The school year begins in LA with one big change: limited screen time
The Los Angeles Unified School District has implemented a new policy significantly restricting screen time for students, starting with a total ban for first graders and under. Teachers have expressed concerns about the lack of guidance and the difficulty of transitioning away from technology-heavy curricula.
Why it matters
This policy represents a major shift in educational philosophy regarding the role of digital tools in the classroom and the potential impact on student learning.
Charlotte Gomez for NPR Catch up on what you missed with our Education newsletter, sent weekly.
This year brings a new challenge for Armaghan Khan and many other teachers in the nation's second-largest school district: Ban screen time for younger students, and significantly limit it for older kids.
"This is going to be a big impact for me," says Khan, who's spent his career in the Los Angeles Unified School District. "I would say about 75% of our work was on some kind of screen-based activity."
As a science teacher Khan, has embraced technology. Not only because his students at Johnnie L. Cochran Middle School can perform large-scale experiments on their laptops — like a car crash simulator to understand things like Newtonian forces — but also because it's his best option.
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