic integrity and AI at British University Vietnam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perkins found that some of the most popular AI detectors — including Turnitin, GPTZero and Copyleaks — flagged some things as AI that weren’t, and vice versa. Their accuracy rates dropped even further when AI text was manipulated to appear more human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We saw some really concerning problems with some of the most prolific AI text detection tools,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those problems, NPR found that school districts from Utah to Ohio to \u003ca href=\"https://mynbc15.com/news/local/mobile-county-public-schools-using-ai-to-catch-students-using-it-to-cheat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alabama\u003c/a> are spending thousands of dollars on these tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why one of the nation’s largest districts uses AI detection software\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Near Miami, Broward County Public Schools is spending more than $550,000 on a three-year contract with Turnitin. The long-standing ed-tech company has historically provided schools with plagiarism detection software; in 2023, it introduced an AI detection feature. When educators put student work through this tool, it generates a percentage, which reflects the amount of text the software determines was likely generated by AI. One caveat: \u003ca href=\"https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/22774058814093-AI-writing-detection-in-the-new-enhanced-Similarity-Report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to the company\u003c/a>, scores of 20% or lower are less reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Turnitin tool is something that helps us facilitate conversation and feedback, not grading,” says Sherri Wilson, director of innovative learning for the Broward school district, which enrolls more than 230,000 students and is one of the largest school districts in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson says the district is “totally aware” of the research showing AI detection tools, including Turnitin, aren’t 100% accurate or reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turnitin also acknowledges this: \u003ca href=\"https://guides.turnitin.com/hc/en-us/articles/28457596598925-AI-writing-detection-in-the-classic-report-view#h_01J2XYZH1SEN7QAZZSDHZVF1P2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On the company’s website\u003c/a>, it says, “our AI writing detection may not always be accurate … so it should not be used as the sole basis for adverse actions against a student.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turnitin wrote in a statement to NPR that it’s more important to avoid falsely accusing students of cheating than to catch all AI writing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilson says the Turnitin tool is still valuable because it saves teachers time by quickly scanning student work for suspected AI use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another reason that Broward teachers have access to the tool, Wilson says, is that the district participates in academic programs, such as International Baccalaureate, or IB, in which student work must be authenticated by teachers before it is sent out for external review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both of the programs Broward offers, IB and International Education at Cambridge, told NPR that schools are not required to use AI detection software as part of the authentication process. Nonetheless, Broward told NPR in a statement, “we have chosen to provide our teachers with [Turnitin] as one of the tools to meet the requirements.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wilson says teachers are the ultimate authority on whether a student’s work is their own — not the AI detection tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re using these tools as feedback to then have those teachable moments with students,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why one teacher uses AI detection tools\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Language and literature teacher John Grady says, for him, AI detection tools provide “a jumping off point” to start a conversation with a student who may have used AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa9%2F06%2F57e19a7d4b1bbc3005b0769098da%2F251112-aidetectiontools-johngrady-007.jpg\" alt=\"Shaker Heights High School teacher John Grady says he puts all student essays through GPTZero – but it isn't the only tool he relies on to determine if a student's work is their own. \">\u003cfigcaption>Shaker Heights High School teacher John Grady says he puts all student essays through GPTZero – but it isn’t the only tool he relies on to determine if a student’s work is their own. \u003ccite> (Dustin Franz for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s certainly not foolproof,” he says. “But it gives you something to hang your hat on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grady teaches at Shaker Heights High School, part of the Shaker Heights City School District outside Cleveland. The district serves roughly 4,400 students, and is paying GPTZero, another AI detection software company, about $5,600 this year for annual licenses for 27 of the district’s teachers. The tool calculates a percentage likelihood that a student’s work is AI-generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grady says he puts all student essays through GPTZero; if the tool shows more than a 50% likelihood AI was used for the assignment, Grady digs deeper. That includes using revision history tools to see how much time a student spent on an assignment, and how many edits they made during the writing process. If it appears that a student made only a few edits and spent hardly any time writing, he’ll check in with that student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’ll say, ‘Hey, this flagged. Can you talk to me about why?’ I’d say the bulk of the time, like 75%, if it was AI, they’d be like, ‘Yeah, I did.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, well now you’ve got to rewrite it with less credit,'” Grady says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edward Tian, co-founder and CEO of GPTZero, says this is how educators \u003cem>should\u003c/em> be using his company’s tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We definitely don’t believe this is a punishment tool,” Tian says. “This needs to be a tool in the toolkit and not the final smoking gun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says it’s important to understand that a GPTZero probability score under 50% means it’s more likely the text was human versus AI-generated. He says scores over 50% warrant closer examination — like what Grady describes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tian doesn’t dispute the research that shows GPTZero isn’t always reliable. But he notes that there are educators, like Grady, who still find it valuable for the information it provides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says that tools like his offer a “signal on what’s happening in your classroom” but that teachers should always follow up with students if that signal shows something concerning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The AI detection skeptics\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shaker Heights junior Zi Shi, whose first language is Mandarin, says his writing style can sometimes look like AI “because of the repetition of words I use. I feel like it’s because of how limited my vocabulary is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi — who isn’t a student of Grady’s — says he’s still working on his writing skills and he’s concerned that AI detection software might be biased against non-native English speakers like himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some educators share this concern, though the research so far is limited and contradictory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi says an assignment he completed for his English class earlier this fall was flagged by GPTZero as possibly AI-generated. He says his teacher suggested that his use of an online tool called Grammarly may have triggered the detection software. Grammarly uses AI to correct grammar and, if prompted, generate text. (The teacher confirmed Shi’s account with NPR.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi says he only used Grammarly to clean up his writing and that he wrote the assignment himself. “It was definitely disappointing to see the comment of it being flagged as AI,” Shi says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shi thinks AI detectors should be thought of as a “smoke alarm, where it’s a sign, or warning. But, you know, sometimes it could be like a false alarm.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He questions whether the school district should be spending thousands of dollars on AI detection software. He says that money could be better spent on professional development for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carrie Cofer, a high school English teacher in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District — just a few miles from Shaker Heights — shares that view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, as an experiment, she uploaded a chapter of her Ph.D. dissertation into GPTZero. “And it came up with like 89% or 91% AI-written, and I’m like, ‘Oh, no, I don’t think that’s right, because it was all mine,'” Cofer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fad%2F56%2F029881c04814ad2115c526051ab3%2F251112-aidetectiontools-carrie-cofer-002.jpg\" alt=\"In Cleveland, English teacher Carrie Cofer says educators will need to adapt to AI by changing how they teach and assess student learning.\">\u003cfigcaption>In Cleveland, English teacher Carrie Cofer says educators will need to adapt to AI by changing how they teach and assess student learning. \u003ccite> (Dustin Franz for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cofer is helping her district shape its AI policy and guidelines; she says Cleveland schools don’t currently pay for AI detection software and she’d advocate against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s an efficacious use of their money,” Cofer says. “The kids are going to get around it one way or the other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some workarounds that students could turn to include using AI detection software themselves, to workshop assignments so they don’t get flagged, and using \u003ca href=\"https://www.grammarly.com/ai-humanizer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“AI humanizer” programs\u003c/a>, which claim to make AI-generated writing appear more human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, she says, teachers will need to adapt to AI by changing how they teach and assess student learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in Maryland, high school junior Ailsa Ostovitz is also adapting. She now runs all her homework assignments through multiple AI detection tools before she turns them in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The writing is her own, she says, but she’ll rewrite sentences the software identifies as possibly AI-generated, an extra step that adds about half an hour to every assignment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think I’ve definitely become more vigilant about presenting my work as mine and not AI,” she explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She doesn’t want to take any chances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was supported by a grant from the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tarbellcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>Tarbell Center for AI Journalism\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: Nicole Cohen\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Audio story produced by: Lauren Migaki\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How can you tell if a student has used artificial intelligence to do their schoolwork? Teachers say it’s a huge challenge. Many are turning to AI detection software for help. Just one problem – this software doesn’t always work. So what does that mean for students? Reporter Lee Gaines has the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEE GAINES: High school junior Ailsa Ostovitz has been accused of using AI to complete her homework assignments three times so far this school year in two different classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AILSA OSTOVITZ: It’s mentally exhausting because it’s, like, I know this is my work. I know that this is, like, my brain putting words and concepts onto paper for other people to comprehend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: The 17-year-old attends Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. She shared messages she received from a teacher. In one case from September, the teacher sent her a screenshot from an AI detection program. It showed about a 30% probability she had used AI to complete a writing assignment. That assignment included a description of the music she listens to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: I write about music. I love music. Why would I use AI to write something that I like talking about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Ostovitz lost points on the assignment. She sent a message to her teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: I said, seriously, I didn’t use AI. Can you try a different detector?