technology often represents not just one more “task” to have to attend to in a learning environment, but multiple additional tasks
This is something that I struggle with even now. With the switch to online learning, every professor has given monumental amounts of work (all necessary for their courses), and with the lack of face-to-face instruction, I feel more overwhelmed than ever some days. It all feels like homework and there's nothing concrete about it unless I write it all down.
it can even become a substitute for emotional regulation
I'd like to argue that this would only be in very extreme cases. Even in today's video game ridden world. you're still interacting with other people- it just happens to all be behind a screen. But, robots aren't the ones typing these messages.
Second, the proliferation of technology in our lives had made the previous guidelines almost impossible to follow.
This was the argument that I feel like a lot of my peers made when convincing their parents to buy them a phone. having technology makes a world of difference nowadays, not only in terms of education, but in terms of the social and emotional well-being of students (for better or for worse).
Intentional, thoughtful inclusion of technology in public learning environments can ensure that all students, regardless of their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, language status, special education status, or other characteristics, have the opportunity to experience learning and develop skills that allow them to fully realize their potential.
Yes!
Further, meta-analyses and syntheses of the research show that blended learning can produce greater learning than exclusively in-person learning.
Blended learning acts as the best of both worlds. For those students who can't do their best with online learning. they have in-person sessions to reinforce what they're learning online. I think more students cannot focus at a younger age, than we think. I can't imagine kindergartners doing extremely well in this pandemic.
exclusively in-person learning
Ironically, this is exactly what we are living through currently. We are living through a time in which to be present in classrooms, would be too resource-intensive.
This is important in light of the fact that access to technology outside of learning environments is still very unevenly distributed across ethnic, socio-economic, and geographic lines.
I grew up in a relatively wealthy white suburban school district, so there wasn't a ton of diversity. I definitely agree with the sentiment, that this is a pervasive issue that dominates the success rates of schools and students. How can you have a classroom that accommodates for the large range of diversity? At least back home, my town didn't have to worry about this question as much.
individualize students’ pace of learning,
This is a reiteration of the point that I make above, that technology and success is a correlation that is so personal. As a future teacher, I'm starting to ask the question of "how can I take a classroom full of x number of individuals and help them succeed?"
One thing that this nascent evidence base does show is that technology can be linked to improved learning.
This is something that reminds me of being so personal, that science won't be able to justify all the outcomes. Some people will be able to succeed with technology at their fingertips, but then other won't be able to. Hence the can.
Or perhaps you’ve read that screen time is not good for kids
This is something that my parents believed in when I was growing up. There was a limit to how much screen time we could have a day and arguably it frustrated me a little more than it should've. My sister on the other hand, grew up with more screen time than I did, but this was mostly due to iPads and iPhones.