In pre-coronavirus days, Common Sense Media found that 80% of K-12 teachers had computing devices in their classrooms; that doesn’t mean, however, that they were big ed-tech fans.

In fact, says Education Week’s Alyson Klein, “… Many see these companies as bad neighbors with little regard for the true needs of schools.”

Parents, too, have pushed back, some demanding less digital reliance and others seeking out very low-tech schools.

As Ed Surge’s Tony Wan reminds us: “We’ve learned technology alone does not drive higher achievement.”

Meanwhile, Danielle Arnold-Schwartz, an elementary gifted teacher, writes, “Technology alone stinks as a learning model. We sit in front of screens to do work, listen to music, play games, and escape from life’s stress. We put children in front of screens at restaurants to keep them quiet, and we do the same in classrooms that may be too large or when teachers are working with small groups. Screens entertain us, help us relax and help us answer the questions we ponder as fast as we can ask them. However, the secret is out: Technology alone stinks as a learning model. Education technology is in its infancy, and the appeal to entrepreneurs seems understandably insatiable. The disconnect between business and education is that entrepreneurs focus on profits, while educators focus on children and learning…

“It is human interaction that truly engages children and inspires them. In the same way that we want our doctors and lawyers to take time to help us, children need real teachers to connect with and trust. It is only then that technology can rise to its proper place in the classroom.”

Talk about a truism, especially now in these soon-to-resume virtual teaching COVID days.