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: But she never heard back. Ostovitz’s mom, Stephanie Rizk, told NPR she met with the teacher in mid-November. The teacher said they never saw Ostovitz’s message. Her district, Prince George’s County Public Schools, made clear in a statement that Ostovitz’s teacher used an AI detection tool on their own, and the district doesn’t pay for this software. It said, quote, “during staff training, we advise educators not to rely on such tools, as multiple sources have documented their potential inaccuracies and inconsistencies.” The district declined to make the teacher available for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: I think I’ve definitely become more vigilant with presenting my work as mine and not AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Ostovitz says the experience changed the way she does her homework. She now runs all her assignments through AI detection software.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OSTOVITZ: That part is really frustrating, where I am putting it through AI checkers and then rewriting my own work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Rizk told NPR that after their meeting, the teacher said they no longer believe Ostovitz used AI. What happened to Ostovitz isn’t totally surprising. Numerous research studies have found that AI detection tools are far from perfect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MIKE PERKINS: We saw some really concerning problems with some of the most prolific AI text detection tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Mike Perkins is a leading researcher on academic integrity at British University Vietnam. He found that some of the most popular AI detectors flagged some things as AI that weren’t, and vice versa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PERKINS: And it’s now fairly well established in the academic integrity field that these tools are not fit for purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Not fit for purpose – and yet, more than 40% of surveyed middle and high school teachers used AI detection tools during the last school year. That’s according to a nationally representative poll by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SHERRI WILSON: The Turnitin tool is something that helps us facilitate conversation and feedback, not grading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Sherri Wilson is director of innovative learning for Broward County Public Schools in Florida, one of the largest districts in the country. It has a contract with a company called Turnitin for plagiarism and AI detection – a contract worth more than half a million dollars. Wilson says she knows AI detection tools like Turnitin aren’t always accurate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WILSON: That is why the human agency can never be removed in this process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: In a statement, Turnitin says their AI detection tool is just one data point in assessing whether a student’s work is their own. It also says it’s more important to avoid falsely accusing students than to catch all AI writing. Wilson says teachers aren’t automatically punishing students if their work is flagged as AI-generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WILSON: They’re using these tools as feedback to then have those teachable moments with students to recalibrate and resubmit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: That’s how John Grady uses AI detection software. He teaches language and literature courses at Shaker Heights High School outside Cleveland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JOHN GRADY: So usually I just call a student over, and I’ll show them the report. And I’ll say, hey, this flagged. Can you talk to me about why? I’d say the bulk of the time – like 75% – if it was AI they’d be like, oh, yeah, I did. And I’m like, OK. Well, now you got to rewrite it with less credit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Grady’s public school district is spending about $5,600 on annual subscriptions to GPTZero, another AI detection software. He knows it isn’t 100% reliable. He also uses revision history tools that allow him to see the progression of a student’s writing over time. One thing he likes about GPTZero is if he’s suspicious about a student’s assignment…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GRADY: It’s something to kind of hang your hat on, where I can say, like, look, it’s been flagged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EDWARD TIAN: We definitely don’t believe this is a punishment tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: That’s GPTZero CEO, Edward Tian. He doesn’t dispute the research that says GPTZero and other tools aren’t always accurate, but he says they can still help teachers. For example, if his software finds a more than 50% probability that an essay was written by AI, Tian says that should trigger further investigation by the teacher. It should never be the sole measure of whether a student’s work is their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TIAN: But if this is a conversation starter, actually we found a lot of teachers get a lot of value there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Just a few miles away from Shaker Heights, teacher Carrie Cofer thinks AI detection tools are a waste of school resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARRIE COFER: I don’t think the AI detection software is reliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: She teaches high school English in the Cleveland school district. Cofer says students who use AI have found ways to fool detectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>COFER: Like, they go in and change a couple of words in or change something around, and it’s not going to detect that it’s AI-generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: Her district doesn’t currently pay for an AI detection tool, and Cofer says she’d advocate against it. Instead, Cofer says teachers are the best AI detectors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>COFER: You can’t replace a teacher’s experience and instinct when it comes to any kind of classroom work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAINES: That’s one thing all the educators NPR spoke with did agree on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For NPR News, I’m Lee Gaines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLY: And that reporting was supported by a grant from the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This month MindShift is sharing an episode from MITs TeachLab podcast. Hosts Jessie Dukes and Justin Reich have interviewed teachers, school leaders and students about how the debut of ChatGPT and Generative AI is actually playing out in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve compiled their learnings into a mini series called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.teachlabpodcast.com/\">Homework Machine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC3473844164\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nKi Sung:\u003c/strong> Hey MindShift listeners, It’s Ki Sung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today we’ve got a special episode to share with you. It’s from our friends at Teach Lab, a podcast about the art and craft of teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their mini series, called The Homework Machine, hosts Jesse Dukes and Justin Reich explore the reactions to AI when it first debuted as a strange new technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll let our friends from Teach Lab take it from here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Episode Transcript\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> This is the Teach Lab podcast, I’m Justin Reich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> And I’m Jesse Dukes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Devon O’Neil is a high school social studies teacher in Oregon. Back in 2021, after six years of teaching, she took 2 years off while her husband attended grad school. At MIT actually. And during her break from teaching, she worked designing classroom curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> Which is a super cool experience, very different from being in the classroom, and also really reinforced that I wanted to be in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> When she was on her break, O’Neil missed two momentous years for schools. There was a pandemic, remote learning, hybrid learning, returning to school buildings. And when she went back to the classroom, in the fall of 2023, she said, there was some culture shock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> It was those two, like super crazy post-Covid years. So I come back, and it’s like, like those movies where the caveman, like defrost or whatever. And they’re like “what is this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> It wasn’t just that her fellow teachers were harrowed and burned out, while she was fresh and energetic. She also noticed that the student work was, well, different from what she remembered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> I’d have these really well written paragraphs or snippets that are looked to be very well researched and all this, but not at all on topic. Grammar was off. Even the most brilliant 14-year-old still talks like a 14-year-old and still writes like a 14-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> So, the grammar was oddly good. O’Neil can see her students’ screens, and she sometimes watches them work. And, one day, she noticed they were using an unusual search engine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> Bing! I was noticing a lot of them were using Bing. To Google stuff, see even to Google stuff. And I was like, that’s the weirdest choice. Who uses Bing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> And then, one day, she was watching a student complete a writing assignment in a google doc. And poof, a whole well-written paragraph just appeared. Out of nowhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> Like one minute it’s not there, and one minute it’s there. And, it said like “here are your results”. And they forgot to delete that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> And that’s when Devon realized her students were using ChatGPT to complete in class writing assignments. They would copy and paste the questions she would give them into Bing’s Copilot, which was a free way to use ChatGPT. Then, the students copied the answer, sometimes without any editing, right into their google document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil: \u003c/strong>Which is kind of a rookie mistake, like if they’re going to cheat, you want them to cheat a little better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> We first talked to Devon in 2023, just a few weeks after she figured out what was going on. She says that since then, she’s gotten a lot more savvy about ChatGPT. But her experience speaks to how much can, and did, change in schools, in just a couple of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> In November of 2022, ChatGPT was launched as a free research preview of advanced generative AI, like a pilot, or beta version. