Digital Illusions: Technology as the quiet psychedelic of schooling
Traditional education used to be solid, predictable, and a little dull. Today, it doesn’t need any radical substances for reality to start rippling. Technology is enough. Screens, notifications, and virtual worlds can turn a school day into a gently blurred experience, where the boundary between learning and distraction dissolves quietly and unnoticed.
Micro‑escapes in every Lesson
A child with a tablet doesn’t see the blackboard but a stream of short videos. Each one is a tiny escape — a few seconds of intense stimulation followed by the urge for another hit. Algorithms act as invisible guides: they know exactly what to offer to make the brain light up, and attention drift away.
History becomes memes.
Math becomes colourful mini‑games.
Chemistry becomes a simulation where nothing breaks — but nothing smells either.
And VR? That’s no longer teaching, but a digital field trip where a student finds themselves in the middle of a battle or at the bottom of the ocean — though it’s unclear what remains once the headset comes off.
Personalisation that easily goes off the rails
Technology promises personalisation. Tailored learning. Smarter approaches. But reality is often far less poetic.
Children spend most of their day online. Attention spans shrink.
Interactive whiteboards serve as expensive PDF projectors. Homework turns into photos with a “study chaos” filter.
Meanwhile, teachers balance pedagogy with tech support. Training, platforms, updates… on top of regular teaching. No wonder exhaustion grows.
The Czech Context: Digital dreams in a country where WiFi sometimes falls over
Parents buy tablets hoping “it will help.” The ministry invests in digitalisation. But reality is uneven:
In some places, the internet works only when the wind isn’t blowing,
elsewher,e one laptop is shared by an entire class,
And in some regions, digitalisation is more a word than a reality.
The result is a digital reform that sometimes behaves like a frozen system — you click “save,” nothing happens, you click again, and then a message pops up saying the server isn’t responding.
Conclusion: illusions within reach
Technology is the quiet psychedelic of pedagogy. It offers new possibilities but also creates a strong dependence on stimuli that have little to do with learning. It’s not about chemistry — it’s about attention, shattered into a thousand tiny lights.
Optimists say, “This is the future.”
I say: sometimes close the laptop and open a book.
Not because technology is bad, but because unfiltered reality still has value.