One afternoon when Michelle Dirst picked up her son from elementary school, he was notably hyper.
He told her he didn鈥檛 do much in class that day, prompting Dirst to review a report detailing how much time he spent on his computer. Outside lunch, recess and specials, Dirst learned he was almost exclusively on the laptop. He had a significant number of tabs open, she said.
Dirst had asked to limit his tabs, and to ensure his laptop is put away if it鈥檚 not on his desk.
Dirst is one of the dozens of parents who joined the group It was founded in December with the goal of calling for consistency from school to school and using technology only when it would be most helpful.
鈥淎s a lot of people are saying, ‘We鈥檝e taken the phones outside of schools,’ but you still have the devices that essentially are doing the same thing and are replacing the phones,鈥� Dirst said.
The group, which has members scheduled to meet with Superintendent Michelle Reid later this month, is calling for a tech advisory committee to be established. It would feature both teachers and parents.
Some of Fairfax County鈥檚 youngest students use tablets in the classroom, and the older students use Chromebook laptops. The parents are urging the county to consider ending the 1-to-1 device policy for the youngest learners and are calling for consistently in tech use from school to school.
鈥淭here are benefits,鈥� Dirst said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 deny that at all. But I think we need to do a better job of looking at the evidence base.鈥�
Impact of technology in the classroom
Liz Basalyga, a math teacher at Katherine Johnson Middle School and member of the parents’ group, said textbooks and tests are online, and there鈥檚 a push for educators to use more technology.
The county invested in digital textbooks for students, 鈥渁nd a lot of us as teachers just are not using them,鈥� she said.
As a result of the digital focus, Basalyga said, 鈥渟tudents struggle with really basic things like reading instructions, and when we ask them to tackle multistep problems, they really flounder.鈥�
Because the textbook is online, Basalyga said homework assignments are also accessed through a screen. If there鈥檚 a desire for a teacher to go screen-free for homework, teachers have to create it themselves.
鈥淲e鈥檙e no longer being intentional with technology,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e often just defaulting to technology when pencil and paper might be the best choice.鈥�
In response to the group鈥檚 concerns, Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement shared with 小萝莉影视 that technology is one of the tools made available to teachers and isn鈥檛 used for the majority of instruction. For its youngest students, the division said it emphasizes limited and intentional technology use.
Technology, the statement said, 鈥渋s not intended to replace core experiences such as teacher-directed instruction, discussion, student collaboration, hands-on learning, reading, writing, and social interaction.鈥�
Parents, teachers want more
Separately, the group is urging the school system to list approved websites for students based on grade level. Students are finding ways to access games, such as “Five Nights at Epstein鈥檚,” which parent Megan Durst said is based on the video game 鈥淔ive Nights at Freddy鈥檚.鈥�
The county said it uses a 鈥渕ultilayered approach to prevent inappropriate access to content rather than relying on a single filter or blocklist.鈥�
But Basalyga said one of the programs used to monitor students鈥� device use and block websites crashes frequently, and kids are able to work around it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 alarming to hear that the kids are accessing that and finding ways to work around the restrictions that we have set in our county,鈥� Durst told 小萝莉影视.
The group said it doesn鈥檛 take issue with students who are using technology as part of a 504 or individualized education program.
But for Dirst, the impact using an iPad in kindergarten had on her son was clear. He鈥檇 have meltdowns when she tried to take it away and asked for one for the holidays. Instead, she pushed outdoor play and a focus on motor skills.
鈥淲e’re seeing the achievement gap widen,鈥� Dirst said. 鈥淎nd that’s also concerning, because we want to lift everybody up in the school, in the community, and make sure everybody is 鈥� given the chance to reach their potential.鈥�
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