North Dakota education leaders, lawmakers look to limit screen time, device use in public schools

Jessica Van Winkle, a special education teacher at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck, sets up a monitor on her desk on Aug. 19, 2026, before the first day of school next to a pile of laptops that will be distributed to students. Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor
Jessica Van Winkle, a special education teacher at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck, sets up a monitor on her desk on Aug. 19, 2026, before the first day of school next to a pile of laptops that will be distributed to students. Photo by Michael Achterling/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 20…