The Parents’ Dilemma: What Should My School Do about New Technologies
Sixty-seven percent of parents in a recent survey agreed with this statement: “I don’t mind my child spending more screen time if he or she is learning.” And in another survey of parents, 67 percent said that “incorporating more technology in the classroom” is a “high priority.” So where is the dilemma?
The conflict in perceptions arises over the one-third of the parents in one survey disagreeing with the statement: “I don’t mind my child spending more screen time if he or she is learning.” And a similar percentage in the other one responding that more classroom technology is a low, not a high, priority. Within that one-third of dissenters, is where the high value of students using devices for their lessons comes into play rubbing up against another prized value of children and youth employing non-screen devices during school to learn since those very same kids are on their varied screens once they leave school and come home. And it is this tension between these values that wracks the one-third of dissenters in these surveys.
In this post I want to go behind the survey numbers and listen to Yalda Uhls,* a parent who advocates sensible use of new technologies in classrooms given the available research.
Many parents are unsure about the best path to technological modernization. When my children were in elementary school, our parent association held many tense meetings about the best technology plan for the school. The parents argued for months. The many valid and important questions included:
1. Our children already spend too much time outside of school with media; is it really necessary for them to do their homework and school reading on these devices?
2. If educators focus too much on technology in the classroom, what other The Parents’ Dilemma: What Should My School Do about New Technologies | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:
