Education technology

Governor Gavin Newsom signed landmark bipartisan legislation strengthening California’s nation-leading protections for children online and when using artificial intelligence (AI). The new laws strengthen safeguards for companion chatbots, prohibit social media platforms from offering addictive features to users under 16, and expand privacy protections for children. The bills will protect children by:

After years of studying how human beings write, the cognitive psychologist Ronald T. Kellogg concluded that drafting a basic persuasive essay was as mentally taxing as digging a ditch was physically exhausting. Writing well requires a command of vocabulary, spelling and grammar. It forces writers to comprehend a subject, to sift through their working memory of that topic, to organize and plan. Writing an essay is so difficult that a person in the throes of it can do hardly anything else—as anyone who has shushed a spouse or child while trying to compose a decent sentence can attest.

For more than thirty years, American communications users—really, American consumers—have been charged roughly $1 billion to $3 billion a year to subsidize Internet and related services for schools and libraries through the government's E-Rate program, which is one component of what's called the “Universal Service Fund.” That is a lot of compulsory generosity. Yet only now are policymakers asking the obvious question: Is this money helping students learn—or is it doing harm? Some treat that question as out of bounds. It is not.

The Federal Communications Commission, which oversees the E-rate program Congress created 30 years ago, has launched a “top-to-bottom” evaluation that has leaders of the nation’s school districts on edge. The FCC is collecting views on how the program should be reformed, or even whether it should be abandoned because it “has fulfilled” its mission. In addition to asking whether the benefit should be restricted to rural districts, the agency links E-Rate to present-day concerns over screen time. Comments are due Oct. 13 and replies are due Nov. 12.

New guidance to help states, school districts, educators, families, and education technology providers make informed decisions about the responsible use of technology in classrooms. The guidance encourages a focus on instructional value over recreational engagement when selecting and using technological tools in the classroom. It also urges states to pair innovation with evidence, educator judgement, transparency for parents, and a relentless focus on student outcomes.

The guide also defines different categories of technology use, explains how expectations should evolve from early childhood through high school, and provides tools educators can use to determine whether technology is the right choice for a lesson. It also helps districts comply with minutes-based mandates and communicate clearly about what their current systems can and cannot measure.

Nearly 80 percent of school districts issue kindergarteners, first-graders and second-graders devices or allow them to bring them from home. Screens are 

On June 25, 2026, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) seeking comment on a wide array of questions about how to update the E-Rate program to reflect how schools and students actually use the Internet.  This item is part of the FCC’s “top-to-bottom” review of all Universal Service Fund programs to promote efficiency, transparency, and accountability. The E-Rate program was created in an era when many schools and libraries lacked access to the Internet, or service would be too expensive for schools to purchase themselves.

More than 32,000 students, teachers and staff in two southern New Mexico school districts and one charter school are now connected to the state’s broadband education network, a system that offers schools faster and more secure high-speed internet.

Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), the public agency expanding connectivity and digital opportunity statewide, announces $3.3 million in grant awards for capital improvements to make economic and social opportunity possible for individuals and communities through digital access.