I don't think that's the problem.

By that fall, the Maine Learning Technology Initiative had distributed 17,000 Apple laptops to seventh graders across 243 middle schools. By 2016, those numbers had multiplied to 66,000 laptops and tablets distributed to Maine students.

The introduction of the iPhone in 2007 also didn’t help.

Like, wtf is that sentence even supposed to mean.

Pretty much every single time someone does a study on "technological* impact on learning" for example handwriting and typing, they mess with the methodology or they don't have a good control group or system. And then the result is always that their traditional system is better.

They never genuinely switch methods and put effort into TEACHING the new tech and with the new tech. Obviously you can't just hand out laptop and the competence just... diffuses into the kids, because internet. That's nonsense.

Horvath noted not only dipping test scores, but also a stark correlation in scores and time spent on computers in school, such that more screen time was related to worse scores.

one guy noticing a correlation better not be "good science" at this point.

It has of course nothing whatsoever to do with the decades-long sustained assault on education by "conservatives". No, it's the computers.

Case in point: the inability to tell the difference between correlation and causation.

If those Gen Z kids could read, they'd be very upset.

Anecdotally I took paper notes all through college because it allowed me to retain knowledge without studying. When I tried with an iPad as a little faux experiment on myself it didn’t have the same effect. I’d argue that this issue however isn’t from the technology itself but rather how easily you can be distracted when using it. Ultimately this is something super under studied imo and something I was interested in for a while. I’d argue however that it would be better to control for mental illness or stress effects. Considering how established social media is for us Gen Z and how damaging it’s been shown for mental health (as at least one example) I’d wonder how this would affect things. After all long term cortisol exposure is bad for memory if I recall correctly. (if anyone wants source I’ll have to go dig up an old paper I wrote).

Edit: Oh also something obvious I don’t know how much it’s been studied is the short form content and attention span effect.

Sweden figured that out already

I wonder how long my own country, France, will take to wake up from that high tech-venerating educative system nightmare?