In the face of complaints from parents about too much screen time in schools Oak Park Elementary School District 97 is making some changes in how it will allow students to use the iPads and Chromebook it gives every student.
Middle school students receive Chromebooks while all elementary school students, even kindergartners, get iPads.
Some parents have also objected to the one-to-one program giving every student a digital device saying they don’t want their children to have devices and they resent the school giving their children a device that their children take home and need for school.
At its May 12 school board meeting, Michael Arensdorff, the district’s technology chief, presented the school board a technology plan for the next school year. Two of the biggest changes are eliminating students’ ability to directly access YouTube, something many parents have complained about, and not allowing students to use their devices during free time or indoor recess.
Arensdorff said students and teachers will still be able to use educational videos that are posted on YouTube but students will have to go through a monitored portal to get to them.
“We can imbed videos so that they can still use curated content, curated videos that are tied back to instruction and what teachers would like to use,” Arensdorff said.
Arensdorff said the district will continue to make device carts available for kindergarten through second grade classrooms so that those young students can most often leave their iPad at school to be charged overnight rather than taking it home, something that many parents who are trying to limit their children’s screen time have objected to.
Arensdorff said the district will continue to monitor and block social media and explore tools to measure screen time usage. Those tools are currently available for iPads but not as readily for Chromebooks. The district will transition to use the Aristotle K-8 content filter to keep device usage appropriate.
Brenna Connor, one of the parents who is part of the ScreenSenseOakPark (SSOP) group that formed this spring to advocate for reduced use of screens in school praised Arensdorff for his collaboration with parents and for taking good first steps but she wants the district to go farther in reducing screen time and device use in school.
“I think the two meaningful changes that are happening going into the next school year is the elimination of YouTube access on all devices and also the elimination of using devices during free time and indoor recess,” said Connor, the mother of a Mann School first grader, after Arensdorff’s presentation. “Those are the two wins.”
But Connor said those two changes are easy steps and she wants more to be done to limit screen time for elementary school students.
“Those are two really easy things so there is a lot more work to be done,” Connor said.
In a public comment during the first part of the meeting Connor said she would like the one-to-one program to be eliminated in the elementary schools. She doesn’t think elementary school students should be given iPads and doesn’t think such devices are needed in elementary schools.
“The research is clear. Healthy development and healthy children depends on meaningful time away from screens, time for play, time for interesting connection and reading physical books,” Connor said.
Lauren Jackson, the mother of two boys who attend Lincoln School, and the person most responsible for starting up ScreenSenseOakPark was also moderately pleased with the district’s steps.
“I think the district is making steps in the right direction and we look forward to continuing to move the needle,” Johnson said in an email to Wednesday Journal. “SSOP is planning to be around and collaborating with the district for the long term on this issue. I think the screen/edtech related comments at the beginning of the meeting were an excellent illustration of how many negative outcomes we’re already experiencing due to the less-than-purposeful use and unrestricted access our young learners have to these addictive devices.”
Connor and four other parents spoke during the public comment period outlining their concerns about how their children were using school issued devices.
“I think our eight-year-olds should not be able to go private in their browsing history,” said Allison Lipsman.
Connor said more needs to be done.
“I’m happy with the collaboration and the partnership so far,” Connor said. “I’m glad to see some early wins but I also recognize that there is a lot more to be changed and a lot more that needs to worked towards.”
Connor was heartened by the questions school board members asked Arensdorff.
“I also think the board is asking meaningful questions which I was happy to hear and I think our presence and us raising the issue has perhaps propelled the board to ask some good questions so I’m very happy to see that,” Connor said.
Arensdorff said the iPads and Chromebooks are just tools to enhance what is happening in the classroom and that usage of devices will differ with grade level.
“It looks very different, and should look different, for a kindergarten student and an eighth-grade student,” Arensdorff said.
Arensdorff said the district also wants to prepare students to become responsible digital navigators, a goal included in the district’s Portrait of a Graduate. He said the district emphasizes equipping students with what they call the four C’s.
“How are they communicating, how are they collaborating, being critical thinkers and creating,” Arensdorff said.
District 97 is projected to spend $687,992.75 on iPads and Chromebooks next school year.