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, especially text, but also images, videos, and music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ChatGPT is the most famous example of generative AI. There are competitors like Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and the Chinese company, DeepSeek. And rather quickly, students figured out, ChatGPT was pretty good at doing their homework for them. Devon, out of school for two years, working on curriculum, had missed the arrival of the new homework machine. But her students had not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> The arrival of chatGPT, and then fairly quick upgrades with GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 within a couple of years, has been the big story in education technology since the fall of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Waterfall of news stories]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News anchor 1: \u003c/strong>So how does it work? Students can drop an assignment into something like ChatGPT, click a button and their homework is done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News anchor 2: \u003c/strong>She is talking about ChatGPT. School districts like New York cities are banning it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News anchor 3: \u003c/strong>ChatGPT is the new artificial intelligence tool causing a stir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Schools have scrambled to figure out what to do about ChatGPT. Ban it? Embrace it? Teachers have scrambled to try to get ahead of the “cheating” problem, and to find ways in which AI can support education. Some Students have scrambled to figure out how to use AI without their teachers detecting it. And education technology companies have scrambled to create AI powered ed tech. And have made many promises about how generative AI will transform education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sal Khan:\u003c/strong> But I think we’re at the cusp of using AI for probably the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen, and the way we’re going to do that is by giving every student on the planet an artificially intelligent but amazing personal tutor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> My career has been devoted to studying education technology. Over and over again, we’ve seen new technologies emerge in education, and the technology developers will promise, every time, that the new tech will transform and democratize education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sal Khan :\u003c/strong>That’s what’s about to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> And while the technologies do sometimes help teachers and students, those big transformations to schools, they never happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> But there is something different about Chat GPT and other AI. Throughout history, most education technology has been adopted by schools, who hope it will help them do better work, teaching students. But Generative AI wasn’t invited into schools. Not for the most part. It crashed the party. Even if schools ban it from school laptops, students can often get around that ban, by using Bing, for example. Or they have their own laptop. Or they can access it on their mobile phone, which over 95% of teenagers have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, the kids have access to generative AI. And they’re using it, whether their teachers want them to, or not. That’s having a big impact on schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, a little about me, and this project. I am a journalist, and for the past year and a half, I’ve been working with Justin and other colleagues at MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab. We’ve interviewed over 85 teachers and school leaders, and over 35 students about how all of this is actually playing out in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve been hearing about why students cheat using AI, what teachers are doing to stop them, and how some teachers and students have found ChatGPT to be helpful for learning. And for the next several weeks, we’re going to share what we’ve learned with you in a mini series we’re calling the Homework Machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> And now, Jesse, who has immersed himself in this research, will be our host and guide for these episodes. Jesse, you can take it from here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Thanks Justin, but not so fast. We’re going to want your historical knowledge about educational technology to help us unpack and contextualize these stories. So stay close, and keep your mic handy. In fact, we’re going to hear from you again in this episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Sounds good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Alright, well, let’s go back to A beginning: December of 2022. We’ll start with Steve Ouellette. He’s a technology director at the Westwood School district, southwest of Boston. His job includes keeping track of computers and software for the district, but also helping teachers think through how to use technology in their work. He remembers the exact moment he heard about generative AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> So I think it was, it was December 8th. And I was home sick with Covid. I got an email, I’m on a listserv, you know, with all the tech directors in Massachusetts and I got an email that said: Have AI write your next English paper. The sub caption was: Buckle up, here it comes. And someone had basically shared a video of this thing called ChatGPT, that was generating an essay about, I think it was about Raisin in the Sun. And I was like “What is going on here?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>Watching the video, Ouellette says he immediately realized that this was a big deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that was, that was a moment. You know, I’ve been in this business since 1993 and I don’t remember having like, a really specific, like, reaction to something the way I did when I saw that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Ouellette emailed the district’s superintendent, and explained the situation to her. There was a new technological tool, available to students, that could do their schoolwork. Pretty effectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> And she had no idea what it was. And I explained to her what it was and sent her a link and she shot back to me five minutes later and she’s like, yeah, we need to write about this. And so we, we felt, we both felt this sense of like, urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> The superintendent asked Ouellette to write a memo to the district’s teachers. Ouellette is a technology guy, and out of curiosity and excitement, he decided to experiment. Could ChatGPT draft the memo? He asked ChatGPT to write the first draft and sent it to the superintendent. She read it and told Ouellette, this is pretty formal language, it doesn’t sound like you. Make it more casual sounding. But Ouellette didn’t rewrite the memo himself. He prompted ChatGPT to revise the memo. And he told it: “Make it more conversational.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> I said, you need to write something funny about how, you know France was gonna win the World Cup. And it like, seamlessly incorporated a little like parenthetical thing about, oh by the way, France is gonna win the World Cup. And in the way it did, it was like magnificent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Here’s the memo ChatGPT wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ChatGPT: \u003c/strong> ChatGPT could also be used to help students learn other languages, such as Spanish or French (which, by the way, I think will win the 2022 World Cup). Imagine being able to have a conversation with ChatGPT in French and receiving instant corrections and feedback on your pronunciation and grammar. The possibilities are truly endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Side note, I’m not that impressed with how ChatGPT did with that World Cup joke. It says that “French” will win the world cup, not “France”. But, that aside, they sent the memo out that Monday. Remember, this was December of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next few months, Ouellette formed an AI working group in the district. They brought in a guest speaker. They looked at academic policies. They talked to teachers and students. And by the summer of 2023, they had revised academic integrity guidelines as well as some basic training for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> The goal was to inform staff about what this stuff is, to let them know that there are guidelines, and that if they have students, you know, in grades eight or higher, they can use it with their students. But we also wanted to inform staff how to use it for themselves to make their own work more efficient. The theory behind that is if they’re using it, then they’ll be more informed to use it responsibly with their kids. And it’s nowhere near where what it needs to be. I’ll be the first to admit it, but we did something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> What Westwood did was quite a bit more than most districts. Last fall, a survey found only about one quarter of teachers said their school district had provided any guidance or professional development, about AI. That’s two years after the arrival of the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Westwood, the faculty learned about ChatGPT pretty early on. Likely before many of their students heard about it. That was NOT true for other schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> The First Time I heard about ChatGPT was in my English Class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>This is Nanki Kaur. She just graduated from American High School, in Fremont, California. And she heard about ChatGPT from another student back in the spring of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> We were having a conversation about how we were going to approach our research paper assignment that was coming up, and you would have to pick an individual of American significance and prove why they were of American significance and what impact they had. And he was talking about how he just asked this AI platform about how his person of American Significance who was BLEEP, had an impact on America and he got a really strong thesis statement. And he said, I didn’t even have to do anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Now, I bleeped that last bit so this student won’t get in trouble.But the point here, Nanki says the thesis statement was actually pretty good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> And we were all confused and we were like, what are you talking about? Like how did you not have to do anything and how do you have such a strong thesis statement? ’cause we were just learning how to write a thesis statement at that time. And he said, there’s this online platform, it’s driven by artificial intelligence and it just writes it for you and it’s, it’s really thorough.It’s really good. You guys should try it. And so that was the first time I heard about it and I was shocked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>Nanki talked with our colleague Holly McDede, a reporter based in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Holly McDede:\u003c/strong> Did you try it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> I did go home and try it. Not for the same assignment, but I went home and I looked it up like Chat GPT, OpenAI, what is it? And then I asked it a couple questions like what is the weather like, and if I were to write a story about a certain situation,could you write me a story? And it actually answered all my prompts and it wrote me like a solid paragraph, and so I was shocked. