COMPUTING & IT RESOURCES
Why schools shouldn’t be fearful of devices – and neither should parents Mat Pullen, Director for Education at Jamf, shares his insights. E
ducational technology can transform learning when it extends beyond classroom walls. The problem is that many schools won’t commit to proper one-to- one device programmes. They worry about parent backlash, especially when devices go home with students.
I understand the hesitation. Parents have legitimate concerns about screen time, inappropriate content and whether their children can handle expensive equipment responsibly. A typical scenario that I witnessed during my time teaching and now as an edtech specialist looks like this. Schools buy devices with genuine enthusiasm about improving learning. Parents push back hard. Schools then start to panic and either lock everything down so tightly that the devices become useless, or they keep them confined to their site. Either way, the investment fails to deliver.
The core issue? Schools treat devices as an IT problem. They forget to think about teaching and learning.
When device rollouts can trigger panic COVID forced schools to push devices into homes rapidly. Such an emergency response worked
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pretty well at the time, but many schools never developed proper long-term plans for how technology would support learning. Teachers aren’t sure how to use devices effectively in lessons, while parents can’t see the point. Some schools will send home iPads with barely any explanation. Parents may get a letter mentioning ‘enhanced learning opportunities’, but with no detail on what those opportunities look like in practice. There’s no information about content controls or guidance on managing screen time.
Parents fill the information vacuum themselves. For many, devices mean kids glued to YouTube or playing games when they should be doing homework, and if that’s their only reference point, of course they’re going to resist having another screen in the house. What happens next is entirely predictable. Parents ring the school asking why their child needs more screen time, with some flat-out refusing to let devices come home. Schools, unprepared for the resistance, back down, and devices stay at school under strict supervision. Learning doesn’t stop at 3:30pm, though. Students who can take devices home can explore subjects that interest them. They work on group
February 2026
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