Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Devices topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioner Warns Rising Tablet Use Is Correlating With Early Childhood Delays; Asks Board to Issue Guidance on School-Issued Devices
Summary
Commissioner Randy Watson presented national survey evidence that teachers report increases in early childhood challenges and high household tablet ownership by age 2–8, and asked the board to develop guidance for school-issued devices that districts can use this spring.
Commissioner Randy Watson told the State Board of Education that recent national surveys show educators are seeing more young children arrive at school with delayed self-help, oral-language and attention skills, and that household ownership of tablets has increased sharply.
“By age two, 40% of youngsters own their own tablet,” Watson said, and by age eight that figure rises to 68 percent. He summarized one task-force recommendation his department co-sponsored: “Implement a bell-to-bell personal electronic device in schools. Implement a policy to store those devices in a secure location inaccessible to them during the school day.”
Watson asked the board to receive guidance on school-issued devices in May so districts can help communities decide how and when devices should be used instructionally. He stressed that the evidence is not yet causal but that districts should consider both device quantity and quality (instructional versus passive use). He also urged districts to treat digital literacy and device-use policies in the same practical, phased way schools teach driver’s education.
Board members welcomed the request to bring back a practical policy package, with several volunteers (board members Danny Zack and Melanie Hos among them) agreeing to work with Watson and staff to review research and draft recommendations the board can publish for districts.
What’s next: KSDE will deliver device-guidance recommendations to the board in May for consideration, together with research summaries and suggested implementation steps districts could adopt locally.
