by Sophie Winkleman in After Babel Substack (July 13)
With a foreword from Jonathan Haidt’s Substack, Sophie Winkleman’s address to ARC in June proffers a powerful argument from the experience of teachers, the data from researchers, the practices of edtech executives, and the intuitions of parents—all recognizing the compulsive distraction of teaching with screens. Winkleman convincingly argues that handwriting and book-reading and dynamic conversation remain the bulwark of genuine learning…
Winkleman argues that schools have embraced educational technology too broadly and too quickly, often at the expense of children’s attention, imagination, concentration, and ability to learn independently. She begins with an example of a primary school where children initially struggled to play without digital stimulation; after screen-based story time was removed, the school reported stronger play, sociability, and imagination. Her central concern is that devices intended to “future-proof” education may instead make children more passive and dependent.
Winkleman maintains that books, paper, handwriting, and direct teacher-student interaction generally provide a stronger foundation for learning than screen-based instruction. She contends that physical reading and writing support memory, reflection, and active processing, whereas apps may prioritize engagement through notifications, rewards, and game-like features rather than genuine understanding. Although she recognizes that assistive technologies can be valuable for some students with disabilities, she argues that those specialized uses should not determine the standard learning environment for all children.
The article also presents the backlash against one-device-per-student policies as an emerging international movement. It cites actions such as Los Angeles’s decision to reduce computer use in early grades and renewed investments in textbooks in countries including Sweden and Denmark. Winkleman worries that wealthier families and elite schools may increasingly choose low-tech, paper-based education while less-advantaged students are left with more screen time and automated instruction, potentially widening rather than narrowing educational inequality.
Finally, Winkleman warns that artificial intelligence could intensify these problems by allowing students to bypass the difficult but essential process of reading, writing, analyzing, and forming their own ideas. She does not reject technology instruction altogether; instead, she endorses “tech ed, not EdTech”—teaching students how technology works while preserving an education centered on books, handwriting, discussion, human teachers, and intellectually demanding subjects. Her overall message is that preparing children for a digital future should mean strengthening their distinctly human capacities, not outsourcing them to screens or AI.
[Watch Winkleman’s address here—or read the transcript here]
