Schools and Screens: A Watchful History

Why screens in schools—from film screenings to instructional television to personal computers—did not bring about the educational revolution promised by reformers.

Long before Chromebook giveaways and remote learning, screen media technologies were enthusiastically promoted by American education reformers. Again and again, as schools deployed film screenings, television programs, and computer games, screen-based learning was touted as a cure for all educational ills. But the transformation p...