BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – As a new school year kicks off across North Dakota, student technology use is top of mind for education leaders and lawmakers with new policies being floated for the 2027 legislative session.
Participants in a recent survey of more than 2,200 North Dakotans said they think technology access is important to supporting teaching and learning.
But respondents to the Department of Public Instruction’s 2026 North Dakota Community Survey on Education differed on when schools should issue tablets or laptops to students. About 43% said middle school was the right time, while 26% said high school and nearly 13% said about third grade. About 5% said as soon as they start school, and nearly 13% said schools should never provide devices to students.
Survey responses identified the top K-12 technology challenge as addressing student well-being concerns related to social media and screen time. Other top challenges were setting clear rules for using artificial intelligence safely, protecting students from cyberbullying and managing student cellphone use at school.
North Dakota banned student cellphone use in public schools during the 2025-26 school year.
The ban requires student cellphones and other smart devices in public schools to be silenced and locked away during the school day.
Jessica Van Winkle, a special education teacher at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck, said the cellphone ban was “glorious” for middle school and special education because it stopped a more than a decade-long battle between teachers and students.
However, students are innovative, and much of the communication between students has shifted to school-owned devices, Van Winkle said.
Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck, said she’s working on a bill for the 2027 session that would limit screen time on school-owned devices based on student grade level and prevent laptops or tablets from being taken home unless authorized by a teacher for a specific purpose.
Her proposal also would require school districts to inform parents of the school-owned device use policy ahead of the school year and allow parents access to an online portal to see how much time their child is using a school device and what websites they are visiting.
“I think the theme of the bill is going to be tech as a tool, not a toy,” Axtman said.
An informal survey that was available to the public sought input on Axtman’s ideas.
“It was very evident that they (survey respondents) want thoughtful and limited device usage, especially at the elementary level, but they were also clear that they recognize its importance,” she said.
Any law changes approved during the 2027 legislative session would likely go into effect for the 2027-28 school year.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Levi Bachmeier said he believes education policymakers are focused on whether a type of technology promotes active engagement or is a passive distraction.
He said banning technology would be a disservice to students in the long term.
“That would be like saying that students couldn’t learn how to use the internet 20 years ago,” he said. “The competitive disadvantage that would put them at would be deeply unfair to them.”
However, Bachmeier said allowing the “wild, wild West” with no technology policies would be similar to allowing young kids access to social media with no guardrails, exposing them to content algorithms and potential cyberbullying.
“I don’t think doing nothing is an option, but at the same time we have to make sure that we don’t have the pendulum swing too far and we don’t expose students to tools that they will need to succeed after they graduate,” Bachmeier said.
Bachmeier discussed some possible guardrails for students’ use of AI, such as age verification on chat bots and holding AI companies accountable for self-harm and dangerous information that is relayed by their products, during a legislative meeting on AI and data centers in August.
Axtman said an AI policy regarding North Dakota schools should be treated as a separate issue from legislation related to school-issued devices.
Meanwhile, Van Winkle said she is stepping back from school-owned devices in her own class this year.
“If you are done with your lessons, it’s not open up your computers … it’s let’s read a book, let’s look at your planner,” she said.
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