(ALBANY, NEW YORK) – The New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) recently brought together more than 500 Educators, Parents, Lawmakers, Medical Experts and Advocates for Unplugged: Reclaiming Human-Centered Education, a full-day conference delving into the growing role of technology in classrooms and how schools can harness technology while keeping teaching, learning and human connection at the forefront.

"This is not an anti-technology conference," NYSUT President Melinda Person said. "Technology can be incredibly useful. It can open doors, provide access and help Educators do things that wouldn't have been imaginable a decade ago. But there's a big difference between teaching children how to use technology or using technology as a tool and designing education around technology. We need this conversation, but I hope we can all agree on where this conversation should begin - with children and what is best for them."

"Education is fundamentally a human endeavor," New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said. "All of us bear responsibility for protecting our young minds. At the end of the day, let us prepare our students without surrendering curiosity, creativity, problem-solving, relationship building and the joy of learning."

"We all know that laws and lawsuits are only part of the work," New York State Attorney General Letitia James said. "Teachers are the people seeing how this technology actually impacts the classroom. You see what students learn, what distracts them, what gets in the way of the relationships that make education possible. As the debate around how AI (Artificial Intelligence) is used in schools continues, we want you at the table, because no one is better equipped to decide what is best for our kids than Teachers."

The conference featured keynote speaker Jared Cooney Horvath, Ph.D., M.Ed., a Neuroscientist, Educator and best-selling author, who explored what research tells us about how technology affects the brain and student development: "Tech will never be a learning tool. It is there for experts to get work done. It's not there for kids to learn to become experts. We don't need more tech training. We need more understanding and literacy. Tech is not an equity tool. If you want genuine equity, make sure every kid has a good teacher and a good school."

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