🌎 Resumen en español · traducción automática
Los legisladores de Kentucky están considerando limitar el uso de pantallas en las aulas después de que investigadores advirtieron que la tecnología digital está reduciendo el desempeño académico de los estudiantes. El neurocientífico Jared Horvath presentó datos mostrando que desde que Kentucky adoptó la tecnología uno-a-uno en 2016, las calificaciones en matemáticas bajaron cuatro puntos y las de lectura cayeron diez puntos, alcanzando niveles históricos bajos. Los defensores de esta medida argumentan que el aprendizaje digital es menos profundo que los métodos analógicos y piden a los legisladores que permitan a los padres optar por no usar estos dispositivos en las escuelas.
Traducción y resumen generados por IA a partir del artículo en inglés. Puede contener errores; consulte el texto original.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Legislation on screen time in the classroom could be in the works for the 2027 legislative session, as lawmakers heard testimony Monday about the academic consequences of one-to-one digital technology use in schools.
During an Interim Joint Committee on Education meeting, researchers and advocates warned lawmakers that classroom technology may be undermining student achievement. Teacher-turned-neuroscientist Dr. Jared Horvath told the committee that research from more than 90 countries shows digital technology use in the classroom results in lower test scores.
Horvath cited Kentucky’s own academic data as evidence. Kentucky began its transition to one-to-one digital technology in 2016, the year before which fourth-grade math and reading scores reached their highest levels on record. “Since 2016, you adopted tech. Math has gone down four points to the lowest levels we’ve seen since 2006, and reading dropped 10 points, lower than it has ever been in Kentucky history,” Horvath said.
He emphasized that the pandemic was not the primary culprit for the decline. “I took COVID out of the data. It doesn’t matter,” Horvath said, noting that similar trends appear across all 50 states. Horvath argued that learning using digital methods is “shallower, weaker and less durable” than analog methods, and that “digital literacy is not determined by the amount of tech you use, it’s determined by the amount of knowledge you have.”
Sen. Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington, questioned whether the push for classroom technology was evidence-based or driven by commercial interests. Horvath said the mass introduction of individual tablets and laptops was “never” evidence-based, occurring after a leading computer company sought to recoup costs from poorly selling devices by selling them cheaply to schools.
Advocate Emily Cherkin told lawmakers that “one of the most harmful things we have done to our children in American schools is to give them internet-connected devices built by for-profit technology companies and call it educational.” She urged lawmakers to consider scaling back digital technology use, require schools to obtain informed parental consent, and allow parents to opt out of technology-based instruction. Cherkin also warned of generative artificial intelligence use in classrooms, calling it “dangerous” for children.
Fleming County Schools is already taking action. Superintendent Dr. Brian Creasman told the committee the district’s school board is approving a new screen time policy limiting use to 45 minutes per day for grades K-5, 60 minutes for grades 6-8, and 90 minutes for grades 9-12. “Students have started to ask for less technology-driven learning,” Creasman said.
Committee co-chair Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, said the discussion only “scratches the surface” and that lawmakers will continue studying the issue throughout the interim period. “I can already tell from our presentations that there may be some legislation forthcoming,” he said.
The Kentucky General Assembly cannot take action on legislation until the 2027 legislative session begins Jan. 5. The next Interim Joint Committee on Education meeting is scheduled for Aug. 4.
This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from KY Legislative Research Commission, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/publicservices/pio/release.html#Edu070626.
