TPPF’s Matthew McCormick testifies before the Texas House Public Education Committee on safeguards against excessive technology use in our schools.
McCormick warns that excessive reliance on instructional technology, especially one-to-one devices, is undermining student learning and classroom instruction across Texas schools. He highlights concerns including weaker retention compared to reading and writing in print, declining attention spans, mental health impacts, exposure to harmful content, and growing threats to student data privacy.
He urges the legislature to establish safeguards, mentioning potential interventions such as prohibiting one-to-one devices for students below third grade, banning devices for direct classroom instruction, and removing technology from instructional materials alignment requirements.