In the world of education policy, 2026 is kicking off with a bang.
Over the last couple of days, we’ve received a flood of questions about an upcoming Senate hearing on the impact of excessive screen time on kids’ wellbeing.
Scheduled for next Thursday, the hearing will take a deep dive into the Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA), bipartisan legislation that aims to restrict social media use and protect young people from harmful content online.
What’s struck me about the lead up to the hearing is that it’s not just about cellphones and social media. It has big implications for the world of education technology. Nestled within the growing debate about social media, cellphones, and screen time are much more fundamental questions about whether tech is helping or hindering learning.
Of course, these aren’t new questions or concerns. But what’s different now is that a much broader set of issues are animating the conversation. It’s not just about data privacy or fiscal prudence. And the conversation isn’t confined to efficacy researchers, parental rights, or profit margins.
Next week’s hearing will feature a slate of anti-tech witnesses including a professor who advocates for a return to paper-pencil instruction and a neuroscientist who argues that the more schools embrace technology, the worse students perform.
Last year, I wrote about the tradeoffs between productive struggle and efficiency that are fueling concerns about the evolution of education in the AI era. I’ve written about New York Times columnist Jessica Grosse’s call for a “hard reset” in the world of edtech. In April, as “late liquidation” extensions were being revoked, my colleague David DeSchryver urged the edtech community to heed the call to tell better stories. That call is now more important than ever.
In moment when emerging technologies are undoubtedly taking their toll on children who are the first to grow up with front-facing cameras, and schools (and parents) are navigating a world without a playbook, the risk of throwing the purpose-built edtech (baby) out with the Big Tech (bathwater) is real—perhaps, greater than ever before. As Securly CEO Tammy Wincup recently put it, “schools and families can’t wait for big tech to solve the risks of AI” either.
As a sector, we have to not only hold ourselves to, but help to set a higher bar. Telling better stories means bringing receipts, defining and differentiating terms, and focusing with intensity—and intentionality—on the most tangible outcomes. It means acknowledging the need for and helping to define guardrails, thinking about pedagogical relevance and safety in the very broadest sense, and getting smart on the international context, as Code.org President Cameron Wilson pointed out in a thoughtful piece for The Hill this week.
I’m not one for predictions, but if early activity is any indication, 2026 may well be the year when edtech has its feet held to the fire and is forced to make the case for when technology belongs in classrooms—and when it doesn’t.
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