What if we told you that research shows that, despite all the phone-ban and screen time headlines we see in the news, teachers and parents aren’t necessarily anti-tech? But they are frustrated by technology that makes their jobs harder.
Teachers are expected to make every minute of classroom screen time count. Parents are navigating endless negotiations about devices at home. Developers are trying to build tools that support learning in the real world—where attention is limited, needs are complex, and another app” is not exactly the answer.
So what if we stopped designing technology for educators and families—and started designing it with them?
That’s the big idea behind two sessions we’d love to bring to SXSW Edu 2027. We know that community voting plays an important part of the programming process; we would be thrilled to share these conversations with you, so please take a minute to vote for our proposals.
Workshop: Teachers + Developers: Co-Design Better EdTech Together
What happens when educators and developers get in the same room and build together? This interactive workshop will explore how intentional co-design can help close the gap between what learners need and what learning products deliver. This session will be led by Allisyn Levy (Joan Ganz Cooney Center), Angelica DiSalvo (Joan Ganz Cooney Center), and Azi Jamalian (The GIANT Room).
Panel: Beyond Bans: What Teachers & Parents Want from Tech for Kids
What if the headlines about tech bans are missing the point? Research shows that teachers and parents aren’t simply asking to remove technology from kids’ lives. They’re asking for better technology—tools that help kids thrive without adding more work for the adults supporting them.
New research from the Gallup/Walton Family Foundation and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center suggests that teachers and parents may be facing the same fundamental challenge in different places: How do we make technology work better for kids—and for the grown-ups responsible for helping them? This panel conversation will be moderated by Medha Tare (Joan Ganz Cooney Center), with Amanda Lenhart (Joan Ganz Cooney Center), Kevin Johnstun (Walton Family Foundation, and Lindsay Jones (CAST).
Please vote for these sessions—and help shape the conversation about what better tech for kids can look like. We hope to see you in Austin!
