What happened when one teacher dropped tech from his classroom

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Seventh-grade math teacher Dylan Kane decided to conduct an experiment in his classes by going cold turkey on ed-tech.

Kane, like just about every other teacher in the country, has seen the use of screens proliferate in his classroom — its own sort of accidental experiment. Then, last December, Kane read “The Digital Delusion,” a harsh critique of ed-tech. Although he was not entirely convinced by its arguments, the book made him pause.

“I had kept some of my technology routines the same for a bunch of years without really thinking twice,” says Kane, who teaches in Leadville, a rural mountain town in Colorado. “So I said, ‘Hey, why don't I just throw it all out?’”

Kane, who writes a popular Substack about teaching and learning, decided to drop screens from his class for the month of January to see what would happen.

More educators and policymakers are also having second thoughts about the growth of ed-tech — sold as a way of personalizing learning but increasingly criticized for doing the opposite. Some school systems are scaling back the use of screens, and some state lawmakers are adding restrictions to how they can be used in class. 

I wanted to talk to Kane to understand the classroom-level pros and cons of winding back the clock on ed-tech. So far his experiment has been a success, he says — so much so that he has not brought screens back. Dropping ed-tech has turned out to be a lot more work for him and his students. That might be why it’s succeeding.

Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How were you using tech previously?

All of my assessments were online. That was a shift I made during the pandemic, which most teachers made. And I just kept doing that. They were easier to grade. It was kind of on autopilot.

Number two, I used a math practice website called DeltaMath, which I liked a lot. I would have students at the end of pretty much every class spend five to 10 minutes working through a short online practice assignment. 

And third, I would about once a week use part of a Desmos activity. These are free online activities that are interactive, that students do on their Chromebooks. They often give an interesting insight into some mathematical idea, or let students manipulate math in a different way than we often do on pencil and paper. 

So how'd your experiment of dropping tech go?

I'm still tech free. I don't find myself saying, ‘Wow, these things I used to do with technology are totally irreplaceable.’

A couple things I've liked. The biggest is just so many fewer little logistical challenges. No more ‘I forgot my charger, my Chromebook’s dead. My screen’s cracked. The internet's not working.’ All those things are just out the window. We have pencil, we have paper, we have whiteboards, we have markers. 

A lot of stuff that I had students doing on their own, I'm now doing interactively in front of the class, like asking questions, having them answer on mini-whiteboards. That has been better than I expected. I feel much more nimble, like I don't have to get them to put their screens away — we can just talk about it.

I'm seeing a slight increase in effort across the board. Some students, especially students who are less confident in math, can sometimes hide behind their screens. Screens can just separate us into our own little worlds and be really easy to appear like you're busy behind a screen. 

The last thing is I feel more in touch with student thinking. Part of the premise of education technology is that we can see all this stuff about what students are doing, what they know, what they don't know. My experience is the data is often overwhelming. And with pencil and paper, I just feel much more connected to what students are confused about, what I need to respond to, where I need to adjust.

What do students think of this?

I surveyed them, and they were mixed. The averages were honestly right down the middle. I have some students say they love it. They either just don't like a lot of the stuff we do on Chromebooks, or they feel fatigued by the amount of screen time across their classes, or they feel frustrated with all the little logistical issues.

One interesting thing is some students say the work is easier on a Chromebook. One reason is handwriting involves more effort. The effort that goes into handwriting might lead to more durable learning — that might be a good type of effort. Another is working on screens often gives instant feedback, and so not having that feedback can feel a little more frustrating for students.

The loss of feedback feels like it could be a downside.

There's good and bad here. Instant feedback can be really helpful, but students can also become reliant on it, or it can lead to guessing and checking that's unproductive. In a lot of situations, delayed feedback works better than immediate feedback. 

Is there any part of tech that you miss?

All of this is more work. It's way easier to click a few buttons and assign a couple math problems for students to do online than it is to prepare a piece of paper, and have all that ready for students in class.

I also find that students are a little bit more self-reliant when they're on technology. I think again, this is good and bad. They need less teacher interaction, because they're getting that immediate feedback. But also the way that screens kind of divide people into their own world. Sometimes a student is really confused, but doesn't quite know how to ask for help. There's definitely higher energy in my class without screens, and I think that's a good thing, but it can be exhausting as a teacher.

I'm giving quizzes and tests with pencil and paper now, and it's a lot more work to grade. I've loved that because it's helped me get students to engage more with their mistakes, but again, it's more work. 

Did you run into any sort of difficulties with school policies that made it hard to unwind tech, because it's just so integrated in so many schools?

I had my formal observation a few weeks ago, and there are a number of items on the state rubric around using technology that were left blank. I am personally not very worried about my score on one very small subset of the state rubric. But that’s built into Colorado law that teachers should integrate technology in their classroom.

So is your plan for the foreseeable future to continue to be no-tech?

Yeah. I don't want to be someone who just says, ‘Hey, no technology ever again.’ I plan on being a paper-and-pencil first teacher as much as possible. But if some new tools do come along that I think are doing a much better job than what I had access to before, I'm open to it.

Anything else you want to add? 

A big belief of mine is that teachers can do their best work when we set clear expectations for what we think great teaching and learning look like, and within reasonable constraints give teachers some freedom. And I think in some cases, technological tools can be a crutch to take away some teacher autonomy. I don't think it's a path to a profession where teachers want to stay in the classroom and where teachers can be responsive to student needs.

Reach me at [email protected].