When Catholic schools across the nation began supplying students with laptops in the early and mid-2010s, Notre Dame School in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, was no exception.
But when Amanda Paul became principal of the Chicagoland school five years ago, she quickly realized the devices were doing more harm than good.
With a dozen or more devices to monitor simultaneously in class, teachers were losing control of what the kids were actually up to behind the screen, Paul told the Register. Perhaps most worryingly, young students would Google answers to simple questions they could’ve easily worked out on their own — seeking a “quick fix” rather than putting in the work.
By the time Notre Dame announced earlier this year that it would begin adhering to a classical curriculum, its once-hyped laptops had already been collecting dust for two years. Teachers at the school, Paul said, had long since discerned the tech wasn’t right for their classrooms.
“We want to keep the kids engaged in the process, rather than with a product,” she said.
Notre Dame’s approach to ed-tech (education technology) is far from unusual. After initially going all in on so-called 1-to-1 programs that provide every student with a personal
