Notes on screens & k-12
The Cap Times asked all public school districts in the county about their current approach to district-issued devices and screen time in schools, finding several school districts have adopted changes this school year and others are contemplating adjustments.
“Within the last year, we’ve really thought at the district level about what access our students have to technology,” said Brian Miles, director of technology services in the Middleton-Cross Plains school district.
The Verona Area School District this fall stopped allowing students in grades K-5 to take their Chromebooks home. The School District of Cambridge is in the early stages of discussing whether to prohibit students in grades 6-8 from taking Chromebooks home. The McFarland School District no longer provides students in kindergarten through second grade laptops at a one-to-one ratio and is evaluating whether to stop letting students take devices home until ninth grade.
“We are intentionally pausing to reflect on technology and student learning based on research regarding when technology is helpful for learning and when it hinders learning,” Aaron Tarnutzer, McFarland’s district administrator, wrote in an email.
