The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends that ed tech policies in school settings should not solely focus on screen time. Rather, policymakers should examine what students are doing on screens, what activities technology may be replacing, and whether it helps or hinders learning, APA said in a recent report. 

Other factors that measure ed tech’s impacts on learning and development — beyond the number of minutes students spend looking at a screen — include what students watch or what technology they use, whether another screen is on in the background, whether adults use devices during everyday routines, and the reason for technology use, APA said.

Separate from ed tech more broadly, APA advises that generative artificial intelligence tools should be approached in schools with additional caution and age-appropriate guardrails. Research suggests when students use AI, there may be instances when they produce more accurate and complete work, but may struggle to solve similar problems from an assignment on their own, the report said. 

As school districts weigh bans and limits on screen time and AI in classrooms nationwide, the APA report said that those decisions should be “firmly grounded in rigorous scientific evidence rather than marketing promises.”

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