The Growing Case Against EdTech with Adam Sparks

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“Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless.”

In January 2026, The Economist made that provocative declaration. Soon after, the US Senate convened a hearing on technology’s impact on young people, with expert witnesses advocating for a significant rollback of technology in K-12 classrooms.

For anyone in education and relies on technology to teach, these past few months have been a lot to absorb. So, to kickoff this season, we’re starting where this debate started – walking through the Economist article and the Senate hearing, including  testimony from neuroscientist Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath and screentime consultant Emily Cherkin.

To put in all in context, we’re also joined by Adam Sparks ,an educator, edtech developer, and writer behind EdTech Confidential on Substack. After watching the Senate hearing, he dug into the reports and studies cited, publishing a two-part response contesting several major claims  made by the witnesses and congressmen. What he found: broad strokes and oversimplification that feed emerging anti-screen sentiments, rather than address them

Adam Sparks | Educator, edtech developer, and writer ( EdTech Confidential )