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Nanki says she doesn’t know what the other student did with his thesis statement, but she has a guess:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> I think he did turn it in and I don’t know what kind of disciplinary action he got because there wasn’t really much set in stone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Holly McDede:\u003c/strong> Do you suspect he didn’t get any disciplinary action?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> I do suspect that because he was oddly smug about how well he had done on that assignment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> As far as Nanki knows, that student didn’t get in any trouble. In fact, she’s not sure the teachers knew about ChatGPT at that point. And Nanki says that the school didn’t seem to catch on that students were using ChatGPT to cheat until the fall of 2023, the next school year. A whole year after ChatGPT launched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Nanki says when they did realize what was happening, the school came down hard. Nanki’s AP English teacher held a special class meeting to present the new academic integrity policy, with a list of sanctions if students were caught using Chat GPT or other AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> Which included, zeros on the assignments or administrative disciplinary action. And if worse comes to worst, then it would be, suspensions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> At American High School Nanki says their policies didn’t just ban ChatGPT. Students were also told they couldn’t use Grammarly, the grammar check program, or similar AI tools that are often built into students’ browsers. But, the policies weren’t applied consistently. Nanki says her social studies teacher actually encouraged her to use AI for research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> Because she said, I think it’s a really good tool to get all the facts in one spot. Obviously, I’m gonna ask you guys to fact check and cross check, make sure that everything is correct. But I think it’s a really great, you know, tool for you guys to use so that you have everything in one place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Holly McDede:\u003c/strong> Was that confusing for you or other students?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> It was confusing for me, personally because I was like, I just don’t want to use it at all. Like I don’t even care because I don’t need like this habit. I don’t want it on my computer. I don’t want it anywhere, like I just want it like away from me because I didn’t want to jeopardize any chance of having a good grade in that class or in any of my classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Some 3000 miles away from Nanki, another student had quite a different experience. Woody Goss was wrapping up 8th grade in a public school in the suburbs north of New York city when he spoke to us in the spring of 2024. He says his teachers didn’t really respond to the arrival of ChatGPT. And, that students used AI to get their schoolwork done in almost all of his classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says his science class was the worst. The students all have laptops, but the teacher sits in front of the class, and can’t see what’s on the screens. Woody sits in the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> And you can see everybody’s screen and you can see ChatGPT spitting out the text, and you can see them copy and pasting it into their paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> You could literally see your fellow students using ChatGPT…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss: \u003c/strong> And copying and pasting it, yup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> If you could estimate how many people in a classroom of 20 students, how many were using it to cheat in the way you’re describing. How many would you say?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> So I’d say that there’s 10 people in that class using it for everything like cheating on, the whole paper is AI, I’d say there’s another 5 that probably half of it’s written by AI, but they do actually read it through and go, “Gee, maybe I don’t wanna include the part that says ‘As a large language model…’” but they like read it through and copy parts and splice bits and do whatever. Then I’d say of, so you’ve got five remaining. I’d say probably 4 of that 5 do the paper legitimately. So there’s 4 people doing it legitimately, and then there’s another one that’s going, and I don’t know, they, it’s kind of a mix, like they plagiarized stuff, but it’s like a paragraph in their entire thing. And I would say, of those 4, I mean, unless you’ve got a really, not a super smart tech kid, I’d say probably all four of those are using AI in some way. It’s just using it appropriately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>Woody says that some of his teachers were apparently totally oblivious to generative AI. But not his science teacher. She tried to encourage students to use it in a way that would help them learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> That teacher was really trying, she seemed to grasp the concept that there was AI being used, and she was like, we’re gonna learn how to use AI, legitimately and like how do we use it in our research? And everybody heard, oh, you can use AI in your paper. And they all didn’t actually listen to what she was saying. Please use it as like a secondary source. And they all went, “okay, I’m gonna use ChatGPT to write my paper. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Um, do you have any teachers who effectively managed this? You know, either in their…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> No, I have the science teacher really tried. She really, she did actually provide, unlike all the other teachers, she actually provided instruction like, Hey, here’s how we’re gonna use it. Everybody ignored it, but she did try, right? All my other teachers just flat out ignored it the whole year. Um, except for the ELA teacher who said, we’re all writing paper benchmarks, which was a nightmare. That was just…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Why, why was that a nightmare?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> Because I’d say for a lot of us, not, not even including AI, we’re all digital people on Chromebooks. We don’t, we don’t know how to write a paper benchmark, which you could argue is its own problem. But then you had a million kids yelling and screaming about that, because god forbid you have to write a paper benchmark. Eww.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> So, according to Woody, his English teacher made the students write things out by hand, which actually did keep people from using ChatGPT. Although Woody thinks that created other problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people have suggested that Woody doesn’t need to worry. According to him he’s doing his work legitimately. Assuming that’s true, and that the other students are using ChatGPT, then it’ll all come out in the wash. He’ll actually learn what he’s supposed to, and the others won’t, and eventually, that will be obvious, and give him an advantage. Maybe in getting into college, maybe on tests, maybe in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Woody doesn’t see it that way. In his world. Grades matter. Students are under pressure. When students choose to cheat, that can impact how the teachers teach the material. And the pace of learning, which puts even more pressure on the students who are trying to do the work themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> I mean, it’s frustrating. It’s a compounding effect. I’d say at the beginning of the year, there weren’t a lot of students using AI, and I’d say it’s shifted as the pacing gets faster, then more kids feel like they need it ’cause they feel like they’re gonna fail if they don’t have it. So it piles on itself, and it also, I was never the fast worker in the class. I can do the work, but I’m like dyslexic anyway, so it takes me forever to do the work anyway. I’d say the number of people not using it, like the number of people holding out and being like, “I’m gonna do my work legitimately” is going down because it’s just, there’s no room for, especially in the district where I am, where a lot of, we’re very grade grubby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s expected, like you gotta have an A in every class. So everybody is, “I gotta get that A, I gotta get this assignment in on time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> All right. I’d like to bring Justin Reich back to the program. Justin has studied technology in schools over the decades, and he can help us make sense of the stories we just heard. Welcome back Justin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Thanks for having me, Jesse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> So the interviews that I shared took place over a year ago, and we’re now coming up on 3 years since ChatGPT was unveiled in November of 2022. So I’m curious what overall reactions you’re having as you listen back to these stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Well, the first thing it makes me think of is something that we’ve talked about before, which is just this idea of instantaneous arrival is so unusual for an education technology. I mean, the joke we make sometimes is that, you know, “no kid ever dragged their own smart board into a classroom”. Typically education technology was purchased by schools, and that meant the schools could have at least something of a plan before they gave all their teachers online grade books, or they bought all their kids’ Chromebooks, or they bought all their kids’ iPads, or whatever else it is. But there is zero time for planning. There’s zero time for preparation. You know, Steve Ouellette says, “This is urgent”.