Annual education survey finds concern about students' screen time outside class

An overwhelming majority of U.S. principals said students are too consumed with phones and other digital screens while not in class, according to the results of a new survey released Wednesday by Education Week.

According to the survey, 95 percent of school principals said students spend the right amount of time in front of screens while in class but usage outside of classrooms is excessive.

"Principals are facing very complex challenges involving technology," said Kevin Bushweller, the project editor of Technology Counts. "Whether it's addressing students' online behavior or using digital tools to personalize learning, those challenges look like they are going to get increasingly more difficult."

Education Week's Research Center Technology Counts survey was conducted in February 2018 and includes responses from over 500 top school administrators, including principals, assistant principals and deans.

The report underscores mounting concern among educators about excessive screen time and crystallizes school administrators' ongoing anxiety about a host of issues from digital platforms, including:

Education Week publishes it annual report on educational technology every year.

The publication is published by Editorial Projects in Education, a non-profit group based in Bethesda, Maryland that works to raise awareness and understanding about pressing educational issues facing students, teachers and administrators from Pre-K to the 12th grade.

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