Public school districts across the Philadelphia region in the United States are tightening restrictions on technology use in classrooms, with several schools scaling back or ending programmes that provided students with individual devices, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The Colonial School District has barred elementary school students from taking their laptops home at night. The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is not assigning iPads to kindergartners. Students across its elementary schools are also restricted from taking their tablets home at the end of the school day. Methacton School District has moved from individual devices to a shared model for kindergartners and first graders. Chromebooks are available for centre-based activities. In Lower Merion, parents have also been pushing for a technology review committee that includes parent representation.
Because technology is more deeply integrated into the curriculum, becker said reducing device use becomes more difficult in middle school. Wallingford-Swarthmore, which has about 3,700 students, has invited parents to apply for its new Technology Advisory Council. The council will advise the district on further changes, including those involving device use in grades six to 12.
Changes in Student Device Access and Online Assessments
The Phoenixville Area School District has discontinued its one-to-one device program for students in kindergarten through third grade. Meanwhile, in Wallingford-Swarthmore, students from kindergarten to second grade will now face a reduction in online assessments. Additionally, fifth graders and below will be limited in their ability to search and browse YouTube.
