E&W Blog

Technology has forever changed the classroom and the lives of our nation’s youth. The Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing to examine the impact of phones, tablets, and computers in schools.
 
Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) started off the hearing by highlighting many of the concerns with allowing unlimited use of screens in schools. 

“Teachers report that students hurry sloppily though assignments so they can go back to their social media posts or YouTube channel, not engaging in the learning process. Students, starting in elementary school, huddle around phones where students share videos with their friends who don’t have cell phones, sometimes exposing children to inappropriate content. Cyberbullying originating at school is contributing to mental health issues among our youth. And cheating has become rampant,” he said.

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) asked Dr. Rich Nye, Special Advisor of Education to Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, about the process of developing state and local phone policies in schools. “It was certainly a collaborative effort…so much of this policy originates at the local level. And that’s where you’ll have a school community council working with a principal working with the teachers saying that ‘We understand that state-wide expectation is to reduce or eliminate phones in the classroom but what else needs to be true at our school regarding that?'” explained Dr. Nye. 

 
Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) and Dr. Gibbins discussed the importance of federal and state governments allowing local schools to make decisions about what is best for their students. “The autonomy of a local school district is really important. Every school district is different, every community is different, and the ability to have meaningful discussions with not only the principal of the school, for example, but the community that surrounds that school is priceless,” said Dr. Gibbins.
 
In response to Chairman Tim Walberg’s (R-MI) question about the impact of having students reading or taking notes on paper versus on a laptop, Dr. Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, said, “We have some experiments now that show…when [students] take notes on paper versus taking notes on a laptop they tend to do better, especially on comprehensive exams—things that take more thought. I think the brain mechanisms behind that are still to be explored but we have a challenge in education in finding that balance between using technology for what it’s good for but then making sure that that individual use doesn’t interfere with learning.”
 
Rep. James Moylan (R-GU) asked what can be done to strike the balance between adapting new technologies but also not allowing them to become a distraction in class. “What districts are doing right now in Utah, they are analyzing the degree that they’re incorporating the use of those devices as part of their instruction. As much as we are asking students to limit some of their screentime, several districts are identifying that they [have] got to limit the use of their screen time because [they’ve] become overdependent,” said Dr. Nye.
Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN) asked if phone usage has impacted the ability to fully staff classrooms with qualified teachers. “Yes, definitely,” explained Dr. Gibbins. He added that many teachers “want to come to our district because we have a cell phone-free policy and because we have less opportunities for a teacher to engage around a phone.”
Bottom line: Thoughtful, focused use of educational technology can be beneficial for students, but excessive technology use comes with serious drawbacks. Republicans support state and district decision-making as they choose policies regarding cell phones that will increase student engagement and learning.