Without access to an authenticator app on their phones, some teachers said they can’t even log into their work emails, in a robust social media discussion in response to an informal poll by Education Week.

The poll asked if teachers should be included in their school’s cellphone policies. More than half the 1,668 respondents said teachers don’t need any rules to govern their cellphone use, while 31% believed that such restrictions should exist. Fifteen percent said “it depends.”

Meanwhile, nearly 350 readers of the Savvy Principal newsletter weighed in on whether they have rules for how teachers can use their phones during the school day. Forty-nine percent said yes.

"Although ed-tech companies tout huge learning gains, independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it. A 2024 meta-analysis of 119 studies of early-literacy tech interventions, led by Rebecca Silverman of Stanford University, found the studies described programmes that delivered at best only marginal gains on standardised tests. The majority had little effect, no effect or harmful ones. Jared Horvath, a neuroscientist and author of a book called “The Digital Delusion”, has reviewed meta-analyses covering tens of thousands of studies. His verdict: “In nearly every context, ed tech doesn’t come close to the minimum threshold for meaningful learning impact.”

The prevalence of tech in schools owes less to rigorous evidence than aggressive marketing. Teachers are now flooded with daily offers for free tech. In 2024 American schools spent $30bn on education technology. Globally, it is a $165bn industry.

Technology does save money on textbooks and streamline lesson planning. But licensing and training costs add up, and many teachers feel burdened rather than liberated by all the admin and dashboards.

Long-term trends raise the possibility that the rise of in-class devices is responsible for an alarming decline in performance in reading and other subjects. Scores on 21 nationwide benchmark tests rose from 1994 until peaking in 2012-15, when screen use started to soar; they then began to sink(see chart 1). In major assessments for maths, science and reading from 2011 to 2019, greater in-school computer use for learning correlates with lower scores. In contrast, students in classes with rare or no computer use at all typically score highest (see chart 2).

Distraction is one likely culprit. Another is that some tools emphasise gamification at the expense of education, meaning that children focus more on winning points than mastering concepts."

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/01/22/ed-tech-is-profitable-it-is-also-mostly-useless

EdTech #Education #Schools #Gamification

In the US last year there were 23 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, adding up to a total of $115 billion in damages.

The database that tracks these costs used to be maintained by the federal government. It is now published by the climate research nonprofit Climate Central. https://cnn.it/49xRXDu