It’s Not Just About Tech and Anxiety. What Are Kids Learning?
Article/Op-Ed in The Hechinger Report
May 28, 2024
Lisa Guernsey co-authored an Op-Ed in The Hechinger Report on resetting the conversation around youth technology to consider more than just how much kids use their devices and how it impacts youth well-being. The Op-Ed, written with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff, urges parents and educators to consider the effect of technology on kids' learning so that they can make better choices about youth technology use.
People feel forced into binary camps of “ban tech” and “don’t ban tech.”
But there is a way to reset the conversation that could help parents, educators and kids themselves make better choices about technology. As writers and researchers who focus on the science of learning, we see a gaping hole in the debate thus far. The problem is that decision-makers keep relying on only two sets of questions and data: One set focuses on questions about how youth are feeling (not so great). The other focuses on how kids are using their time (spending hours on their phones).
A third set of questions is missing and needs to be asked: What and how are children and youth learning? Is technology aiding their learning or getting in the way? Think of data on tech and learning as the third leg of the stool in this debate. Without it, we can’t find our way toward balance.
Read the full article here.