If you want to draw a response of uncertainty, frustration, and irritation, just ask a parent how much screen time they let their children have. I believe that digital technology evokes very strong feelings in parents: feelings that somehow technology is threatening their children’s well-being.
Teachers react similarly when asked that question about their students. However, schools have certain barriers to technology use: cost, training, maintenance, expertise, traditional instruction and curriculum that doesn’t usually include substantial amounts of digital technology. Curriculum and instruction evolve slowly. Classes are generally age-defined so kids aren’t learning from older students. Change is much slower in schools.
I argue that technology has already impacted traditional schools in a big way and they are struggling to handle it. One area impacted by technology is content, or fact-gathering. Traditional curriculum and instruction generally included teaching information, facts about the Civil War for example. Kids may not need that anymore. They are usually quite capable of finding lots of fascinating information, maps, pictures, videos about the Civil War. Teachers still play an important role in enhancing and directing their learning, but acceptance of the fact that technology has replaced part of their job will become harder and harder to ignore.
Off the Beaten Track 
Jody – thank you for the invitation to follow your new blog! I look forward to reading your stories about alternate ways of schooling children. After working for several years in a Reggio inspired school setting, I am finding that I am no longer a big fan of traditional schooling. I am excited to hear about other approaches to learning, both for children and adults. I will say that I am leery of too much technology for two reasons. I think that too much screen time affects a child’s brain in terms of the way that they see colors, dimensions, and in their ability to concentrate for long periods of time. I also think that much of screen content is violent and inappropriate for children (and for adults for that matter). I do agree that we no longer need to cram people’s heads with facts, dates, lists, spellings, etc. because those are at our fingertips through the use of technology. Rather we need to allow people time to learn how to approach a problem from different angles, how to solve problems for themselves, how to find the facts that they need easily, and how to use technology meaningfully rather than as entertainment. Not that I’m especially good at teaching those things, but I’d like to learn for myself too!
PS – as a mother, an aunt, a teacher, and a grandma, I especially worry about children’s use of technology interfering with their abilities to communicate with an actual person. Playing a board game with an actual person, listening to a parent read, playing outside with friends, even talking on the phone are more interactive than watching a screen and/or texting. All the nuances and human interaction are missing with screen time.
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