Technology in Education – The Santa Barbara Independent

The use of technology in education has become a pressing topic among both parents and educators. As growing data links excessive tech use to the rising mental health crisis among children, many parents are calling for tighter restrictions. At the same time, while some schools are beginning to ban smartphones on campus, many are also embracing technology’s potential — exploring ways to integrate powerful tools like AI into the classroom.

I believe these are critical issues that deserve our attention, and I’d like to share my perspective with a broader audience.

The mission of schools today is to prepare students for jobs that don’t even exist yet. The truth is, no one can accurately predict what those future roles will be. Bill Gates has suggested that the careers most likely to withstand the rise of AI are in coding, energy, and biology. Whether you agree with him or not, the thought of it can be unsettling. I don’t think anyone actually has the answer, but instead of guessing what expertise our children need to learn, I myself believe that the soft skills are way more important — the human abilities that truly help individuals succeed in any job. In my opinion, these skills are:

Growth Mindset:  The ability to adapt and continuously learn in a changing world.
Strong Foundational Knowledge:  A solid understanding of the core principles in their chosen field.
Interpersonal Skills:  The capacity to communicate, collaborate, and work effectively with others.

Some might argue that the world’s richest man doesn’t possess that last skill. But I’m referring to successful people in general. There are always outliers who seem to get away with being a jerk. But this reminds me, beyond the goal of success, teaching our children empathy is essential — because it helps create a better, more compassionate world for everyone.

To master those skills, our children also need emotional intelligence; they need to be able to focus for the duration that is appropriate for their age, and they need to learn how to manage stress. I don’t believe technology has been helpful for these skills in most cases.

A Developing Brain

Many of the 8th graders I work with struggle with simple arithmetic, which they should have mastered by 6th grade. Don’t get me wrong — these students aren’t unintelligent. Many simply don’t engage their brains when there are alternatives available. For example, it’s not uncommon for them to ask Siri to calculate 3 × 10 or 8 ÷ 2 for them, even if they know how to do it themselves. Since they’re already doing their homework or classwork on an iPad, asking Siri seems to be their default response whenever they can. Just like many teachers are finding their students turning in AI written essays. It’s not that the students can’t do it; they simply don’t try because AI can do it for them.

I’ve heard the counterargument: “Everyone has these tools in their pocket, so why not use them?” But I strongly disagree. What concerns me is that they stop engaging certain parts of their brain. During adolescence, if certain cognitive skills aren’t regularly used, the brain begins to eliminate those neural pathways — a process known as neural pruning.

So now that they have AI at their fingertips, the question is, what other essential skills might they stop using—and ultimately lose?

Ed Tech Emerges

Ed tech has been around for a long time, but we can say that the invention of the iPad and the development of apps truly revolutionized it. However, if Ed Tech is really as effective as these companies claim, why aren’t we seeing better student outcomes?
On the contrary, even college professors are noticing that students today can’t seem to finish a book, their writing skills are poor, and many lack the attention span to focus without being distracted by their devices.

Should Learning Be Fun?

I’ve often been told — by parents and sometimes educators — that learning needs to be fun. I agree that for younger children, learning through play is powerful. But part of learning is also about building resilience. Sometimes, they have to solve difficult problems, and that can be frustrating. But when they keep trying and eventually succeed, the sense of delayed gratification is far more rewarding than the small dose of dopamine the iPad delivers to their brains.
Unfortunately, many kids today lack the endurance to reach that point. They give up when faced with challenges and instead distract themselves with the little device in their hands.

Gamification of Ed Tech

To make learning fun, here come the gamified educational apps. These apps may appear engaging, but entertainment isn’t the same as motivation. Kids should be inspired to learn, not merely entertained. True engagement comes through meaningful collaboration and peer interaction — not apps that mimic video games. In fact, overuse of gamified learning may undermine their ability to focus and persist when faced with real, complex problems.

As a society, we must seriously reconsider what we’re doing when we hand one of the most powerful tools ever created to developing minds.

I am not anti-technology. But it has to be used with intention — when we hand our children the most powerful tool humans ever created, please think about what they gain from using that tool. Identify the specific skills they should learn on the iPads, and only use iPads during those times; otherwise, it is just a distraction.

The Age of AI

Powerful AI tools like Khamingo have their value. Khamingo has built-in features that prevent students from using ChatGPT to cheat, and it can be very powerful for motivated students. In my experience working with teens, if they already lack motivation, then the best way to motivate them is to have someone who can connect and inspire them. Putting them in front of AI would not solve this. And so many of the problems I see in our teens these days are motivation.

I also have concerns about how AI interactions may affect students’ social-emotional development. When social media first emerged, it was seen as a tool to help us connect with distant family members, childhood friends, and even learn new skills through online videos. We never expected that algorithms would completely reshape human interaction, contribute to mental health issues in adolescents, and influence politics worldwide — for better or worse.

The very apps that were meant to connect us ended up dividing us and placing us into echo chambers. During COVID, we thought Zoom was the best invention — it allowed our students to attend school during a pandemic. But I’ve always wondered: if Zoom hadn’t existed, might we have found a way to reopen schools faster?

AI is trained by people; it is a reflection of its trainers’ collective knowledge. It gathers information from online resources, learning from what it’s exposed to. But what happens when the online world contains more content that divides us than unites us? We’ve all seen how online comment sections can be some of the most toxic spaces — what if AI learns about humanity from those environments? Or, maybe if we program AI to be very nurturing and safe, and students feel much safer with AI and not want to take any risk in the real world?

The truth is, we don’t know what will happen, and we need to be careful. Caution isn’t anti-progress—it’s responsible innovation. Until AI is properly regulated and tech companies provide greater transparency, we need to restrain ourselves from overly relying on a tool that is both incredibly powerful and deeply unsettling.

In reflecting on the role of technology in education, it’s important that its use is guided by clear instructional goals rather than convenience alone. Beyond teaching digital citizenship, educators should focus on essential skills that students can only learn through technology — such as typing, coding, effective online research, and distinguishing credible information from misinformation. Additionally, some technology may enhance learning by supporting reading and math through interactive apps and by providing teachers with analytical tools to track student progress and tailor instruction. Establishing guidelines for appropriate screen time and purposeful device use is key. Ultimately, the goal should be to use technology with intention — ensuring it serves meaningful educational purposes and truly supports student learning and growth.