Sep 10, 2026 · 39 min
Schools confront tech’s promises and influence
Schools are catching onto tech’s playbook
As AI literacy replaces coding as education’s next technology mandate, the episode asks whether schools can adopt new tools without inheriting corporate priorities.
- 1Technology repeatedly promises to transform classrooms, but expanded access to devices has not consistently improved educational outcomes.
- 2Code.org scaled computer science education by packaging curricula and teacher training, while embedding startup-style assumptions about speed and reach.
- 3AI literacy could become more thoughtful if educators teach students to question technology’s influence rather than simply use new tools.
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Singer connects the shift from promising coding as a path to technology jobs with graduates’ difficulty finding those jobs, exposing the limits of education-industry forecasts.
The brief
Natasha Singer traces technology’s long educational playbook, from Thomas Edison’s faith in classroom film to today’s push for AI literacy and the recurring promise of transformation.
Laptop programs in Peru and Uruguay expanded computer access and digital skills without meaningfully improving educational outcomes, complicating the belief that devices automatically improve learning.
Code.org made computer science more accessible through viral campaigns, packaged curricula, and teacher training, but its scale also carried assumptions about speed, reach, and future jobs.
Academic alternatives emphasized inclusion and computational concepts, while the College Board’s acceptance of corporate-supported curricula raised questions about who gets to shape school priorities.
Singer’s most hopeful conclusion is that educators and students can use technology critically—questioning systems that steer choices instead of treating every new tool as progress.
Books & mentions
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