07/02/2026
Every few years, education swings like a pendulum.
Right now, we’re seeing calls to remove technology from elementary classrooms altogether. While I understand the concerns about excessive screen time, I don’t believe the answer is to go backward. The answer is to use technology better.
Our students are growing up in a world where artificial intelligence, automation, coding, digital collaboration, and problem-solving are becoming essential life and career skills. If we teach today’s students the same way we taught students 20 or 30 years ago, are we truly preparing them for the world they’ll enter?
Technology should never replace great teaching. It should amplify it.
In my work with elementary schools, you’ll never see students sitting quietly completing digital worksheets. Instead, you’ll see them:
• Programming robots to solve real-world challenges.
• Creating stop-motion videos to demonstrate their understanding.
• Designing and coding games connected to math, science, reading, and social studies standards.
• Using AI as a thought partner to strengthen ideas and creativity, not do the thinking for them.
• Building 3D models, creating podcasts, designing websites, and solving authentic community problems through project-based learning.
This isn’t about giving children more screen time. It’s about giving them meaningful opportunities to create, innovate, collaborate, and think critically.
The world’s highest-performing education systems are taking this same approach. Countries like Singapore, Estonia, Finland, and even China are investing in coding, computational thinking, robotics, AI, and digital literacy while emphasizing purposeful, intentional technology use. They are teaching students to become creators, not just consumers.
Our goal shouldn’t be to eliminate technology from classrooms. It should be to ensure every minute students spend using it has purpose and helps them develop the skills they’ll need for the future.
The future isn’t waiting for our students. Neither should we.