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just, there’s something which is happening right now and we need to deal with it. And then schools have really different capacities to deal with that. So an affluent place like Westwood, where they probably have recovered pretty well from the pandemic where things are feeling like they’re back on track, they probably have plenty of resources to hire substitute teachers, you know, the population of kids they serve have all kinds of challenges, but not nearly, the challenges they might encounter in some of their urban neighborhoods nearby or rural neighborhoods out west. They’re in a good place to be able to say, “Oh, we’ve, I’ve got some extra time to be able to manage this. Like, let’s get started.” Let’s, you know, teachers have extra time to be on the working group, “Let’s get started working on this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For, at other places, many, many schools in November 2022, in the spring of 2023, were still drowning in the challenges of chronic absenteeism of learning, loss of school that felt like it really hadn’t bounced back yet. And so this new thing shows up, and not every school in the country is on the same footing in figuring out how to deal with it. But of course, even if a school doesn’t have an institutional plan to deal with it, every teacher has to deal with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Ms O’Neill walks into her classroom and all of her students are using Bing. And she goes, well, you know, Bing! Bing is the web browser that you use to download Google Chrome, so you can never have to use Bing again. Why are all my students using Bing on a Chromebook? Like none of this makes sense. And what a great story, to remind us how significantly and quickly things changed and how there was no choice to postpone this. There was no way to say, ah, “ we’ll just buy, maybe we’ll buy the smart boards, but we’ll buy them next year, or we’ll buy them two years after that. Let’s just work on other stuff for now.” You, as an educator, had this in your classroom and had to decide what you were gonna do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Well, speaking of no option to postpone, I wanna play you something that Sam Altman said about all of this back in 2023. You know that Sam Altman was one of the founders of OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT. And he’s the CEO. You may remember he was actually ousted from the company briefly and then reinstated in an episode they’re now calling the blip, and one thing he’s gotten some criticism for is just releasing new versions of ChatGPT out into the world, arguably without a lot of thought about what impact that might have or without a lot of support for institutions like schools that might be impacted by AI. And in 2023, the hosts of the New York Times podcast, Hard Fork asked him about that. And here’s what he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sam Altman:\u003c/strong> You know, one example that I mean is instructive because it was the first and the loudest is what happened with ChatGPT and education. Days, at least weeks. But I think days after the release of ChatGPT school districts were like falling all over themselves to ban ChatGPT. And that didn’t really surprise us, like that we could have predicted and did predict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing that happened after that quickly was, you know, like weeks to months, was school districts and teachers saying, Hey, actually we made a mistake and this is really important part of the future of education and the benefits far outweigh the downside. And not only are we banning it, we’re encouraging our teachers to make use of it in the classroom. We’re encouraging our students to get really good at this tool because it’s gonna be part of the way people live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, you know, then there was like a big discussion about what, what the kind of path forward should be. And that is just not something that could have happened without releasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>So Justin, you were paying pretty close attention in 2022 and 2023 when ChatGPT was first unleashed upon schools. Do you think Altman’s account is historically accurate?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich: \u003c/strong>Well, I actually got to hear Sam Altman give some version of this because he came to MIT, not long after November, 2022, gave a talk that was facilitated by Sally Kornbluth, our president. And he said something along the lines, I think the question was something like, you know, where are there big wins for ChatGPT? And he was like, well, education’s a slam dunk. This is a place where very obviously, we’re seeing benefits, not really seeing any downsides. Things are just immediately improving society. So this is gonna be a fast win for us. And yeah, you know, it’s, it’s delusional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not at all connected to what is actually happening in reality in schools. I’m sure some of it is, if I built a technology product, I’d be pretty excited to hear the voices of people who are happy with it. You know, people in powerful places don’t always have great sources of information about what happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes : \u003c/strong>And, and everything he says has a kind of factual basis to it, but it adds up to a kind of orderly picture of what happens, that to me doesn’t really reflect the chaos that educators were experiencing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Also, if you just know something about schools, this idea that, like, “as soon as it was released they were all doing something”, it’s like, no, that’s not how schools work. And then “really quickly after doing it, they reverse themselves” and you’re like, no, you do not under- like, schools are carrier fleets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Schools are super tankers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich: \u003c/strong>Schools are super tankers. Like when they turn, they turn slowly and they turn with inertia. And when they go back it takes a lot of time to move that backwards, but even just in the handful of stories that we heard,we heard from a couple of students, one teacher who said there was nothing happening in their schools. It wasn’t being banned, it wasn’t being encouraged. Teachers were kind of figuring out on their own what to do with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I mean, if you talk to teachers and students, it’s not very hard to get stories where you get the sense of like, oh, this is not an unambiguously good thing. Like this is making Nanki nervous because pretty clearly students are using this to bypass their learning in ways that they shouldn’t. Woody is really concerned that his classes are moving faster than they’re supposed to because teachers are getting the wrong feedback. From students because students, instead of doing the work and doing the learning and figuring things out, are just copying, pasting questions from ChatGPT into their assignments and this, and Woody is trying to, is telling us he’s trying to do the right thing and this isn’t working here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even Steve, who’s in like the best possible circumstances, a really experienced, really talented tech director with a really supportive superintendent, really supportive community, cool things happening in their schools. As much good work as he’s doing, I think he still feels like, that he’s just barely taking the first steps that might be needed to get his hands wrapped around this thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and in fact, I actually played that Sam Altman tape for him and you know, he, and arguably what Sam Altman describes most closely resembles Westwood and Steve Ouellette, like of all the people we heard from, his story is the closest to Sam Altman’s account of what happened. But this, this is what he had to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette: \u003c/strong>Not to highlight Westwood, but when I talk to my peers in neighboring districts, no one’s doing anything. Like they’re just starting to create, think about creating guidelines. And so, we’re kind of just like building the plane, you know, while we fly it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> For the next 6 episodes, we’re going to hear stories of building the plane as we fly it. We’ll hear from the teachers who are struggling to prevent their students from using ChatGPT to bypass learning and thinking; We’ll talk with students about why they turn to AI to get their work done, and what it feels like to be falsely accused of using AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we’ll hear from teachers, students, and school leaders who have found ways to use AI to help them teach or learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in our next episode, what even is generative AI? And why does the so-called “jagged frontier” of this technology make it so challenging when it shows up in schools?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t think, it doesn’t understand, it predicts one word at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>That’s next time on the Homework Machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This episode was produced by me, Jesse Dukes. We had editing from Ruxandra Guidi and Alexandra Salomon. Reporting and research from Holly McDede, Natasha Esteves, Andrew Meriwether, and Chris Bagg. Sound design and music supervision by Steven Jackson. Production support from Yebu Ji. Data analysis from Manee Ngozi Nnamani and Manasa Kudumu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Josh Sheldon, Camila Lee, Liz Hutner, and Eric Klopfer. Administrative support from Jessica Rondon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research and reporting you heard in this episode was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Kapor Foundation, the Jameel World Education Lab, the Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing Initiative at MIT, and the RAISE initiative, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education also at MIT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, we had support from Google’s Academic Research Awards program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Homework Machine is a production of the Teaching Systems Lab, Justin Reich Director, the lab is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more commonly known to the world as MIT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://teachlabpodcast.com/\">teachlabpodcast.com\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://tsl.mit.edu/AI\">tsl.mit.edu/AI\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>That was The Homework Machine from MIT’s Teachlab podcast.\u003cbr>\nYou can find the whole series wherever you get your podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll be back next month with a brand new episode of Mindshift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening!\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This month MindShift is sharing an episode from MITs TeachLab podcast. Hosts Jessie Dukes and Justin Reich have interviewed teachers, school leaders and students about how the debut of ChatGPT and Generative AI is actually playing out in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve compiled their learnings into a mini series called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.teachlabpodcast.com/\">Homework Machine\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC3473844164\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nKi Sung:\u003c/strong> Hey MindShift listeners, It’s Ki Sung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today we’ve got a special episode to share with you. It’s from our friends at Teach Lab, a podcast about the art and craft of teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their mini series, called The Homework Machine, hosts Jesse Dukes and Justin Reich explore the reactions to AI when it first debuted as a strange new technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll let our friends from Teach Lab take it from here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Episode Transcript\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> This is the Teach Lab podcast, I’m Justin Reich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> And I’m Jesse Dukes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Devon O’Neil is a high school social studies teacher in Oregon. Back in 2021, after six years of teaching, she took 2 years off while her husband attended grad school. At MIT actually. And during her break from teaching, she worked designing classroom curriculum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> Which is a super cool experience, very different from being in the classroom, and also really reinforced that I wanted to be in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> When she was on her break, O’Neil missed two momentous years for schools. There was a pandemic, remote learning, hybrid learning, returning to school buildings. And when she went back to the classroom, in the fall of 2023, she said, there was some culture shock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> It was those two, like super crazy post-Covid years. So I come back, and it’s like, like those movies where the caveman, like defrost or whatever. And they’re like “what is this?