Let’s strategically reimagine technology use in AUSD schools.
Our StoryWe want to talk about student technology use in AUSD in a way that is student-centered and data informed.
Technology use in education has grown under the largely unexamined assumption that it supports, or at least does not hinder, learning. Increasing evidence shows the contrary. AUSD students use iPads and Chromebooks regularly, in ways that are often concerning - beyond any one-tool, use-case, or classroom.
Consider…
AUSD urges families to “Wait Until 8th” for phones and social media. But what if addictive components of social media and smartphones are present in the tools students use at school on a daily basis?
Why are Gemini, autocomplete, and advertisements integrated into Marin Chromebooks? How can students learn to write, when their tools offer to write, spell, and read for them? Classroom teachers do not have access to disable or adjust these features to align with learning goals.
STEM learning and technology use have been conflated. What pedagogical goals do we have for children relating to STEM-based technology design, versus simply using apps?
How are tools like Happy Numbers and Reflex Math selected and evaluated? Parents are told that these apps enable differentiated learning. How accurate is this claim? What about the many students who recount being bored or overstimulated? Why can students watch videos in the Epic app, which is intended for reading?
What rights can parents have over their children’s digital footprint, privacy, and digital literacy, given Chromebook adoption?
Research indicates that benefits of digital learning tools are at best slight. How should we, as a community, consider the costs of educational technology—screen time; missed problem solving opportunities and contextual application, lost time for playing, investigating, or making; overstimulation; pervasive gamification?
What feedback loops are in place for teachers, students, and parents to voice concerns about tech? How can we ensure that concerns are heard?
How can we, as parents, support AUSD in developing the policies and practices that enable adaptation and responsive pedagogy amid the rapidly changing landscape of educational technology, and associated research into its harms and benefits?
No one has all the answers. To address these questions, we need to engage as a community and begin talking, listening, and learning: with our kids, their teachers, each other, AUSD’s technology steering committee, the Superintendent, the School Board, and the PTA, as well as other school districts.
Some specific ideas for re-designing our learning community around our kids:
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Disable
Disable Gemini, autocomplete and other auto-assistive AI in Chromebooks
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Systemic selection and review
Design a concrete plan for tech adoption and commit to transparent monitoring, evaluation, and reporting usage
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Pedagogical goals
Develop a clear definition of the pedagogical goals that apps and laptops intend to serve
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Opt out
The parental right to opt child/children out with paper options
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Digital literacy
Foster student-led digital literacy to prepare future middle schoolers (research projects, guest speakers, library programs)
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Screen time limits
Set guidelines for maximum time on a screen per day