We're pro-learning, not anti-technology.
We believe our kids deserve an education designed around how they actually grow and learn, with digital tools adopted thoughtfully, not by default.
Our Mission
Albany Families for Intentional Technology exists to ensure educational technology in our schools supports — not erodes — the development of critical thinkers, creative problem solvers, and confident digital citizens.
We believe every device, program, and digital assignment placed in front of our children should meet a clear burden of proof: research-backed, age-appropriate, and better than the non-digital alternative for the learning goal at hand. Where technology serves learning, we welcome it. Where it doesn't, we should have the confidence to set it aside.
Childhood development is not an app — it depends on meaningful challenge. Deep reading, handwriting, sustained attention, productive struggle, even boredom, are not inefficiencies to be engineered away. They're how young brains build the cognitive foundations for advanced learning.
Our goal is to collaborate with every AUSD stakeholder — students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the school board — to build a durable, district-wide framework that puts child development first and lets technology serve education, rather than the other way around.
We're part of a growing national movement. Groups like Schools Beyond Screens and the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project are pushing for evidence-based technology guidelines in classrooms nationwide. In 2026 alone, sixteen states have introduced bills to rethink school-issued screen use. Albany has a chance to lead — not follow.
Five goals for intentional technology in AUSD
We're asking our district to adopt a clear, sustainable, approach to educational technology based on definitive research on how children's brains and minds actually develop — created collaboratively with teachers, administrators, the school board, families, and students.
1. A district-wide philosophy of intentional technology.
Adopt a written statement of educational philosophy that defines the role of digital tools in our classrooms based on how children's brains and minds actually develop — so every future technology decision is measured against a shared vision of learning.
2. A burden of proof before adoption.
Establish a rigorous evaluation process — considering learning evidence, age-appropriateness, data privacy, and non-digital alternatives — that any device, program, or digital curriculum must pass before it is implemented in classrooms.
3. Age-appropriate digital citizenship goals for every grade, K-12.
Define clear, developmental skill goals for what a digital citizen should know and be able to do at each grade level — from foundational attention and literacy skills in early elementary to source evaluation, media literacy, and responsible usage in upper grades.
4. A sustainable framework for ongoing evaluation, adoption, and retirement of ed tech.
Create a written framework describing the how — who evaluates based on what evidence, on what cycle, with community input — so the process outlasts any single tool and stays useful for years as individual products come and go.
5. Transparency and partnership with families and teachers.
Provide parents and teachers with visibility into what digital tools are in use, how much screen-based instructional time students experience, and what data is collected — and a genuine seat at the table when decisions are made.
We ARE focused on
How much of the school day K–12 students spend on district-issued iPads and computers
Which programs and digital curricula the district adopts, and how they're vetted
Limiting homework and schoolwork that sends kids to YouTube or the open internet
Age-appropriate goals for what a "digital citizen" should know and be able to do at every grade
A lasting district framework for evaluating, adopting, and retiring ed tech
Little to no AI use in K–8, with clear exceptions where appropriate
We are NOT focused on
Personal cellphones, smartwatches, or other personal-device policies
Banning technology from schools
Blaming teachers — they're our most essential partners
Nostalgia for its own sake — we're guided by current research on learning and development
A one-time list of banned apps