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The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning--and How to Help Them Thrive Again
Not yet published
Expected 18 Aug 26Educator and neuroscientist Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath reveals why digital tools in school consistently undermine learning—and what parents, teachers, and schools can do to push back with purpose.
Our children are struggling. Schools, once alive with deep learning born of human connection, are now dominated by screens and digital tools. The result is falling performance, fractured attention, and the slow erosion of rigorous thought. For the first time in the history of standardized cognitive measurement, children are consistently scoring lower on key measures of cognitive development.
We were told that classroom technology was progress. It wasn’t. In The Digital Delusion, neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath shows how the widespread use of laptops, tablets, and educational software in classrooms is undermining how children learn, think, and develop. Drawing on decades of neuroscience and education research, Horvath dismantles the core myths driving the EdTech movement, and offers a practical playbook for putting people—not programs—back at the center of education.
This is not a call to reject technology.
Now, more than ever, we need a generation capable of deep thought and understanding. This book is an urgent call to reclaim real learning and restore an education that builds strong, motivated thinkers.
Our children are struggling. Schools, once alive with deep learning born of human connection, are now dominated by screens and digital tools. The result is falling performance, fractured attention, and the slow erosion of rigorous thought. For the first time in the history of standardized cognitive measurement, children are consistently scoring lower on key measures of cognitive development.
We were told that classroom technology was progress. It wasn’t. In The Digital Delusion, neuroscientist and educator Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath shows how the widespread use of laptops, tablets, and educational software in classrooms is undermining how children learn, think, and develop. Drawing on decades of neuroscience and education research, Horvath dismantles the core myths driving the EdTech movement, and offers a practical playbook for putting people—not programs—back at the center of education.
This is not a call to reject technology.
Now, more than ever, we need a generation capable of deep thought and understanding. This book is an urgent call to reclaim real learning and restore an education that builds strong, motivated thinkers.
464 pages, Paperback
Expected publication August 18, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 17, 2026
This book is a must-read for anyone with a stake in education. If you were moved by The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, you need to read The Digital Delusion. It is the most compelling argument I've seen for a more analog education. It's organized, it's articulate, it's well-researched - and I could not put it down. I wanted to highlight pretty much every sentence; it's that good and that important. Jared Cooney Horvath makes the research easy to understand (though difficult to swallow) when he thoroughly dismantles the myths about why educational technology is good for kids.
Of course it makes sense that when schools did online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, students would need devices for school - but now that we're back in person, it's time to re-evaluate why everything has to be on a screen. Is it convenient for teachers? You might save time on making copies, but it takes a lot of time to be the device police. Is it good for kids? The data suggest it's not. Is it at least chaper? I thought that doing schoolwork online was cheaper than making copies if the kids already have their devices - until I saw one statistic in this book that *maintaining* tech was costing one group $1 million per year! The rise of AI-powered cheating is just another reason to return to paper-based activities. And a LOT of my colleagues feel the same desire to move back to screen-free education, but when your district has spent millions on devices and slashed your copy budget, we can't make decisions just based on feelings - so Cooney Horvath has given us the irrefutable facts. There are so many specific, actionable resources for parents, teachers, and school leaders in this book, in addition to the wealth of data.
The author is not some kind of irrational extremist; he acknowledges that some students with IEPs or 504s need technological assistance, and he recognizes the difficulty in moving away from established Ed Tech. But looking at the data in this book, we NEED extreme change in education. Maybe the author's tone is harsh at times, but it needs to be.
I wasn't totally sold on offline learning and bell-to-bell phone bans before I read this book, but I am now. It's going to be difficult to make the change, but our kids are worth it.
Please don't listen to the tech billionaires who want to make money off our children; listen to this educator and neuroscientist who actually cares about our kids' wellbeing and learning.
Thank you to Convergent and Harmony for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions.
Of course it makes sense that when schools did online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, students would need devices for school - but now that we're back in person, it's time to re-evaluate why everything has to be on a screen. Is it convenient for teachers? You might save time on making copies, but it takes a lot of time to be the device police. Is it good for kids? The data suggest it's not. Is it at least chaper? I thought that doing schoolwork online was cheaper than making copies if the kids already have their devices - until I saw one statistic in this book that *maintaining* tech was costing one group $1 million per year! The rise of AI-powered cheating is just another reason to return to paper-based activities. And a LOT of my colleagues feel the same desire to move back to screen-free education, but when your district has spent millions on devices and slashed your copy budget, we can't make decisions just based on feelings - so Cooney Horvath has given us the irrefutable facts. There are so many specific, actionable resources for parents, teachers, and school leaders in this book, in addition to the wealth of data.
The author is not some kind of irrational extremist; he acknowledges that some students with IEPs or 504s need technological assistance, and he recognizes the difficulty in moving away from established Ed Tech. But looking at the data in this book, we NEED extreme change in education. Maybe the author's tone is harsh at times, but it needs to be.
I wasn't totally sold on offline learning and bell-to-bell phone bans before I read this book, but I am now. It's going to be difficult to make the change, but our kids are worth it.
Please don't listen to the tech billionaires who want to make money off our children; listen to this educator and neuroscientist who actually cares about our kids' wellbeing and learning.
Thank you to Convergent and Harmony for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions.
April 19, 2026
I read it in one sitting
This book gave me the evidence I had been lacking about my suspicion around screens in schools, especially the use of AI. I need to digest this and think more but it was a fantastic read... even I'd I did it on my Kindle, which is a screen...
This book gave me the evidence I had been lacking about my suspicion around screens in schools, especially the use of AI. I need to digest this and think more but it was a fantastic read... even I'd I did it on my Kindle, which is a screen...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews