Technology in schools, aka digital learning, has increased an astounding 900% since 2000. A 2025 national New York Times survey found that 99% of teachers said their school provided devices to students for use in class, and another eight in ten teachers reported that students at their school had a device assigned to them. The same survey estimated that 40% of middle and high school students spend more than three hours per school day staring at screens during classroom instruction.
With so much technology on hand, learning should be easier than ever. But is it?
The answer is a resounding no, according to Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, a former teacher turned cognitive neuroscientist. In a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in January, Dr. Horvath testified that, “Gen Z is the first generation in modern history to underperform [their parents’ generation] on basically every cognitive measure we have, from basic attention to memory to literacy to numeracy to executive functioning to even general IQ, even though they go to more school than we did.”
Contrary to the idea that technology boosts academic performance, Horvath explained that schools that have adopted one-to-one technology widely have corresponding drops in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. “We have academic research stretching back to 1962 that shows the exact same story for 60 years,” he testified. “When tech enters education, learning goes down.”
The issue lies with how brains develop and learn, he explained. Biologically, humans have evolved to learn from other humans, not from screens. Screen learning effectively circumvents the learning process, resulting in lower scores on the metrics cited above. Horvath’s research findings have been consistent across 80 countries.
“We have academic research stretching back to 1962 that shows the exact same story for 60 years. When tech enters education, learning goes down.”
— Dr. Jared Cooney Harvath, testifiying before U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Technology has famously shortened attention spans, leading children and adults alike to multitask, keeping one eye on their phones regardless of whatever else they’re doing. This places heavy demands on the prefrontal cortex, says Cognitive Neuroscience Professor Dr. David Strayer. “That part of the brain is really important for critical thinking, problem solving, decision making and strategic planning.” Like muscles strained through overuse, the prefrontal cortex can become fatigued, reducing its effectiveness.
Now for the good news: a simple way to reverse these impacts and support cognitive development is to spend time in nature. Strayer’s research has found that people who spend time in nature – and, critically, leave their phones behind – experience improved short-term memory, enhanced working memory, better problem-solving, greater creativity, lower levels of stress and higher feelings of positive well-being.
A 2024 review of the literature and meta-analysis of 56 studies on the impact of nature on cognition in children and adults found a significant positive effect of some nature interventions on
attention and executive functions. “The findings suggest . . . extended exposure to nature has the potential to restore and enhance attention and executive functioning in children and adolescents,” concluded authors Lan Nguyen and Jared Walters. “Thus, to leverage the attention-restoring/enhancing benefits of natural environments, educational institutions could incorporate natural elements into learning environments (e.g., classroom plants) or integrate nature experiences in school curricula (e.g., outdoor learning/play sessions).”
Nature can also alleviate the impacts of stress, an issue Gen Z is experiencing in spades. Stress can interfere with learning by focusing cognitive resources on survival mechanisms rather than critical thinking, problem solving, reasoning and evaluation. A 2023 ‘Stress in America’ study by the American Psychological Association (APA) found roughly 70% of teenagers report that academic responsibilities cause them significant stress.
Dr. Catalina Hoyos is a pediatrician with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Clinic Children’s Community Pediatrics and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Her work focuses on addressing social determinants of health and promoting healthy early child development. “The research says that exposure to nature actually decreases perceived stress or is a buffer for daily stress as experienced by children,” Dr. Hoyos explained in a presentation titled ‘The Impact of Nature in Child Development.”
Aside from reducing stress, Hoyos cited research demonstrating significant positive impacts of nature on self-esteem, autonomy and decision making in children, along with improved peer relationships, improved mental and social health, higher physical fitness levels and, for children with a history of behavioral issues, less problematic behaviors.
As the research continues to mount, it’s time to rethink how we prepare students for the future. Technology can be a great tool, but it shouldn’t be the foundation of learning because, in that context, it isn’t just ineffective, it’s actually harmful.
As Horvath told the U.S. Senate, “I’m the voice to remind you that even in schools, it doesn’t matter what the size of the screen is. All of these things are also going to hurt learning, which in turn is going to hurt our kids’ cognitive development, right at the time when we need our kids to be sharper than we are.”
References:
C-SPAN (2026, January 15) Doctor on how Screen Time Hurts Kids Cognitive Development
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd-_VDYit3U
Jones, T. (2025, November 19) 40% of Middle and High School Students Spend About Half the School Day on Devices Sherwood News
Longstaff, G. (2025, January 27) The Role of Stress in Memory and Learning The University of Law
https://www.law.ac.uk/resources/blog/role-of-stress-in-memory-and-learning/
Dr. Catalina Hoyos (2020, April 17) The Impact of Nature in Child Development
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFgRQQNo7Gw
TEDx Manhattan Beach (2017, December 12) Restore Your Brain with Nature
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vRMRBxvtZA
Benefits of Nature Exposure on Cognitive Functioning in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis Lan Nguyen and Jared Walters October 23, 2024
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424001099
