Change is in the air. 

We’re seeing the fallout from Bill Gates’s 2013 proposition to “see what happens when we throw computers into education”-- the results are not good. Today, after billions of dollars spent, test scores in decline, plummeting student focus and behavior, and vast privacy violations of minors, I think it’s safe to say, “Mr. Gates, that didn’t work. Now what?”

I know, I know– not all technology is bad, and I agree. But when you have a business model that is fundamentally at odds with childhood development, we are never going to see the “good” side of technology in education. To Big Tech and EdTech, “engagement” drives profit. And in technology, “engagement” means “time spent.” But too much time spent on screens, as research increasingly shows, is not better for children and learning. 

Things aren’t getting better, either. As one example, AI has no business in education. Actually– ha– they have a great business opportunity in education, but from a learning perspective, AI tools should be nowhere near students, teachers, or curriculum. It is far from safe or ready for primetime. Yes, of course we should talk about the ethics and problems of AI and education, but we can do that without using it. As I saw on Twitter the other day, “AI for schools is not just tech; it’s a business opportunity.” 

Sadly, many school districts are doubling down on their EdTech tools. I’ve been met with resistance from a few school districts because of my questioning of EdTech– schools want me to tell parents to dial back their child’s smartphone and social media use, but they don't want me to poke the EdTech bear. After all, schools invest millions of dollars and sign multi-year contracts in the name of “preparing children for the future” and to slow that roll now would mean massive upheaval. 

But maybe that’s what’s needed. Social change, after all, takes time, and often involves messy and complicated crises unfolding all at once. I had a college professor say that the public school system would have to implode before it righted itself, and that was all the way back in 1999. Are we at the implosion point? 

Perhaps we are, which is why I’m continuing to push this conversation forward. 

Which brings me to this blog post’s thesis: four questions to ask your school about EdTech as a way of enacting change. Remember, my tech-intentional philosophy includes replacing judgment with curiosity. We’re often dealing with different factions (administrators vs. teachers, for example) who don’t always see eye to eye on tech-for-school. Sometimes our allies can be guidance counselors or librarians, and sometimes our biggest pushback comes from teachers. What I’ve learned through this process is that it is highly variable, not always clear, and always worth starting with curiosity. 

The goal of asking these questions is to better understand what your school administrators and teachers know and believe to be true about digital technology for learning and determine how equipped they are to support requests to decrease or opt out of screen use. 

1. How does our school use screen-based technology for teaching and learning? This includes specifics about total time spent on devices in the classroom per day or week, expectations for use of devices at home, and a list of all the platforms and apps used by teachers or school staff (which could be hundreds).

2. Are students required to sign a Technology Use Contract or User Agreement in order to use school technology? Children cannot legally consent to such terms, so it’s possible a school may have parents sign on their behalf (though some still require students to sign it themselves). Most likely, students are required to sign something, so parents need to request to review this prior to signing, and to ask the school what happens if a parent does not consent (on behalf of a child). Parents should also ask for the explicit Terms and Conditions of each individual app or platform used, as each one states different things (this could be hundreds —or even thousands— of platforms).

3. How are students taught about topics like research, mis- and dis-information, plagiarism, cyberbullying, etc.? Too often children are handed devices but not taught to use them safely or appropriately. Children will misuse technology; they are not developmentally ready to make good choices on their own, and the risks that come with making poor choices online are high. Schools should be teaching skills about how to use computers and the internet, do research, and stay as safe as possible, and all of this skill-building can be taught prior to doling out devices. However, most schools do not have a formal curriculum for teaching these critically important skills and it’s often left up to individual teachers to teach…after the tech has been handed out. 

4. For families who choose to Opt Out of some or all school-based technology, what alternatives are available? Technology use for school, in its current form, should really be an “opt in” process. But it isn’t. So parents who Opt Out may inadvertently create more work for already overworked teachers. This is unfortunate, so it is important to work with teachers as much as possible. See the UnPlug EdTech Toolkit for a sample email template to send to teachers.

There are definitely times I feel alone in this work. I get angry, but I also understand. The technology industry is making a lot of money selling their products, and that’s not atypical of an American business. The problem I have is when the products sold profit off of children, who cannot understand or consent, and the way in which Big Tech is privatizing public education. I only have to look at where Big Tech executives send their children to see that they know their products aren’t as good as they make them out to be.

Recently, comedian John Mulaney was paid handsomely to speak to the attendees at

“Dreamforce 2024,” billed as a “launch opportunity for Agentforce, the new customizable AI system from Salesforce” (Huh?). They probably regret hiring him as he took the room full of tech executives to task. It’s worth looking up the rest of his jokes, but I want to share my personal favorite: 

Near the end of his performance, Mulaney thanked the room for “the world you’re creating for my son … where he will never talk to an actual human again. Instead, a little cartoon Einstein will pop up and give him a sort of good answer and probably refer him to another chatbot.”

“We’re just two guys hitting Wiffle balls badly and yelling ‘Good job’ at each other,” he noted of his three-year-old son Malcolm, savagely adding. “It’s sort of the same energy here at Dreamforce.”

We’re doing the right thing, parents. 

Keep up the hard but important work.

e