As digital devices and social-media platforms become an ever-larger part of children鈥檚 lives, the nation鈥檚 school principals find themselves in an uncomfortable鈥攊f familiar鈥攂ind.
On one hand, principals say they鈥檙e worried about technology鈥檚 potentially harmful effects: A full 95 percent believe their students are using screens too much at home, and 83 percent say they鈥檙e at least 鈥渕oderately concerned鈥� about how students use social media outside of school, according to a new national survey of school-based leaders conducted by the Education Week Research Center.
At the same time, however, principals are welcoming technology and technology-driven trends into their own buildings. More than half described personalized learning as either a 鈥渢ransformational way to improve public education鈥� or a 鈥減romising idea.鈥� The relatively new idea of offering computer science education to every student is already on most principals鈥� radar screens.
Why do those findings matter?
Because ready or not, when it comes to technology, the country鈥檚 90,000-plus public school principals play a critical gatekeeper role, said Daniel Kelley, the president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, who also heads Rhode Island鈥檚 Smithfield High.
That means staying up-to-date with the latest technologies, responding to the problems technology creates, figuring out how such tools can be used for learning, and navigating pressure from tech companies and vendors to expand technology use鈥攁ll while juggling a thousand other tasks, Kelley said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our responsibility to meet kids where they鈥檙e at and have a basic understanding of their world,鈥� Kelley said. 鈥淏ut trying to keep up can become overwhelming.鈥�
Principals鈥� divided minds about technology are nothing new, said Jonathan Zimmerman, an education history professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
In the 1910s and 1920s, for example, a general moral panic occurred around the potential harms associated with motion pictures鈥攁t the same time innovators such as Thomas Edison were arguing movies could revolutionize public education.
鈥淭his is an overarching trend through the last 100 years of education history,鈥� Zimmerman said. 鈥淲e see a lot of nervous hand-wringing about what technology will do to kids, but also a kind of technological fetishism that leads schools to try to adopt every new idea in the hopes of making education better.鈥�
Nowhere is that tension more evident today than on issues related to screen time and social media.
School leaders are clearly worried about what children are doing on devices at home.
But even as districts rush to give every student his or her own Chromebook or iPad, 61 percent of principals say their students are getting 鈥渢he right amount鈥� of screen time in school.
Principals are also twice as likely to say they鈥檙e 鈥渆xtremely concerned鈥� about students鈥� social-media use at home than their social-media use at school鈥攅ven as class assignments and homework increasingly move online, creating new opportunities for children to become distracted by YouTube and other popular digital platforms.
Such is the reality of life in 2018, said James Steyer, the founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that promotes responsible technology use by children and families鈥攁nd helped launch a 鈥�Truth About Tech鈥� campaign to warn about the dangers of technology addiction.
鈥淭echnology, used wisely and appropriately, can be an excellent resource for learning,鈥� Steyer said. 鈥淏ut there is also an arms race for our kids鈥� attention going on. It鈥檚 being led by certain tech companies, and there are really significant downsides. Principals need to understand that.鈥�
Given the stakes, it鈥檚 understandable that parents and the public want principals to be informed, savvy gatekeepers on technology issues.
But on that front, too, some concerning signs emerge in Education Week鈥榮 new survey data, said Justin Bathon, an associate professor of education leadership at the University of Kentucky who has trained school leaders on effective technology use for more than a decade.
Notably, principals responding to the Education Week survey said they feel the most pressure from technology companies and vendors to increase student screen time (58 percent), embrace personalized learning (55 percent), and spread computer science education (47 percent).
In some cases, at least, that does not appear to align with the messages being delivered by parents, students, and teachers.
For example, just 22 percent of principals said they feel pressure from teachers to increase student screen time鈥攍ower than the percentage of school leaders who say teachers are actually pushing in the opposite direction, for screen-time limits.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 fair to criticize principals for participating in group think, rather than making their own independent assessments of each of these concepts,鈥� Bathon said. 鈥淭hat kind of decisionmaking requires research, time, and a team. That鈥檚 not happening in most places.鈥�
In schools, that reality is compounded by the tremendous variation among principals.
Some are tech-savvy and thoughtful about using technology to help students explore individual passions. Others want nothing to do with understanding how students communicate on Instagram. Most are genuinely concerned about striking an appropriate balance between keeping children safe and preparing them for a rapidly changing world. Many feel unprepared to do so.
Where does that leave students, parents, and the public?
Given the decentralized nature of American schooling, and the resulting sway that each principal has in his or her school building, the answer is clear, experts say.
鈥淔or better or worse,鈥� Bathon said, 鈥渨e have no choice but to trust principals on these questions.
