Public asked to weigh in on technology use in North Dakota schools – InForum

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A new North Dakota Department of Public Instruction survey seeks statewide feedback on potential changes to how students are using technology.

Superintendent Levi Bachmeier, who

took over the state’s top education role

in November, said he hopes the survey results will inform policymakers on potential reforms to school-issued device policies across the state. During his first student Cabinet meeting, he said a Mandan freshman told him the devices needed to be a “tool, not a toy.”

“The world that these young people are inheriting requires them to use technology responsibly, but we know that these devices are just as addictive as substances,” Bachmeier said during a press conference Thursday. “And that can be just as true for the school-issued device in their hands as the cellphone they carry around in their pocket.”

North Dakota

banned the use of cellphones

during the school day during the 2025 legislative session, something Bachmeier said has received a near universal

positive response

during its first year in effect.

The cellphone ban triggered a migration of some students from using their cellphones to access YouTube and other social media sites to using their school-issued laptops or tablets, Bachmeier said.

The

survey

includes questions about restrictions on device usage in elementary school, a potential prohibition on taking devices home, built-in make-up days into school scheduling before using virtual instruction and whether the state should require districts to use monitoring software on the devices.

He added that some school districts already have monitoring software that tracks student technology usage, but it is not a uniform policy.

“It’s inconsistent,” Bachmeier said. “Our challenge is how do we find what’s the best that is going on in North Dakota and make that a reality for every student in our…

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