Apart from classical or Montessori schools, technology use, including 1:1 device programs, is commonplace in US Catholic schools. But as more studies show the harms of heavy tech use in the classroom and beyond, some schools are starting to pull back.
This summer, the Erie Catholic School System announced that students in kindergarten through fifth grade will no longer participate in the 1:1 take-home Chromebook program.
Instead, students in the five Pennsylvania schools will have access to technology through shared classroom technology carts and dedicated technology instruction. In Virginia, Holy Family School in Dale City stopped providing digital devices to students last year, instead offering occasional computer time through shared computer carts.
“We’ve found kids have actually learned more, they are retaining more,” said Jay Jesse, Holy Family School’s assistant principal. “I think we learn better from human beings than we do from machines.”
Regina Pacis Academy, a preschool-to-eighth-grade independent Catholic school in Norwalk, Connecticut, was founded as a tech-free classical school. Instead of smartboards, devices and a computer lab, the academy has chalkboards, textbooks and a well-stocked library.
