{"id":85456,"date":"2026-02-11T22:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/891581461"},"modified":"2026-02-11T22:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:11:47","slug":"whats-worse-for-students-a-boring-worksheet-or-ineffective-ed-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/whats-worse-for-students-a-boring-worksheet-or-ineffective-ed-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Worse for Students: A Boring Worksheet or Ineffective Ed Tech?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The heavy use of technology in K-12 schools\u2014from 1-to-1 computing programs to artificial intelligence<\/a>\u2014is causing some policymakers and parents to call for educators to dial back their use of educational technology. <\/p>\n

One reason for the pushback, according to Richard Culatta, the CEO of ISTE+ASCD, a professional development organization: Schools haven\u2019t explained to families and caregivers exactly what their children are gaining from all these laptops, tablets, and learning platforms.<\/p>\n

The \u201cbig problem\u201d is that schools \u201chave not been doing a good job of sharing \u2018the why\u2019\u201d for using education technology, Culatta said during a Feb. 10 panel discussion on education technology and data privacy at George Washington University law school. \u201cEither there is a why that isn\u2019t being shared clearly, or there isn\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if schools don\u2019t have a compelling reason for picking a particular platform, then \u201ctechnology should not be used,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Culatta argued that ditching technology altogether won\u2019t prepare students for the complex digital world they live in and the workforce they\u2019ll one day join. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have kids that are growing up in a world where in order to be effective problem-solvers and creators and leaders, they have to know how to use technology effectively,\u201d Culatta said during the panel, which was put on by Japan\u2019s Toyo University, GWU law school and the Public Interest Privacy Center, a nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n

While parents worry that ineffective education technology may waste students\u2019 time, the same can be said of plenty of analog activities, Culatta added. For instance, he was recently doing a school visit and saw 3rd graders working on a word search, even though they had advanced beyond letter recognition, he said. <\/p>\n

The assignment was \u201cnot teaching anything. It was not helpful\u201d Culatta said. <\/p>\n

Learning experiences need to be high quality, whether they are digital or not, he added. \u201cWhen we\u2019re doing activities that have no value and are distracting on a piece of paper, it is equally as problematic\u201d as a substandard technology platform for learning.<\/p>\n

But panelist Meg Jones, a professor in communication, culture and technology at Georgetown University, argued that education technology comes with risks that a worksheet does not.<\/p>\n

Jones said she\u2019d rather have her elementary-school age son doing the word search than staring at a low-quality learning platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing bored on a networked device is different than being bored on a piece of paper,\u201d Jones said, noting that kids on school devices have access to the broader internet. \u201cIf he\u2019s going to be wasting time, I\u2019d rather him be doing it on a piece of paper than this network device that has a bunch of stuff that nobody has told me about and that I didn\u2019t give my permission for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parent pushback and legislative moves aim to curb ed-tech use<\/h2>\n

A growing number of parents appear to share some of those concerns.<\/p>\n

Nearly 7 in 10 parents said they did not support schools using AI software to store and analyze<\/a> students\u2019 grades, assessment data, or other personal information, according to the annual PDK poll on the public\u2019s views on education. The survey of a random sample of 1,005 adults was conducted last June by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University in Virginia.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also been a growing amount of legislative activity around the idea of limiting the use of education technology. For instance, a bill introduced by state lawmakers in Utah seeks to require ed-tech tools to meet certain standards and prove their efficacy before they can be used in public schools, according to the Deseret News<\/a>. Another Utah bill would limit screen time, including on ed-tech tools, particularly in early elementary school.<\/p>\n

And last month, the Senate Commerce Committee<\/a> held a hearing about education technology. Lawmakers heard from three expert witnesses selected by the panel\u2019s chairman, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, argue that digital learning tools impede students\u2019 ability to learn and offer a portal to platforms that harm children\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

Compounding matters: Educators\u2014as well as parents and caregivers\u2014aren\u2019t given clear information about the data privacy risks various ed-tech tools present, some panelists argued.<\/p>\n

Learning platforms\u2019 privacy policies are often written in inscrutable legalese, said Nicol Turner Lee, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, a think tank, who also spoke on the panel.<\/p>\n

The information is \u201cwritten for lawyers. They\u2019re not necessarily written for everyday people,\u201d Lee explained. <\/p>\n

That \u201clack of transparency has parents up in arms,\u201d wondering how much screen time their children are getting on school ed-tech platforms and how safe those platforms are, Lee added.<\/p>\n

Part of the problem is that the major law that protects children in a digital context\u2014the Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act<\/a>\u2014is outdated. It was passed in 1998, predating not just generative artificial intelligence chatbots, but even smartphones and social media.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, COPPA wasn\u2019t crafted with school districts in mind, said Sara Kloek, the vice president of education policy at the Software & Information Industry Association, an organization that represents education technology interests, who also spoke on the panel.<\/p>\n

COPPA is \u201ca law designed to work in the outside the school context,\u201d Kloek said. That\u2019s made it unclear for educators.<\/p>\n

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A plea for better training for educators on effective use of tech<\/h2>\n

School districts are taking their best guesses as to what constitutes compliance with federal privacy laws, panelists said.<\/p>\n

That means ed-tech companies are often the ones assuring parents and educators that their products are safe, Culatta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the companies that are building these tools going, \u2018Oh, our tools are good. For real, you guys, it\u2019s good! Trust us.\u2019 Nope, that is not good enough,\u201d Culatta said.<\/p>\n

He noted that ISTE and other organizations\u2014including 1EdTech<\/a>, CAST<\/a>, Digital Promise<\/a>, InnovateEDU<\/a>, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association<\/a>\u2014have come up with an EdTech Index<\/a> that evaluates products on a range of factors, including privacy protections.<\/a><\/p>\n

Culatta also argued that educators aren\u2019t trained well in how to use technology tools.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would not be here having this conversation if we had prepared educators effectively for the amount of technology that is in their classrooms,\u201d Culatta said.<\/p>\n

Teacher training on tech may be a problem, but there\u2019s also a lack of policy leadership on these issues, Turner Lee argued. <\/p>\n

That problem is likely to get bigger given that the Trump administration has moved forward on its plan to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education<\/a>, including nixing its office of educational technology.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really scared about not having a Department of Education, because I think they are the ones that offer the good [tech] hygiene and now I think it\u2019s going to be every state for themselves,\u201d Turner Lee said.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… professor in communication, culture and technology<\/span> at Georgetown University, argued that … , InnovateEDU, and the State Educational Technology<\/span> Directors Association\u00e2\u0080\u0094have come up … technology<\/span> that is in their classrooms,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Culatta said. Teacher training on tech<\/span> …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}