07/28/2026
This post isn't specific to LSR7, but I thought I'd share it as it's a great example of the importance of critical thinking. It's a Gallup article and its headline reads "U.S. Teachers See Digital Devices as Net Plus for Education".
To begin, let's simply look at the three bulletpoints below the headline:
* 41% of teachers say digital devices are helpful to students' education
* Most see devices as harmful to students' physical and mental health
* Parents have much more positive views of digital devices than teachers
The first bulletpoint tells how over 1/3 of teachers surveyed support digital devices in education. The second bulletpoint tells a more important rate; it says "most" see devices as harmful to students' physical and mental health. Then, the last bulletpoint suggests parents aren't nearly as concerned. I'm curious how the authors saw it fit to highlight the less prominent statistic, putting devices in education in a positive light. How come it didn't highlight the dominant statistic which says (by the percentages in the third image) that 55% of teachers view digital devices in education as having a mostly harmful effect on students' physical health and 69% of teachers view them as having a mostly harmful effect on students' mental health? Those percentages are way more staggering than the 41% highlighted at the beginning. It also ignores that 28% of teachers surveyed see digital devices as mostly harmful to students' education.
Moreso, it's wise to consider that this article and its sourced research data predates the COVID-19 pandemic (publication date is April 6, 2018), when schools and students all over the world became more reliant on digital devices. There is definitely more data available now, including data on the physical and mental effects of digital devices in the classroom.
It is also wise to note how the data was gathered. The survey methods are detailed in the last image.
The article's "bottom line" says, "Despite major growth in the educational technology industry and widespread adoption of digital devices in schools across the U.S., only a slight plurality of teachers see these tools as helpful to students' education--and decisive majorities see them as harmful to students' physical or mental health. The implications of these findings for schools and educational technology providers are potentially significant. Without strong support from teachers regarding the value of digital devices in the classroom, the promise of technology in education won't be fully realized."
These few sentences tell us that despite the title of the article, the authors conclude that the majority actually sees more harm than good coming from digital devices in the classroom, yet they stick to "more research" is needed.
My respone to this article: Why is it titled in a positive light toward devices, calling them a "net plus" if the data and authors conclude that it's mostly deemed harmful? Nowhere in the article does it really explain why the authors called them a "net plus" either.
What do you conclude from the article? You can read it in its entirety here: https://news.gallup.com/poll/232154/teachers-digital-devices-net-plus-education.aspx?_sp=804b67b6-11fa-45cb-bd71-b4343255a14d.1785264200438
