Healthy Digital Habits - School Devices
About
Technology has found its way into elementary schools in the form of personal devices (tablets, laptops) for use at school and home. Most of the research on school-issued devices has focused on learning outcomes in schools and presents mixed results. Less often discussed are the possible effects on children and family processes in the home. A few studies mentioned briefly that some parents may have concerns about increased screen time, unrestricted internet access, and the distracting nature of devices. In a recent dissertation, Drumm (2018) surveyed kindergarten to 2nd grade parents about the implementation of a one-to-one iPad program. Open-ended responses ranged from praising the school for increasing children’s skills and engagement, to complaints of underutilization and distraction, and many cited both positive and negative impacts. Some parents even asked that their child no longer bring the device home, as it had begun to create problematic behaviors (such as conflict). In the current research, we expand the scope of the initial study to examine parent perceptions of (1) how school devices are used in the home, (2) positive and negative impacts on learning and behavior/emotions specifically at home, (3) resources/training provided by schools, and (4) associations between these variables.
An initial sample of survey responses were collected in early 2020. However, the project was then paused due to school closures and the changes many families experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A second sample was collected around May 2021 to get a sense of whether parent perceptions concerning school-issued devices had changed after going through experiences such as virtual learning and transitioning back to in-person school in many areas, etc. We are currently analyzing this data. Some preliminary results for the early 2020 sample include: The device is used at home a few times a week or more often to:
- 53% build academic skills
- 50% play educational games
- 38% watch videos for entertainment
- 22% play games for entertainment
In addition, 66% feel the device positively impacts their child’s learning, while about 50% feel it negatively impacts their child’s learning and behavior; 84% feel it never or rarely positively impacts behavior. Although 95% of schools provided some device rules to parents, only 45% provided tips for how to parent with the device at home, and almost no schools provided any formal training such as videos (10%), parent nights (10%), or workshops (5%). Furthermore, only 33% felt schools had provided sufficient resources/training. Bivariate correlations revealed that those who felt worse about the training also felt their child used the device more often for entertainment (r=.44, p<.05), the device was negatively impacting learning (r=.51, p<.001), and were struggling with negative child behaviors (r=.59, p<.001) and conflict (r=.63, p<.001).
Funding
Publications and presentations
- McDaniel, B. T., Kaiser, Z., Drouin, M., Chang, I. J., & Ward, R. (November 2020). School-issued devices for home use in kindergarten through 5th grade and parent perceptions of child learning, behavior, and conflict. Poster presentation: National Council on Family Relations.
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