糖心动漫vlog

Classroom Technology

Are Ed Tech鈥檚 Academic Benefits at Odds With Its Social and Emotional Downsides?

By Kevin Bushweller 鈥 June 15, 2026 1 min read
Abigail Schneider, 8, completes a level of her learning game on a laptop in her bedroom as her mother April steps toward the doorway, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As more families pivot back to remote learning for quarantines and school closures, reliable, consistent access to devices and home internet remains elusive for many students who need them to keep up with their schoolwork.
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Is technology use in school good or bad for students?

It turns out that the answer to that question from 糖心动漫vlog鈥 perspective might put the impact of tech on students鈥 well-being somewhat at odds with how it affects their academic performance.

In an exclusive survey by the EdWeek Research Center, more than half of the teachers, principals, and district leaders surveyed said use of technology in school had a negative impact on students鈥 social and emotional skills development and overall well-being and mental health.

Yet more than half said ed-tech use had a positive impact on engagement in instruction and learning and mastering content and skills.

A high school fine arts teacher from Kentucky said in the survey that effective use of technology in school that addresses students鈥 well-being and academic development depends largely on the quality of how the tech is used, not just on the digital tool itself.

鈥淲hether student use of technology has a positive or negative impact on learning is mostly dependent on whether the learning experiences are carefully and intentionally designed to be deeply and authentically engaging to the student,鈥 the teacher wrote in an open-ended response to the survey, 鈥渁nd whether students find them meaningful and relevant. Faculty at our school are highly trained to design instruction that includes meaningful technology use for students.鈥

Other 糖心动漫vlog are convinced that the downsides of tech use in school far outweigh the benefits.

鈥淒istraction! Fosters the mindset, 鈥淚鈥檒l just Google it,鈥 wrote a high school English language arts teacher from Connecticut. 鈥淎 few years ago, I asked students to choose an issue that was important to them personally and write a speech about it. Some students actually had to search Google for 鈥榞ood topic for a speech.鈥欌

Another question on the survey asked teachers and administrators if, overall, they believe school-related tech does more to increase or decrease student learning. The respondents were divided on that point.

The nationally representative, online survey was conducted in February and March of 79 district leaders, 122 principals, and 395 teachers.

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