Fish oil, nuts, antioxidants - one food fad after another claims to be good for your brain. But in computer-centric classrooms, students don’t have much use for that organ. That’s the sad reality presented in a new book excerpt from Jared Cooney Horvath about classroom technology eroding kids’ cognitive abilities.
Horvath backs his case with data you can’t ignore, even if you’re hours deep into a TikTok binge. Charts show lower PISA scores correlate with increased device usage. Psychology and neurology both indicate that humans have weaker comprehension of information conveyed on screens. These compelling points deserve attention…though by the author’s argument, you may struggle to focus on them, as it’s delivered (much like this email) on a glowing screen.
We’ve long complained that if districts simply drop a Chromebook on every desk without clear, measurable academic objectives, then - surprise! - that’s pretty much where The Exciting New Tech Initiative ends. You may have seen this in your own school system, with your kid stuck spending hours and hours of class time alternately bored and distracted on a school-issued laptop. That’s not how kids are meant to learn. They need active learning with tactile materials, true rigor, and energized discussion with the teacher and fellow classmates.
If schools set SMART goals tied directly to student learning, technology can be leveraged strategically in a limited way to advance those goals. Results can improve in such conditions. Online devices do enable delivery of content tailored for personalized learning, responsive assessments, and quickly available data that can inform instruction. But technology needs to be delivered in precise and careful doses, with full awareness of its potential for harmful side effects. The vast majority of learning must occur through attentive teachers leading small-group and hands-on instruction that engages kids.
Let’s demand our education system provide students with the healthy education we ourselves would want. That will only happen if we center children, not devices, and follow the data - which includes both test scores and established medical fact - on how brains actually develop.
