The False Promise of Ed Tech: What It Cost Us

Send us Fan Mail We were told technology would personalize learning. Instead, it made learning more impersonal than it's ever been. In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Alyse digs into what a decade of one-to-one devices, personalized learning platforms, and AI tutors has actually cost students, cognitively. Drawing on neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath's The Digital Delusion and the newly released PISA 2025 results, she walks through the data on effect sizes, attention, empathy, and skill transfer that the ed tech industry doesn't put in its sales pitch. She also takes on a recent Education Week op-ed defending classroom tech, and names an uncomfortable truth: not every problem showing up in your classroom has a technology fix. Part 2 drops next, on who's selling this to your district and why.  Resources & Research Mentioned Lawmakers Hold Hearing on the Impact of Screen Time on Kids - C-SPAN Senate Committee Hearing The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning—And How To Help Them Thrive Again by Jared Cooney Horvath (affiliate link) Horvath, Jared Cooney. "How the Brain Learns Best: As neuroscience unlocks the secrets of learning, it's more important than ever to take a hard look at screens." Psychology Today, vol. 57, no. 4, July-Aug. 2024, pp. 34+. Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine, Accessed 27 Sept. 2026. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (affiliate link) PISA 2025 Results, United States Country Note — OECD "Is the Backlash Against Tech in Schools Going Too Far?" by Lina Eroh, Education Week — edweek.org Related Episodes Episode 3: What We Lost — And When We Lost It (referenced directly, same two-part format) Episode 6: Teaching When You Can't Put the Devices Away (coming November 2026) About Alyse Alyse is a veteran high school science teacher in Pennsylvania, curriculum writer, and former cancer researcher. She's the founder of Keystone Science, which provides NGSS-aligned, inquiry-based science resources for secondary science teachers. Alyse strongly believes every student deserves a real science education, regardless of background, language, or ability, not a watered-down version of one. In addition to her teaching load, she currently serves on the PA Science Leadership Collaborative, a state-level committee that provides insights into the implementation of the PA STEELS standards. Comments and analysis in this podcast are her own and do not reflect the position or views of the PA Department of Education. Outside the classroom, she's outside: hiking, kayaking, running, creek walking, bee & birdwatching in her backyard, or elbow-deep in the garden. She's a self-certified tree hugger who has never met a tree she didn't want to save. Most days, though, she's the full-time chauffeur to two very busy kids. 🌐 Keystone Science Website 📧 Sign Up for the Keystone Science Email List