Episode 174: When School Tech Tools Multiply But Learning Does Not

Schools have never had more educational technology, and yet many parents are still asking the same question at the kitchen table: Is all this screen time actually helping my child learn? I dig into what’s driving the growing pushback against edtech in K-12 public education and why “more tools” can lead to more confusion when schools can’t point to clear learning outcomes.

I walk through how school districts are changing their approach from buying the newest digital platforms to running a more skeptical evaluation process. That includes tracking actual usage, reducing redundancy, checking costs, and insisting on stronger alignment with instructional goals. I also talk about the less visible pieces that matter just as much: student data privacy, app integration with learning management systems, and whether the technology supports real personalization instead of replacing human connection in learning.

I also focus on the impact for students of color and how over-reliance on edtech can widen the digital divide when digital literacy and self-regulation supports are uneven. I touch on national concerns raised about screens, mental health, AI in schools, and why some states are proposing limits on screen-based instruction, especially for younger grades. You’ll leave with practical parent advocacy steps you can use right away, including what to ask your principal and how to set guardrails at home.

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Transcript

Welcome And Host Story

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Welcome to another episode of K-12 Public Education Insights, Empowering Parents of Color Podcast. The podcast that converges at the intersection of educational research and parental actions. It's about making the trends, topics, and theories in public education understandable so that you can implement them into practical, actionable strategies that work for your children. My name is Dr. Kim J. Fields, former corporate manager, turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African-American mom raising my two kids who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their educational progress. This battle-tested experience is what I provide as action steps for you to take. It's like enjoying a bowl of educational research with a sprinkling of motherwit wisdom on top. If you're looking to find out more about the current information and issues in education that could affect you or your children, and the action steps you can take to give your children the advantages they need, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K-12 public education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. Give me 30 minutes or less, and I'll provide insights on the latest trends, issues, and topics pertaining to this constantly evolving K-12 public education environment. Technology in schools has been all the rage for the past few years, but are there too many tools and not enough impact? Is the use of technology, including AI, in schools, causing more confusion and harm than good? Should schools curtail the use of technology? With budgets tightening across many school districts in this country, as well as growing concerns about screen time, it may be time to take stock on the technology used in schools. In this episode, I discuss the impacts to students of color from an over-reliance on technology, as well as how best to use the necessary technologies that help students achieve positive learning outcomes. Let's gain some insight on this. Across the country, school district leaders are asking questions like: What do we need students to learn from the technology we have in place? And which tools will help us understand where our students are. After years of rapid expansion and buying digital tools, many district leaders are now engaged in a more consequential phase of reassessing what stays, what goes, and how to decide between the two of these. Since districts have less money now, especially to spend on technology, they are making smarter decisions about the digital tools they use in the curriculum and in school operations. They're shifting from does this look cool to does this work? As districts rethink their approach, a more structured and more skeptical evaluation process is emerging. One major shift is toward tracking actual usage of the technology. Certain platforms like ClassLink and Clever give districts detailed analytics on which tools students and teachers are accessing, how often they are used, and in some cases, how much time is spent in each application. But looking at the usage data alone is not enough. Districts are also evaluating costs, redundancy, and alignment with instructional goals. Districts are placing more emphasis on data privacy and application integration. The digital tools must integrate with existing systems like the learning management platforms and single sign-on tools. Even with these more rigorous processes, it still remains difficult to determine whether digital tools actually improve learning. This requires clear alignment between technology use and instructional goals. The goal is to use those digital tools to help students truly personalize their education. Education is about making connections with the content as well as with other people. In addition to helping students understand the importance of human connections, digital tools should also help students better understand their own learning by providing feedback in real time, whether they're interested in pursuing a career or technical pathway toward deepening their learning of history or the humanities. Responsible use of technology in the classroom by students as well as educators is important for supporting digital citizenship. The initial aim of including digital tools in the educational curricula was to create more dynamic, flexible, disruptive, and innovative content, which would allow students to develop 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. The challenge with this is that it has created a digital divide, especially for students of color. Therefore, it is necessary to continue developing educational policies that guarantee effective and equitable use of digital tools within all educational contexts. It is essential to effectively use the necessary tools that stimulate students to be more dynamic in the learning process. However, a common situation is the incorrect use of technology by children, adolescents, and young people, causing a negative impact on the educational process. Student outcomes are closely tied to digital competencies and teacher motivation levels, yet there remain disparities in student self-regulation and digital literacy. Schools should embed programs and policies about digital literacy education across curricula to support student agency and ensure that technological use and integration translate into authentic academic growth. Educators should be equipped to effectively integrate the necessary digital tools into the teaching-learning process and adapting those tools to