SPPS School Board

I begin with gratitude and credit to the delegates I spoke with during the first half of the year, the conversations I have had with parents, students and educators and the work I’ve been able to do with ITSP for helping me articulate and hone my vision of technology in K-12 education.

My vision is that SPPS graduates are ready to join a world in which technology and Artificial Intelligence will significantly impact all aspects of their lives. To get here, preparation goes far beyond being able to use a particular type of technology or tool. SPPS students must grow skills in evaluation, critical thinking, experimentation, communication, justice, racism, ethics and more, and then have practice in applying what they learn to conversations and challenges around technology and AI. The path to this vision is realized over the student’s entire K-12 educational career and will include differentiated access to technology. I appreciate the guidelines that the district has begun to set forth, and will work to refine and make them more specific and transparent, taking into account both the outreach I will continue to do in the community, as well as best practices and research in the field.

I just completed 18 years of service to St. Paul Public Schools (12 as an Occupational Therapist and 6 as district-wide Assistive Technology Professional). There are many settings within iPads that make learning more accessible for students with disabilities (Blind or low vision, physically impaired, learning disabled in reading or writing, Developmental Cognitive Deficits, etc). I observed how students were able to access curriculum and reach their maximum academic potentials when specific accessibility settings were enabled to support their specific needs. As an occupational therapist, I know that young students learn best when they have the opportunity to move often, explore and learn by touching and manipulating learning tools, while interacting with peers. I believe that an early focus on engaging students in fine and gross motor activities is important. There is a lot of research to support the benefits of teaching handwriting and having students engage in handwriting tasks, however, if a student has a disability, it is likely that they will require access to an iPad so that they may show what they know. As students get older, technology can play an important role in accessing information for deeper learning.

Technology should serve learning—not to replace it! My position is neither “more technology” nor “less technology.” It is technology with purpose: Saint Paul Public Schools should use technology when it demonstrably strengthens learning, expands opportunity, supports teachers, engages families, or improves accessibility—but it should not allow devices, software, or artificial intelligence to replace strong teaching, deep reading, independent thinking, human relationships, or fiscal discipline.

Technology is an important tool in the education system. Well implemented, it can not only improve fundamental educational outcomes but help to prepare students for life and careers in the modern age, with high school students’ curriculum having the most potential for technology integration in areas like research. However, increased use of technology is not always positive and should not be treated as a goal for its own sake. Overuse or misuse can get in the way of learning and even damage the emotional and social wellbeing of our kids, not to mention the potential for waste in our budget. Harmful effects can be particularly strong among younger kids, and so we must take extra care with policies around our elementary and middle school aged kids to ensure they can form a healthy relationship with technology and their peers.

I believe technology can support, augment, and expand educational experiences in ways analog materials cannot. Conversely, people-to-people and traditional experiential learning experiences have been wrongfully left behind. Data collection and instructional differentiation are useful at all levels of schooling, but the use of devices does not need to look the same in elementary and high school. Using devices less in elementary and gradually increasing time through middle and high school is a logical progression as students begin using the devices for research, and producing papers and essays. However, reading and math can both be supported in powerful ways in all grade levels. Ultimately, my vision for how students approach technology is the same for how they approach subject matter; understanding the use and when, where, why and how to use it appropriately to solve a given problem.

Technology is a tool that, I believe, can have positive impacts on student learning. But we cannot assume this is always the case. When research shows a traditional method produces better outcomes, we should use it. I am cognizant of the fiscal constraints we face amid continual budget cuts. There are times when the traditional method is more expensive, but if a lower-tech approach gets better results for kids, that cost may be worth it.

Technology's effects do seem to differ by grade level. Reading comprehension research finds paper outperforms screens, most clearly with younger readers (Clinton, 2019; Delgado et al., 2018), and research on screen exposure finds that younger children are more vulnerable to negative effects on language development than older children (Karani et al., 2022). I believe high schoolers benefit more from technology used for research, writing, and career preparation, and a peer-reviewed meta-analysis on reading instruction found greater learning gains for older students than younger ones (Cheung & Slavin, 2012).

There is also research suggesting that heightened technology use has negative social-emotional effects on young people. For all of these reasons, I authored the Board's new BIGG Goal on technology use in our district. We are evaluating the use of iPads in SPPS, including costs, cost savings, effects on instruction, and academic and social-emotional outcomes. I am eager to see the results of this research so we can begin using it to improve our schools for our students.