Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) has initiated its Tech with Intent Survey, asking students, families and staff to share their experiences with technology in the classroom.

“The survey results will directly inform the development of new district Board Policies and Administrative Regulations relating to classroom technology, AI, content filtering and digital well-being,” school officials said.

The survey initiative comes on the back of a growing body of national evidence on the effect of unmonitored digital devices on student attention and learning, according to SBUSD.

“A recent expert report from the APA goes some way to confirming that high levels of app engagement and screen time are routinely equated with actual learning,” SBUSD said.

“The report points out that attention-grabbing app features (badges, autoplay videos, etc.) are very often capable of diverting cognitive focus away from actual comprehension, and unguided use of generative AI tools can in fact lead to a reduction in long-term independent problem solving,” the district said.

At the same time, a national NBC News investigation into some 17,000 school-hour YouTube logs found that more than 95% of the videos that students opened on school devices during class were non-educational (video games, influencer content, adverts, etc.), according to reports.

“Technology must be a useful tool for teaching and learning, not an engine for digital distraction,” said SBUSD Superintendent Hilda Maldonado.

“As we’re developing our new policies around AI, screen time and device access, it’s absolutely vital that we hear directly from our students, staff, and families in order to create rules that will protect our learning time whilst still allowing us to use the tools that are beneficial,” she said.

“To ensure we have full student representation, we will be allocating second period on Tuesday 3rd November as class time for students to complete the survey,” district officials said. “Families and staff will be able to access the survey via ParentSquare.”

The survey is now live and all responses must be in by 11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6.

Survey & Policy Links
• Staff & Family Survey (English): Take the Family Survey
• Staff & Family Survey (Español): Encuesta para Familias
• Draft Board Policy: Review Draft Board Policy Document
• Draft Administrative Regulation: Review Draft Administrative Regulation Document