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> It wasn’t just that her fellow teachers were harrowed and burned out, while she was fresh and energetic. She also noticed that the student work was, well, different from what she remembered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> I’d have these really well written paragraphs or snippets that are looked to be very well researched and all this, but not at all on topic. Grammar was off. Even the most brilliant 14-year-old still talks like a 14-year-old and still writes like a 14-year-old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> So, the grammar was oddly good. O’Neil can see her students’ screens, and she sometimes watches them work. And, one day, she noticed they were using an unusual search engine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> Bing! I was noticing a lot of them were using Bing. To Google stuff, see even to Google stuff. And I was like, that’s the weirdest choice. Who uses Bing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> And then, one day, she was watching a student complete a writing assignment in a google doc. And poof, a whole well-written paragraph just appeared. Out of nowhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil:\u003c/strong> Like one minute it’s not there, and one minute it’s there. And, it said like “here are your results”. And they forgot to delete that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> And that’s when Devon realized her students were using ChatGPT to complete in class writing assignments. They would copy and paste the questions she would give them into Bing’s Copilot, which was a free way to use ChatGPT. Then, the students copied the answer, sometimes without any editing, right into their google document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Devon O’Neil: \u003c/strong>Which is kind of a rookie mistake, like if they’re going to cheat, you want them to cheat a little better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> We first talked to Devon in 2023, just a few weeks after she figured out what was going on. She says that since then, she’s gotten a lot more savvy about ChatGPT. But her experience speaks to how much can, and did, change in schools, in just a couple of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> In November of 2022, ChatGPT was launched as a free research preview of advanced generative AI, like a pilot, or beta version. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, especially text, but also images, videos, and music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ChatGPT is the most famous example of generative AI. There are competitors like Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and the Chinese company, DeepSeek. And rather quickly, students figured out, ChatGPT was pretty good at doing their homework for them. Devon, out of school for two years, working on curriculum, had missed the arrival of the new homework machine. But her students had not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> The arrival of chatGPT, and then fairly quick upgrades with GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 within a couple of years, has been the big story in education technology since the fall of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Waterfall of news stories]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News anchor 1: \u003c/strong>So how does it work? Students can drop an assignment into something like ChatGPT, click a button and their homework is done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News anchor 2: \u003c/strong>She is talking about ChatGPT. School districts like New York cities are banning it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>News anchor 3: \u003c/strong>ChatGPT is the new artificial intelligence tool causing a stir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Schools have scrambled to figure out what to do about ChatGPT. Ban it? Embrace it? Teachers have scrambled to try to get ahead of the “cheating” problem, and to find ways in which AI can support education. Some Students have scrambled to figure out how to use AI without their teachers detecting it. And education technology companies have scrambled to create AI powered ed tech. And have made many promises about how generative AI will transform education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sal Khan:\u003c/strong> But I think we’re at the cusp of using AI for probably the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen, and the way we’re going to do that is by giving every student on the planet an artificially intelligent but amazing personal tutor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> My career has been devoted to studying education technology. Over and over again, we’ve seen new technologies emerge in education, and the technology developers will promise, every time, that the new tech will transform and democratize education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sal Khan :\u003c/strong>That’s what’s about to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> And while the technologies do sometimes help teachers and students, those big transformations to schools, they never happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> But there is something different about Chat GPT and other AI. Throughout history, most education technology has been adopted by schools, who hope it will help them do better work, teaching students. But Generative AI wasn’t invited into schools. Not for the most part. It crashed the party. Even if schools ban it from school laptops, students can often get around that ban, by using Bing, for example. Or they have their own laptop. Or they can access it on their mobile phone, which over 95% of teenagers have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, the kids have access to generative AI. And they’re using it, whether their teachers want them to, or not. That’s having a big impact on schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, a little about me, and this project. I am a journalist, and for the past year and a half, I’ve been working with Justin and other colleagues at MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab. We’ve interviewed over 85 teachers and school leaders, and over 35 students about how all of this is actually playing out in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve been hearing about why students cheat using AI, what teachers are doing to stop them, and how some teachers and students have found ChatGPT to be helpful for learning. And for the next several weeks, we’re going to share what we’ve learned with you in a mini series we’re calling the Homework Machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> And now, Jesse, who has immersed himself in this research, will be our host and guide for these episodes. Jesse, you can take it from here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Thanks Justin, but not so fast. We’re going to want your historical knowledge about educational technology to help us unpack and contextualize these stories. So stay close, and keep your mic handy. In fact, we’re going to hear from you again in this episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Sounds good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Alright, well, let’s go back to A beginning: December of 2022. We’ll start with Steve Ouellette. He’s a technology director at the Westwood School district, southwest of Boston. His job includes keeping track of computers and software for the district, but also helping teachers think through how to use technology in their work. He remembers the exact moment he heard about generative AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> So I think it was, it was December 8th. And I was home sick with Covid. I got an email, I’m on a listserv, you know, with all the tech directors in Massachusetts and I got an email that said: Have AI write your next English paper. The sub caption was: Buckle up, here it comes. And someone had basically shared a video of this thing called ChatGPT, that was generating an essay about, I think it was about Raisin in the Sun. And I was like “What is going on here?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>Watching the video, Ouellette says he immediately realized that this was a big deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> Yeah, that was, that was a moment. You know, I’ve been in this business since 1993 and I don’t remember having like, a really specific, like, reaction to something the way I did when I saw that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Ouellette emailed the district’s superintendent, and explained the situation to her. There was a new technological tool, available to students, that could do their schoolwork. Pretty effectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> And she had no idea what it was. And I explained to her what it was and sent her a link and she shot back to me five minutes later and she’s like, yeah, we need to write about this. And so we, we felt, we both felt this sense of like, urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> The superintendent asked Ouellette to write a memo to the district’s teachers. Ouellette is a technology guy, and out of curiosity and excitement, he decided to experiment. Could ChatGPT draft the memo? He asked ChatGPT to write the first draft and sent it to the superintendent. She read it and told Ouellette, this is pretty formal language, it doesn’t sound like you. Make it more casual sounding. But Ouellette didn’t rewrite the memo himself. He prompted ChatGPT to revise the memo. And he told it: “Make it more conversational.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> I said, you need to write something funny about how, you know France was gonna win the World Cup. And it like, seamlessly incorporated a little like parenthetical thing about, oh by the way, France is gonna win the World Cup. And in the way it did, it was like magnificent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Here’s the memo ChatGPT wrote:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ChatGPT: \u003c/strong> ChatGPT could also be used to help students learn other languages, such as Spanish or French (which, by the way, I think will win the 2022 World Cup). Imagine being able to have a conversation with ChatGPT in French and receiving instant corrections and feedback on your pronunciation and grammar. The possibilities are truly endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Side note, I’m not that impressed with how ChatGPT did with that World Cup joke. It says that “French” will win the world cup, not “France”. But, that aside, they sent the memo out that Monday. Remember, this was December of 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next few months, Ouellette formed an AI working group in the district. They brought in a guest speaker. They looked at academic policies. They talked to teachers and students. And by the summer of 2023, they had revised academic integrity guidelines as well as some basic training for teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette:\u003c/strong> The goal was to inform staff about what this stuff is, to let them know that there are guidelines, and that if they have students, you know, in grades eight or higher, they can use it with their students. But we also wanted to inform staff how to use it for themselves to make their own work more efficient. The theory behind that is if they’re using it, then they’ll be more informed to use it responsibly with their kids. And it’s nowhere near where what it needs to be. I’ll be the first to admit it, but we did something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> What Westwood did was quite a bit more than most districts. Last fall, a survey found only about one quarter of teachers said their school district had provided any guidance or professional development, about AI. That’s two years after the arrival of the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Westwood, the faculty learned about ChatGPT pretty early on. Likely before many of their students heard about it. That was NOT true for other schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> The First Time I heard about ChatGPT was in my English Class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>This is Nanki Kaur. She just graduated from American High School, in Fremont, California. And she heard about ChatGPT from another student back in the spring of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> We were having a conversation about how we were going to approach our research paper assignment that was coming up, and you would have to pick an individual of American significance and prove why they were of American significance and what impact they had. And he was talking about how he just asked this AI platform about how his person of American Significance who was BLEEP, had an impact on America and he got a really strong thesis statement. And he said, I didn’t even have to do anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Now, I bleeped that last bit so this student won’t get in trouble.But the point here, Nanki says the thesis statement was actually pretty good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> And we were all confused and we were like, what are you talking about? Like how did you not have to do anything and how do you have such a strong thesis statement? ’cause we were just learning how to write a thesis statement at that time. And he said, there’s this online platform, it’s driven by artificial intelligence and it just writes it for you and it’s, it’s really thorough.It’s really good. You guys should try it. And so that was the first time I heard about it and I was shocked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>Nanki talked with our colleague Holly McDede, a reporter based in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Holly McDede:\u003c/strong> Did you try it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> I did go home and try it. Not for the same assignment, but I went home and I looked it up like Chat GPT, OpenAI, what is it? And then I asked it a couple questions like what is the weather like, and if I were to write a story about a certain situation,could you write me a story? And it actually answered all my prompts and it wrote me like a solid paragraph, and so I was shocked. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Nanki says she doesn’t know what the other student did with his thesis statement, but she has a guess:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> I think he did turn it in and I don’t know what kind of disciplinary action he got because there wasn’t really much set in stone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Holly McDede:\u003c/strong> Do you suspect he didn’t get any disciplinary action?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> I do suspect that because he was oddly smug about how well he had done on that assignment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> As far as Nanki knows, that student didn’t get in any trouble. In fact, she’s not sure the teachers knew about ChatGPT at that point. And Nanki says that the school didn’t seem to catch on that students were using ChatGPT to cheat until the fall of 2023, the next school year. A whole year after ChatGPT launched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Nanki says when they did realize what was happening, the school came down hard. Nanki’s AP English teacher held a special class meeting to present the new academic integrity policy, with a list of sanctions if students were caught using Chat GPT or other AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> Which included, zeros on the assignments or administrative disciplinary action. And if worse comes to worst, then it would be, suspensions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> At American High School Nanki says their policies didn’t just ban ChatGPT. Students were also told they couldn’t use Grammarly, the grammar check program, or similar AI tools that are often built into students’ browsers. But, the policies weren’t applied consistently. Nanki says her social studies teacher actually encouraged her to use AI for research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> Because she said, I think it’s a really good tool to get all the facts in one spot. Obviously, I’m gonna ask you guys to fact check and cross check, make sure that everything is correct. But I think it’s a really great, you know, tool for you guys to use so that you have everything in one place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Holly McDede:\u003c/strong> Was that confusing for you or other students?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Nanki Kaur:\u003c/strong> It was confusing for me, personally because I was like, I just don’t want to use it at all. Like I don’t even care because I don’t need like this habit. I don’t want it on my computer. I don’t want it anywhere, like I just want it like away from me because I didn’t want to jeopardize any chance of having a good grade in that class or in any of my classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Some 3000 miles away from Nanki, another student had quite a different experience. Woody Goss was wrapping up 8th grade in a public school in the suburbs north of New York city when he spoke to us in the spring of 2024. He says his teachers didn’t really respond to the arrival of ChatGPT. And, that students used AI to get their schoolwork done in almost all of his classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says his science class was the worst. The students all have laptops, but the teacher sits in front of the class, and can’t see what’s on the screens. Woody sits in the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> And you can see everybody’s screen and you can see ChatGPT spitting out the text, and you can see them copy and pasting it into their paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> You could literally see your fellow students using ChatGPT…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss: \u003c/strong> And copying and pasting it, yup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> If you could estimate how many people in a classroom of 20 students, how many were using it to cheat in the way you’re describing. How many would you say?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> So I’d say that there’s 10 people in that class using it for everything like cheating on, the whole paper is AI, I’d say there’s another 5 that probably half of it’s written by AI, but they do actually read it through and go, “Gee, maybe I don’t wanna include the part that says ‘As a large language model…’” but they like read it through and copy parts and splice bits and do whatever. Then I’d say of, so you’ve got five remaining. I’d say probably 4 of that 5 do the paper legitimately. So there’s 4 people doing it legitimately, and then there’s another one that’s going, and I don’t know, they, it’s kind of a mix, like they plagiarized stuff, but it’s like a paragraph in their entire thing. And I would say, of those 4, I mean, unless you’ve got a really, not a super smart tech kid, I’d say probably all four of those are using AI in some way. It’s just using it appropriately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>Woody says that some of his teachers were apparently totally oblivious to generative AI. But not his science teacher. She tried to encourage students to use it in a way that would help them learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> That teacher was really trying, she seemed to grasp the concept that there was AI being used, and she was like, we’re gonna learn how to use AI, legitimately and like how do we use it in our research? And everybody heard, oh, you can use AI in your paper. And they all didn’t actually listen to what she was saying. Please use it as like a secondary source. And they all went, “okay, I’m gonna use ChatGPT to write my paper. “\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Um, do you have any teachers who effectively managed this? You know, either in their…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> No, I have the science teacher really tried. She really, she did actually provide, unlike all the other teachers, she actually provided instruction like, Hey, here’s how we’re gonna use it. Everybody ignored it, but she did try, right? All my other teachers just flat out ignored it the whole year. Um, except for the ELA teacher who said, we’re all writing paper benchmarks, which was a nightmare. That was just…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Why, why was that a nightmare?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> Because I’d say for a lot of us, not, not even including AI, we’re all digital people on Chromebooks. We don’t, we don’t know how to write a paper benchmark, which you could argue is its own problem. But then you had a million kids yelling and screaming about that, because god forbid you have to write a paper benchmark. Eww.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> So, according to Woody, his English teacher made the students write things out by hand, which actually did keep people from using ChatGPT. Although Woody thinks that created other problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people have suggested that Woody doesn’t need to worry. According to him he’s doing his work legitimately. Assuming that’s true, and that the other students are using ChatGPT, then it’ll all come out in the wash. He’ll actually learn what he’s supposed to, and the others won’t, and eventually, that will be obvious, and give him an advantage. Maybe in getting into college, maybe on tests, maybe in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Woody doesn’t see it that way. In his world. Grades matter. Students are under pressure. When students choose to cheat, that can impact how the teachers teach the material. And the pace of learning, which puts even more pressure on the students who are trying to do the work themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Woody Goss:\u003c/strong> I mean, it’s frustrating. It’s a compounding effect. I’d say at the beginning of the year, there weren’t a lot of students using AI, and I’d say it’s shifted as the pacing gets faster, then more kids feel like they need it ’cause they feel like they’re gonna fail if they don’t have it. So it piles on itself, and it also, I was never the fast worker in the class. I can do the work, but I’m like dyslexic anyway, so it takes me forever to do the work anyway. I’d say the number of people not using it, like the number of people holding out and being like, “I’m gonna do my work legitimately” is going down because it’s just, there’s no room for, especially in the district where I am, where a lot of, we’re very grade grubby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s expected, like you gotta have an A in every class. So everybody is, “I gotta get that A, I gotta get this assignment in on time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> All right. I’d like to bring Justin Reich back to the program. Justin has studied technology in schools over the decades, and he can help us make sense of the stories we just heard. Welcome back Justin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Thanks for having me, Jesse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> So the interviews that I shared took place over a year ago, and we’re now coming up on 3 years since ChatGPT was unveiled in November of 2022. So I’m curious what overall reactions you’re having as you listen back to these stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Well, the first thing it makes me think of is something that we’ve talked about before, which is just this idea of instantaneous arrival is so unusual for an education technology. I mean, the joke we make sometimes is that, you know, “no kid ever dragged their own smart board into a classroom”. Typically education technology was purchased by schools, and that meant the schools could have at least something of a plan before they gave all their teachers online grade books, or they bought all their kids’ Chromebooks, or they bought all their kids’ iPads, or whatever else it is. But there is zero time for planning. There’s zero time for preparation. You know, Steve Ouellette says, “This is urgent”.