students' needs, designing innovative and meaningful learning experiences. At a January 15, 2026 Senate Commerce Committee hearing on technology's impact on students, experts told lawmakers that education technology impedes students' abilities to learn and offers a portal to platforms that harm children's mental health. The experts further stated that it doesn't matter what the size of the screen is, whether it's a phone, a laptop, or a desktop, and it doesn't matter who bought it, whether it's school sanctioned or not. In the end, these things hurt children's cognitive development at a time when they need to be sharper than the previous generations. It's interesting that I didn't find much research on the need to curtail the use of technology in schools or on the over-reliance of technology in schools. Most of the research that I read and ran across is still providing studies on the use of AI in schools as well as the use of generative AI in schools, and are not really addressing whether there is already too much technology reliance in schools. I'm not saying that technology is bad. After all, I spent over 25 years of my professional career working in IT departments. What I am talking about here is establishing a balance in the use of technology in the classroom, putting guardrails in place to protect children and providing benefits to all children through equitable access. In any case, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made it clear that they are concerned about the impact of social media, AI chatbots, and other digital platforms on students' mental health and privacy. The challenge for parents is in monitoring and limiting their children's screen time, in part because of the public education system requirements, which are fueled by federal subsidies and incentives. Most parents intuitively know that excessive use of internet connected devices like smartphones and tablets poses significant physical and mental health risks to children. The anti-education technology debate comes at a time when schools are grappling with rapid developments in artificial intelligence, although the current administration issued an executive order calling for infusing artificial intelligence throughout K-12 education. Many experts believe that AI does not belong in the hands of children. This AI issue could become politically complex. And just so you know, the vast majority of money for education technology in schools comes from state and local sources, but the federal E-rate program, the largest federal fund for school connectivity, has been key for schools' internet connectivity. The E-Rate Hotspots program was a responsible, carefully crafted effort to ensure that low-income students had internet access like their wealthier classmates. There has also been recent state-level action to curtail education technology use in schools. One bill, introduced by state lawmakers in Utah, seeks to require education technology tools to meet certain standards and improve their efficacy before they can be used in public schools. Another bill would limit screen time, including on education technology tools, particularly in early elementary school. A bill introduced in Missouri would restrict digital instruction to 45 minutes for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. It would also require that 70% of student work be completed on paper, that students be taught cursive handwriting, and that teachers not assign homework that requires technology. In fact, in some Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, digital learning platforms are used by high school students only. Maybe we should use that model here in the United States. So what can you do with the information that I just shared? Here are the action steps you can take regarding the overreliance of technology in schools. Well, the main action step that I would advise you to take regarding the overreliance on digital tools in school is just to make note of and be aware of all the technology that your child is required to use for education. If it seems excessive, talk to the school principal about what the data show as far as learning outcomes for students using technology versus not using it. You can also ask the school principal and administrators about the minimum required digital tools that your child is required to use. And trust your own instincts about your child's use of digital devices and take deliberate actions to restrict their use of technology at home. Here are this episode's takeaways. As districts rethink their approach, a more structured and more skeptical evaluation process is emerging regarding the use of digital tools in schools. One major shift is toward tracking actual usage of the technology. But looking at usage data alone is not enough. Districts are evaluating cost, redundancy, and alignment with instructional goals. Districts are also placing more emphasis on data privacy and application integration. The digital tools must integrate with existing systems like the learning management platforms and single sign-on tools. Even with these more rigorous processes, it still remains difficult to determine whether digital tools actually improve learning. This requires clear alignment between technology use and instructional goals. Experts have stated that it doesn't matter what the size of the screen is, whether it's a smartphone, a laptop, or a desktop, and it doesn't matter who bought it, whether it's school sanctioned or not. In the end, these things hurt children's cognitive development at a time when they need to be sharper than previous generations. The goal is to use those digital tools to help students truly personalize their education. Education is about making connections with the content as well as with other people. In addition to helping students understand the importance of human connections, digital tools should also help students better understand their own learning by providing feedback in real time, whether they're interested in pursuing a career or a technical pathway toward deepening their learning of history or the humanities, for example. Responsible use of technology in the classroom by students as well as educators is important for supporting digital citizenship. Do you think there's too much technology being used in schools today? Let me know your thoughts by leaving me a text comment on my podcast website, K12Education Insights.buzzsprout.com. And here's how you can leave that text comment. Go to the episode description page and click on the Send Me a Text Message link. Again, it's K12Education Insights.buzzsprout.com. If you enjoyed this episode, why not listen to another episode from my catalog? It can take as little as 15 minutes of your day. And remember, new episodes come out every Tuesday. Thanks for listening today. Be sure to come back for more insights on K-12 educational topics that impact you and your children. And remember to share my podcast with anyone that you think will find valuable. That includes your friends, your family, and your community. Until next time, learn something new. Every day.