Screen Schooled

August 21, 2017
In this astute exposé, teachers and education bloggers Clement and Miles team up to draw attention to what they see as the overuse of technology in education. According to the authors (who claim not to be antitechnology curmudgeons), too much screen time at home and in the classroom has resulted in students who lack focus, critical-thinking skills, and—despite the proliferation of social media platforms—meaningful social engagement. Also alarming, Clement and Miles contend, is that the educational system has bought into the “myth” that kids benefit from high-tech learning environments: they observe that the research supporting this claim comes via the very “ed-tech” companies that stand to benefit financially from selling technology to schools. The authors shore up their stance with anecdotes and statistics (e.g., the average teen spends nine hours a day consuming entertainment media) and share some worrisome reports from classrooms populated by “digital natives,” such as one concerning AP economics students too distracted by their phones to complete an elementary paper-cutting exercise. Many chapters conclude with action steps parents can take to limit screen time at home; the authors also give educators ideas for limiting technology use at school.