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just, there’s something which is happening right now and we need to deal with it. And then schools have really different capacities to deal with that. So an affluent place like Westwood, where they probably have recovered pretty well from the pandemic where things are feeling like they’re back on track, they probably have plenty of resources to hire substitute teachers, you know, the population of kids they serve have all kinds of challenges, but not nearly, the challenges they might encounter in some of their urban neighborhoods nearby or rural neighborhoods out west. They’re in a good place to be able to say, “Oh, we’ve, I’ve got some extra time to be able to manage this. Like, let’s get started.” Let’s, you know, teachers have extra time to be on the working group, “Let’s get started working on this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For, at other places, many, many schools in November 2022, in the spring of 2023, were still drowning in the challenges of chronic absenteeism of learning, loss of school that felt like it really hadn’t bounced back yet. And so this new thing shows up, and not every school in the country is on the same footing in figuring out how to deal with it. But of course, even if a school doesn’t have an institutional plan to deal with it, every teacher has to deal with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So Ms O’Neill walks into her classroom and all of her students are using Bing. And she goes, well, you know, Bing! Bing is the web browser that you use to download Google Chrome, so you can never have to use Bing again. Why are all my students using Bing on a Chromebook? Like none of this makes sense. And what a great story, to remind us how significantly and quickly things changed and how there was no choice to postpone this. There was no way to say, ah, “ we’ll just buy, maybe we’ll buy the smart boards, but we’ll buy them next year, or we’ll buy them two years after that. Let’s just work on other stuff for now.” You, as an educator, had this in your classroom and had to decide what you were gonna do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Well, speaking of no option to postpone, I wanna play you something that Sam Altman said about all of this back in 2023. You know that Sam Altman was one of the founders of OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT. And he’s the CEO. You may remember he was actually ousted from the company briefly and then reinstated in an episode they’re now calling the blip, and one thing he’s gotten some criticism for is just releasing new versions of ChatGPT out into the world, arguably without a lot of thought about what impact that might have or without a lot of support for institutions like schools that might be impacted by AI. And in 2023, the hosts of the New York Times podcast, Hard Fork asked him about that. And here’s what he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sam Altman:\u003c/strong> You know, one example that I mean is instructive because it was the first and the loudest is what happened with ChatGPT and education. Days, at least weeks. But I think days after the release of ChatGPT school districts were like falling all over themselves to ban ChatGPT. And that didn’t really surprise us, like that we could have predicted and did predict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing that happened after that quickly was, you know, like weeks to months, was school districts and teachers saying, Hey, actually we made a mistake and this is really important part of the future of education and the benefits far outweigh the downside. And not only are we banning it, we’re encouraging our teachers to make use of it in the classroom. We’re encouraging our students to get really good at this tool because it’s gonna be part of the way people live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, you know, then there was like a big discussion about what, what the kind of path forward should be. And that is just not something that could have happened without releasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>So Justin, you were paying pretty close attention in 2022 and 2023 when ChatGPT was first unleashed upon schools. Do you think Altman’s account is historically accurate?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich: \u003c/strong>Well, I actually got to hear Sam Altman give some version of this because he came to MIT, not long after November, 2022, gave a talk that was facilitated by Sally Kornbluth, our president. And he said something along the lines, I think the question was something like, you know, where are there big wins for ChatGPT? And he was like, well, education’s a slam dunk. This is a place where very obviously, we’re seeing benefits, not really seeing any downsides. Things are just immediately improving society. So this is gonna be a fast win for us. And yeah, you know, it’s, it’s delusional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not at all connected to what is actually happening in reality in schools. I’m sure some of it is, if I built a technology product, I’d be pretty excited to hear the voices of people who are happy with it. You know, people in powerful places don’t always have great sources of information about what happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes : \u003c/strong>And, and everything he says has a kind of factual basis to it, but it adds up to a kind of orderly picture of what happens, that to me doesn’t really reflect the chaos that educators were experiencing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich:\u003c/strong> Also, if you just know something about schools, this idea that, like, “as soon as it was released they were all doing something”, it’s like, no, that’s not how schools work. And then “really quickly after doing it, they reverse themselves” and you’re like, no, you do not under- like, schools are carrier fleets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Schools are super tankers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Justin Reich: \u003c/strong>Schools are super tankers. Like when they turn, they turn slowly and they turn with inertia. And when they go back it takes a lot of time to move that backwards, but even just in the handful of stories that we heard,we heard from a couple of students, one teacher who said there was nothing happening in their schools. It wasn’t being banned, it wasn’t being encouraged. Teachers were kind of figuring out on their own what to do with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I mean, if you talk to teachers and students, it’s not very hard to get stories where you get the sense of like, oh, this is not an unambiguously good thing. Like this is making Nanki nervous because pretty clearly students are using this to bypass their learning in ways that they shouldn’t. Woody is really concerned that his classes are moving faster than they’re supposed to because teachers are getting the wrong feedback. From students because students, instead of doing the work and doing the learning and figuring things out, are just copying, pasting questions from ChatGPT into their assignments and this, and Woody is trying to, is telling us he’s trying to do the right thing and this isn’t working here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even Steve, who’s in like the best possible circumstances, a really experienced, really talented tech director with a really supportive superintendent, really supportive community, cool things happening in their schools. As much good work as he’s doing, I think he still feels like, that he’s just barely taking the first steps that might be needed to get his hands wrapped around this thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> Yeah, and in fact, I actually played that Sam Altman tape for him and you know, he, and arguably what Sam Altman describes most closely resembles Westwood and Steve Ouellette, like of all the people we heard from, his story is the closest to Sam Altman’s account of what happened. But this, this is what he had to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steve Ouellette: \u003c/strong>Not to highlight Westwood, but when I talk to my peers in neighboring districts, no one’s doing anything. Like they’re just starting to create, think about creating guidelines. And so, we’re kind of just like building the plane, you know, while we fly it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes:\u003c/strong> For the next 6 episodes, we’re going to hear stories of building the plane as we fly it. We’ll hear from the teachers who are struggling to prevent their students from using ChatGPT to bypass learning and thinking; We’ll talk with students about why they turn to AI to get their work done, and what it feels like to be falsely accused of using AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we’ll hear from teachers, students, and school leaders who have found ways to use AI to help them teach or learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in our next episode, what even is generative AI? And why does the so-called “jagged frontier” of this technology make it so challenging when it shows up in schools?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t think, it doesn’t understand, it predicts one word at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jesse Dukes: \u003c/strong>That’s next time on the Homework Machine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This episode was produced by me, Jesse Dukes. We had editing from Ruxandra Guidi and Alexandra Salomon. Reporting and research from Holly McDede, Natasha Esteves, Andrew Meriwether, and Chris Bagg. Sound design and music supervision by Steven Jackson. Production support from Yebu Ji. Data analysis from Manee Ngozi Nnamani and Manasa Kudumu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Josh Sheldon, Camila Lee, Liz Hutner, and Eric Klopfer. Administrative support from Jessica Rondon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research and reporting you heard in this episode was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Kapor Foundation, the Jameel World Education Lab, the Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing Initiative at MIT, and the RAISE initiative, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education also at MIT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, we had support from Google’s Academic Research Awards program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Homework Machine is a production of the Teaching Systems Lab, Justin Reich Director, the lab is located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more commonly known to the world as MIT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://teachlabpodcast.com/\">teachlabpodcast.com\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://tsl.mit.edu/AI\">tsl.mit.edu/AI\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>That was The Homework Machine from MIT’s Teachlab podcast.\u003cbr>\nYou can find the whole series wherever you get your podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll be back next month with a brand new episode of Mindshift.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening!\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"filterData": {
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"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
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"restaurantDataById": {},
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"userAgentReducer": {
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"isBot": true
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"requestOutcomesReducer": {
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}
}
