The next phase of educational technology in schools will focus on designing learning environments that reduce friction for both students and teachers, rather than simply putting more screens in front of children.
Amy Rose, principal of Rose Salgado Elementary in San Jacinto, Calif., said that philosophy shaped her school from the beginning.
“We wanted teachers to be able to move freely, shift between screens and bring student work into instruction in real time,” Rose said.
Her school adopted a system built around dual classroom displays, teacher laptops that can function as tablets, and wireless document cameras that can project student work from anywhere in the room.
“It’s not about making lessons look more modern,” Rose said. “It’s about making teaching more flexible.”
One screen might show text, another for annotation or group work, while a document camera can quickly turn a student’s paper into the center of a class discussion.
Getting buy-in
That kind of change required more than purchasing hardware, Rose said. Before committing, she included teachers with different comfort levels in demonstrations and discussions. She included educators she knew were especially skilled with technology, as well as at least one who was more hesitant.
She also worked closely with her district’s technology department to address questions about infrastructure, bandwidth and compatibility. Teachers received initial professional development before school opened and follow-up sessions once teachers had time to identify what they needed in day-to-day instruction.
Rose said the result has been a notable shift in how technology is used. Students are enthusiastic about using interactive displays and document cameras to present their work. The school has even created a student news channel. Just as important, she said, individual screen time appears to have dropped.
Instead of relying heavily on Chromebooks as the main delivery tool for instruction, teachers are using shared displays and mobile tools to keep students engaged with one another, with the teacher and with the lesson itself. In Rose’s view, that has helped move technology from a passive screen to a more active part of the classroom culture.
An issue of value
Madeleine Mortimore, education research and innovation lead at Logitech for Education and a former classroom teacher, is examining the same questions from a broader perspective. Drawing on recent research and school-based case studies, she said districts are becoming more disciplined in how they judge the value of technology purchases.
“The conversation is shifting away from simple adoption metrics and toward outcomes like engagement, ease of integration and whether a tool actually makes instruction smoother,” Mortimore said.
Mortimore highlighted one research collaboration in which 81% of educators reported that their districts primarily measured ed tech success through student engagement. In another study, 91% of teachers surveyed said technology integration was critical to deeper learning.
“The more important question is not whether a classroom has technology,” Mortimore said, “but whether that technology helps students see and be seen, hear and be heard, and interact meaningfully with content and classmates.”
She pointed to a case study at Richard J. Lee Elementary School in Coppell, Texas, where second- and third-grade students used iPads along with age-appropriate headsets, keyboard cases and digital writing tools. Many of the students were emerging bilingual learners, and some were using iPads for the first time. After the additional tools were introduced, Mortimore said, 95% of students reported feeling better about their schoolwork performance, 92% said they felt more confident using the iPad, and 92% reported greater physical comfort. Teachers also observed stronger focus, smoother learning routines and more student independence.
Mortimore said those gains are partly about confidence and partly about cognitive load. When students are distracted by poor audio, awkward device setups or environmental noise, more mental energy is spent managing the tool rather than absorbing the lesson. In another study she cited, students using headsets with a reading app answered 40% more questions correctly in the same amount of time after reading. The implication, she said, is that well-designed tools can improve retention not by replacing teaching, but by reducing the barriers that interfere with attention.
Tools for inclusion
Rose and Mortimore consider edtech an inclusion issue. Rose said the flexible display setup at her school has benefited students with disabilities by giving them more ways to respond, participate and share work, including students who may struggle with speech or other forms of expression. She has also observed stronger peer collaboration between students with individualized education programs and their classmates. Mortimore described a similar design mindset in product development, citing accessibility features intended to support students with hearing aids, reading glasses, visual impairments or limited fine motor control.
That does not mean the shift is automatic or free of concerns. Rose said her district still relies on guardrails such as content filters, firewalls and classroom monitoring software to manage student use. She also stressed that technology decisions should not be made in isolation. Her advice to other school leaders is to invest time in collaborative planning with teachers and technology staff before rollout.
Mortimore also says that schools should pay attention not just to whether tools are available, but to whether they are age-appropriate, reliable and easy enough to use that they do not add frustration during instruction or testing.
Both women said that schools are beginning to judge educational technology less by how futuristic it looks and more by what it lets people do. In Rose’s classrooms, that means mobile teachers, students who can project and discuss their own work, and less time spent isolated behind individual screens. In Mortimore’s research, it means tools that support concentration, communication and confidence.
The lesson for districts weighing their next purchase may be a simple one: the best technology is not the kind that dominates the room, but the kind that helps teaching and learning move more naturally within it.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
Subscribe to SmartBrief’s FREE email newsletter to see the latest hot topics on edtech. It’s among SmartBrief’s more than 250 industry-focused newsletters.