The Members Forum

As you consider whether to arm your child with a laptop computer or iPad this Christmas, consider also which battle line to stand behind, as the fighting grows over the increasing reliance on digital devices in the classroom.

Grad schools, colleges, and even grade schools are relying more and more on Apple iPads and laptops for instruction -- and increasingly handing out computers for students to use.

Learning should be interactive, of course -- but should it be digital?

That’s a question the Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, Calif., answered recently, deciding to give iPads to every student for use in the classroom.

Several other grade schools and universities, such as the Stanford University School of Medicine, are also giving out iPads and laptops to every student. Some schools districts, such as the one in Fergus Falls, Minn., are experimenting with classes where students only tap in from home over the Internet.

Many parents are worried if all of this screen time is healthy, however. They’re concerned about possible negative side-effects of kids using computers all day at school, and fear issues with blurred vision when students get older -- or back problems from leaning over an iPad all day long.

“Schools are in the business of telling kids what to do, where to go, what to eat. They can determine, definitively, how much time a student should spend. These should be concentrated bursts of time that students spend and that time should be unlocking more information about things they are interacting with in class. They shouldn't be feeding cows on Farmville or texting their friends,” said Tom Davidson, CEO of curriculum company EverFi and a former Maine legislator.

One answer might be to provide a mix of technology, even if that does not mean every child has their own laptop at all times, said Amit Raman, CEO of educational management software company Raman InfoTech.

Raman says a good compromise is to make sure kids are exposed to a wide variety of technology, including e-mail and word processing, but the gadget they carry could be a textbook replacement device, such as an Amazon Kindle -- with coursework pre-installed, of course.

Fox News has the details HERE!