Gamifying education to "meet students where they are" was a huge mistake.

Students can pay attention, if they want to, but often don't.

Learning isn't natural. Teachers need to teach, not just "guide" or "nurture."

Bring back textbooks , write Sophie Winkleman and David James in The Spectator . In Britain, as in the U.S., schools have embraced online learning and "one-to-one" devices, they write. Students swipe and scroll between tabs, "some educational and some not," while the teacher tries to keep the class "on task." Textbooks "are slandered as boring compared with online resources, which offer video clips, audio, 3D modelling and other seductive 21st-century ‘essentials’," they writ

"I ain't saying you treated me unkind," sang Bob Dylan. "You just kinda wasted my precious time." From X: Figen posts a video of a teacher who brought a PlayStation to class to use Assassin's Creed to teach about the Industrial Revolution . This is a distraction and a waste of time, responds Tom Bennett. It gets students to expect bells and whistles. SoL in the Wild agrees it's "100% terrible." He blames constant messages to teachers to make lessons fun, fun, fun. Learning

“When tech enters education, learning goes down,” neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath told a U.S. Senate subcommittee. His testimony went viral . In The Digital Delusion , Horvath makes the case that declining test scores are linked to rising screen time. Classroom technology, such as a laptop or tablet for every student, is undermining learning, he argues. The anti-tech "message is resonating with some parents, educators, and lawmakers," writes Matt Barnum on Chalkbeat. As

There little evidence learning tech aids learning, and many complaints that it's bad for students' attention spans.

Children are starting at screens in school, instead of listening to a teacher or interacting with friends, parents complain.

The anti-tech backlash is here: Parents are asking to opt their kids out of using school laptops and tablets.

Film students don't have the attention span to watch movies.

College students need internet-free spaces where they can read, write, talk, think, play and sleep.

Students are using Chromebooks and iPads, starting in kindergarten. Most teachers say devices cause distractions.

Instead of trying to be entertainers, teachers should teach students to listen, respond to classmates' ideas and pay attention.

Should we worry that young people are spending less time reading for pleasure and a lot more time watching YouTube videos?

Fewer young people are reading books for pleasure.

Lowering the definition of "proficient" reading would end the "reading crisis," writes education professor. But one-third of students are very poor readers.

Digitizing classrooms hasn't improved learning. AI will make it worse.

It's not just smartphones: Classroom laptops are distracting students, say teachers.

Is ADHD a medical disorder best treated with drugs?

Internet-connected devices are distracting students -- not helping them learn.