The 30-year delusion about schools & tech

The current backlash against school technology has many sources, including among them frustrations with remote learning during COVID, the over-use of devices and software in schools, and the recent spread of school phone bans. But questions about computers in schools aren’t anything new. In fact, almost 30 years ago, Todd Oppenheimer wrote The Computer Delusion, a prescient cover story for what was then still called the Atlantic Monthly. Six years later, he followed up with a book on the same topic, The Flickering Mind.In this new, totally unedited interview, Oppenheimer connects his efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of passive computer-based learning to the present-day tech backlash, including Jared Cooney Horvath’s The Digital Delusion, and urges today’s journalists to resist the urge to speed up or outsource the reporting and writing process.“Stop and think,” urges Oppenheimer. “Think about what everything adds up to.” Watch the interview or read the transcript above or on YouTube. Listen to the conversation on Spotify or Apple.Previously from The GradeCovering the edtech backlash (featuring Sharon Lurye)How to cover ed tech hysteria (featuring Holly Korbey) Rethinking Chromebooks in Kansas Get full access to Alexander Russo's The Grade at alexanderrusso.substack.com/subscribe