In 2002, Maine became the first state to implement a statewide laptop program to some grade levels. Then-governor Angus King saw the program as a way to put the internet at the fingertips of more children, who would be able to immerse themselves in information.
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.
King’s initial efforts have been mirrored across the country. In 2024, the U.S. spent more than $30 billion putting laptops and tablets in schools. But more than a quarter-century and numerous evolving models of technology later, psychologists and learning experts see a different outcome than the one King intended. Rather than empowering the generation with access to more knowledge, the technology had the opposite effect.
What’s wrong with archiving slides so you can revisit them later?
When I was in college I did similar stuff because I benefited more from actually listening to the lectures instead of trying to keep up with taking notes.
Also, taking pictures is a good hack if you’re nearsighted.
But the worst thing I ever witnessed was a Gen Z girl searching Google for Yahoo, then searching Yahoo for Yahoo mail.
Reminds me of my wife’s cousin who would always search google for facebook then click the facebook.com link. Every time she wanted to go to facebook this is what she did. (This was on a desktop computer in pre-smartphone days.)