Technology is eroding student curiosity and skills

Educators overwhelmingly identify excessive technology use as causing a decline in students’ curiosity, engagement and problem-solving skills.

  • “[Kids] have grown up in a virtual reality … Instead of learning social behaviors from parents and unplugged kids, they have learned behavior from the internet which intrinsically rewards self-centered and outlandish behavior. … The truth is that these kids are producing ‘products’ (essays, study guides, etc.), but they are circumventing the process i.e. they are taking shortcuts. They think the product is what matters in education, and now they are becoming widely and deeply bored since ‘products’ are available in seconds [via AI.] … Next year, I am starting every class I teach with a brief unit that tries to tell kids that AI may help them get a passing grade, but it will undermine their ability to live a productive life. But I’m afraid it will have the same effect as telling them to eat their vegetables.”  —High school ELA teacher
    • “The thing is, the ‘product’ is the ONLY THING that matters. Learning doesn’t get you a grade, turning in an assignment does. Applying what you know doesn’t get you [anything] in the modern school system and it’s time we change that.” —Teacher in the United States
  • “The lack of curiosity is probably the hardest part of my job. … It’s emotionally exhausting as an educator to try to gin up interest and just see blank faces staring back. … If a student doesn’t understand? I have no problem breaking it down and explaining. But I can’t make students care. A lot of students right now are there physically and that’s it. … I’m also seeing a complete absence of problem solving ability. Not all, but more than I would have ever expected. I had assigned a high-school level assignment to a 300-level class. Think paper outline or bib; half the class just didn’t do it and when I asked in class what happened one student said she just didn’t know how and I was like ‘and you couldn’t ask me…or Google it?’ A problem arises and there’s no working around it. Everything just halts. I feel like all the info they consume is shot at them, high speed in little snippets and they can just passively receive. Like just scrolling TikTok endlessly. So when it comes to active engagement, they don’t have those skills. I also just think students expect to be constantly entertained. Like unless it’s exciting, it’s not worth it. But some things you have to learn even if [they’re]  boring.” —College Professor in North Carolina 
  • “That’s a combination of social media/internet and taking the curiosity out of modern education. When we tell them (students) what they need to know, we take away the desire to know why. … We’ve boxed them in, told them there’s only one way forward. In math classrooms, even when they reach the correct answer, it’s dismissed if their process doesn’t match the prescribed method. Creativity isn’t just discouraged—it’s systematically erased. And this isn’t happening in isolation. It’s a direct ripple effect of political powers tightening their grip on education, stripping away the artistry and adaptability from teaching itself.” —Educator in Colorado 

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