Sara Randazzo, Matt Barnum and Julie Jargon:

Class time has become screen time in American schools.

Kindergartners now watch math lessons on YouTube, counting aloud with the videos. Middle-schoolers complete writing drills on Chromebooks while sneaking in play of an online game. High-schoolers mark up Google Docs to finish group projects. 

The rapid tech transformation amounts to a grand experiment playing out in American schools. Accelerated by pandemic-era online learning, the move has happened with little debate, conflicting research and high stakes for the nation’s children. 

Educators wonder whether the digitization of the classroom has really benefited learning—or if it’s done kids a disservice. Some teachers say online tools help create more engaging lessons and provide personalized instruction. Others say the screen-heavy approach has distracted students and burned out teachers. 

“Covid really shifted things toward, ‘Oh, we can do this,’” said Stephanie Galvani, a middle-school English teacher in suburban Boston. “But we didn’t ask: ‘Should we do this?’”