Rewind 2024

As our team reviewed our reporting this past year, we realized that many of our most popular stories explored the ways in which technology is changing the learning landscape. We didn’t take a passive approach, though, since several of our contributors reminded us about the importance of questioning the role that we want technologies to have in our lives while others taught us how to empower students and ourselves to adopt an inquiry mindset and think critically about all types of communication including digital platforms.

As 2024 winds down, we hope you’ll take a moment, as our colleagues over at Project Zero often remind us, to slow down, think, and reflect about the year that was and, as you read our stories below, ponder what resonates most with you.

How technology is increasingly shaping children’s lives at home and at school and what we can do about it

At home: During an interview on the Harvard EdCast this spring with Michael Rich, pediatrician and director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital, we discussed practical strategies for managing kids’ screen time and were reminded that, since children often learn by watching and copying the grown-ups in their lives, adults can help model good tech habits too. “When we get home, we should put down our devices and focus on them, really look at them, listen to them, be silent with them, but not be distracted by our phones,” Rich told us. “They're not going to be this old forever. They are constantly changing before us. So, in some ways, we need to value that time with them even more. And by doing so, we are modeling for them valuing time with us.”

At school: In the cover story of the fall/winter issue of Harvard Ed. magazine, we weighed the pros and cons of a growing trend: banning cellphones in schools and heard from ninth graders at the Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School, in Seattle, which opened this past August. Aniya, 14, told us she was initially shocked to find out that Cristo Rey banned the use of phones during the school day but said she soon realized how much easier it was for her to focus in class, and that she appreciated the push to talk more with her peers. 

AI is here to stay but there are ways we can shape it to help and not hurt us 

A Usable Knowledge article shared insights from a new report, co-authored by the Center for Digital Thriving, one of the Ed School’s emerging research and innovation labs, on how teens and young adults view generative artificial intelligence (AI). While academic integrity is an ongoing concern, many participants in the study were also positive about their experiences, albeit uncertain about AI’s impact on their futures, including job prospects. 

In the fall, our speakers, at an Askwith Education Forum, from research, business, and policy communities, debated the effects of large language models and generative AI on learning, and considered how AI tools could be designed to help, not hurt, teachers.

Our IRL (in real life) relationships matter too

In schools, where effective family engagement is not just a “nice to have” practice but responsible for many positive outcomes for kids and their learning, including reduced chronic absenteeism. Our recent Education Now event explored creative strategies for engaging with families and developing effective home, school, and community partnerships.  

For tackling our crisis of connection — especially amongst boys and young men, according to Niobe Way, an HGSE alum and a professor of developmental psychology at New York University whom we interviewed on the EdCast.

For easing our epidemic of loneliness — check out our Usable Knowledge article which highlighted research about the problem and some potential solutions, including the role that public and private leaders can play in building up social infrastructure to help people develop meaningful relationships with others.