In this episode of Brains & Bots, I am joined by Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, a neuroscientist, educator, and author of The Digital Delusion: What Classroom Technology Does to Learning.

Educational technology is often presented as the answer to a failing school system. But what if education isn’t broken, and the proposed solution weakens the very habits learning requires? Horvath begins by debunking five influential myths: that multimedia improves learning, free choice produces better outcomes, children learn best on their own, and intelligent tutors make students more intelligent.

Our conversation examines why genuine learning is effortful. Students must read, recall, practice, make mistakes, and work through difficulty before knowledge becomes durable. Entertainment may hold attention, but it cannot substitute for the sustained concentration needed for understanding. Can education remain enjoyable without confusing entertainment-related engagement with learning? Screens make that distinction especially important. Horvath explains how digital devices encourage task switching, weaken memory, and train students to associate screens with entertainment. We also discuss why handwriting demands more thinking than transcription and why technology should be introduced only after students have mastered the underlying skill. As he puts it, “The tool is not the skill.”

The stakes are particularly high in higher education. If students use artificial intelligence to bypass writing, research, and reasoning, are they becoming more capable or merely more dependent? Horvath distinguishes tools that experts use after developing knowledge from tools that novices use before they can judge an answer. Professors therefore remain essential, not simply because they provide information, but because human guidance and judgment help students learn how to think.

What would a pro learning response look like? Should schools return to books, paper, and focused classrooms? How can parents and teachers demand evidence before adopting new technologies? And can colleges defend themselves as places of intellectual development rather than credentialing systems built around convenience?

To hear Horvath’s findings, watch the episode below or on YouTube.

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