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The Best EdTech Tool I've Ever Used In My Classroom

November 11, 2026 / Oskar Cymerman

whiteboard table covered with hand-drawn notes and diagrams of the electromagnetic spectrum and nuclear fusion. Red and blue clay balls represent protons and neutrons, while students point, write, and explain with dry-erase markers — The best EdTech I've ever used doesn't need Wi-Fi, a password, or a software update. Just a marker, a whiteboard table, and a few brains willing to struggle.

I’ve been thinking a lot about technology, learning, and fractured focus lately.

And I don’t have to look very far to see what fractured focus looks like…

Barely a month into his high school career, a freshman is trying to finish his ranked Brawl Stars match while I’m trying to get everyone settled and start class. I suppose he’s boldly announcing to the world that “You gotta fight for your right to… to… phone?”

I take his phone and he lets me. He knows I’ll give it back at the end of class.

Keeping track of phones and the names they belong to, passing these artifacts up the chain of command, and dealing with the administrative circus that follows is not something I signed up for or have the time for.

And I'm not holding my breath for some schoolwide magic disappearing these distraction devices en masse.

But not in my classroom. Not today.

“No tech today,” I say, but I’m lying. Sort of.

“No phones. No laptops. No nothing.”

No notes either; I give them whiteboard markers and ask them to recall the waves of the electromagnetic spectrum in order. Then, I ask them to briefly elaborate on what each one is about with a partner.

“Raging monkeys invade Venus using X-ray guns,” I see some using the mnemonic I conjured with AI help just yesterday.

Underneath the silly monkey sentence, they write “Radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma,” and they proceed to retrieve whatever memories their brains have stored of what transpired yesterday in earth science. Some put it down on their tables. Some retrieve it via conversation.

In retrospect, I should have asked my students to come up with their own memory devices yesterday. Make it tech-free and the struggle real. Yeah—it would take longer, but pay bigger dividends, I reckon now.

Because learning happens when the brain is allowed to struggle and so much of what tech has allowed—with AI clearly in the lead—is about making things easier.

But easy is the enemy of learning. I’d say “true learning,” but does any other kind exist?

But it’s not what this story is about.

We do the warm-up for a few minutes, then discuss it as a class.

Then, I give my students a one-page handout on the Sun’s nuclear fusion to continue the narrative of stars producing the energy that powers the universe. Yes, there are other processes than fusion involved in making all of the EM waves, but it all starts in stars’ cores so we soldier on.

I tell them to make a diagram of nuclear fusion from Hydrogen-1 through Helium-4 and to make sure that every person in the group understands each step of the “nuclear fusion story,” because I’ll be coming around later asking questions.

I also tell them each person must answer at least one question, but I’m targeting the weakest links. I’m coming for their lives! In the most academic sense possible though…

Protons? Neutrons? Clay balls of two different colors. Markers are used to draw arrows, label isotopes, and show release of particles and gamma rays.

Then, they practice—they point at objects and words they conjured on their tables as they talk each other through the process.

A PE teacher stops by because I forgot to email back with my Trimester 2 schedule and he can’t figure out when to yank my kids for embedded health three months from now.

“What class is this?” he asks as he looks at the table where I’m grilling the next group.

“Earth science,” I say and apologize for lack of speedy communication.

“You’re doing this with 9th graders? It’s some heavy stuff,” he adds.

“It’s Honors, and they can handle it,” I reply and confirm my Tri 2 schedule is the same as the one now.

Because they can handle it. The content is tougher to grasp for some students at first, but that’s okay—we’re stretching their brains. They help each other. Not all of them understand everything when I get to their table, but through a magical combination of peer explanation, my help, and what sometimes feels like divine intervention, we all arrive.

Whiteboard tables and markers—the best edtech I’ve ever used. Hands down and it’s not even close.

Visible thinking and learning.

Retrieval practice and dual coding.

Drawing out abstract concepts from the realms of science—physics, chemistry, earth, and environment.

Problem solving with me, together, and on their own.

I walk around and see what my students are doing. I never truly did see when they did stuff in their notebooks, and my myopia is only part to blame.

No hiding. Do or do not; there is no try, but if they do “do it wrong,” I can help and correct them. I can walk them through the problem mano a mano, then give them another one and come back and check. Rinse and repeat the grind of the mind kind.

Before school, after school, and during class.

I painted the tables when I went flex seating back in 2016. It was supposed to be a cool add-on, but became the biggest game changer for student learning and my teaching.

I had no idea of the impact it would have. It was a pure luck choice, but here I am glad it worked out like it did.

Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass to repaint them every year, but it’s worth it.

Yeah, whiteboard markers are somewhat pricey and I have to ask parents for donations and sometimes apply for grants, but it’s worth it.

Yeah, my school is being remodeled right now, and the prospect of new “nice” furniture is looming, and I wonder if my always-dirty, work-in-progress whiteboard tables fit the scheme, but I’ll think of something because it’s worth it.

I’m not going back because it’s the best edtech I’ve ever used.

For 100+ ready-to-use activities that help students think, retrieve, connect, and apply, check out my book Spark. Wire. Fire. on Amazon.

If you want faster access to bell ringers, exit tickets, mid-lesson checks, and other active learning strategies, check out my Teaching Apps.

BOOKS & TOOLS

3 Memory Palace Lessons

$3.00

Flashcards are okay but there's a better way. The Memory (or Mind) Palace Method is a powerful learning and memorization technique that when mastered allows a student to remember 10, 20, or even 30 vocabulary words or concepts (definitions included) with ease.

And, they actually remember what they learned using memory palaces! This series of lessons (which can be used as classroom handouts) walks students through creating their first memory palace, filling it with information they need to learn, and using it to train their memories. It also contains short readings, a video lesson, memory palace examples, and practice drills.

Fair Use

Feel free to use with your students. Please do not share it with other parties or use for profit. All rights by crushschool.com.

EQUITY Poster

$1.50

Equity-Promoting Classroom Poster. What does EQUITY in the classroom look like?

Everyone has a different start and finish line
Quality is more important that quantity
Understanding that diversity makes us stronger
Inclusion despite beliefs, appearances, and circumstances
Thoughtfulness lowers barriers and reduces biases
Yesterday's mistakes are today's learning agenda

You can teach your students about equity and make it a daily classroom practice using this inspirational poster, which also includes images that accompany the equity description. You can discuss each letter characteristic with your students as a way of introducing your inclusive classroom and display it prominently as a reminder that diversity makes the classroom community stronger.

Sale

Smart Practice Digital Poster

$2.00 $3.00

Retrieval Practice, Spaced Practice, and Mixed Practice (Interleaving).

Studying Hard is not the same as Studying Smart. This High Quality printable, digital (PNG) poster is a constant classroom reminder of best practices for teachers and learning the smart way for students.

Mistakes Are... Poster

$3.00

In this classroom Mistakes are Expected, Respected, Inspected, Corrected!

Learned helplessness is a result of years of conditioning that mistakes are bad for learning. Nothing is further from the truth - some of the most powerful life lessons come from making mistakes, reflecting on them, and growing as a result.

This is a PNG Poster you can print and display in your classroom to encourage a culture of risk-taking and learning from mistakes.

LEARN MORE

Master Teacher Toolkit home screen featuring the Activity Launcher for quick classroom activities and Lesson Maker for building structured 45-, 60-, or 90-minute lesson sequences — Teaching App

Launch engaging, deeper learning activities and lessons in seconds. Then, launch and display them to students instantly.

Book cover for Spark. Wire. Fire.: 100 Ready-to-Use Classroom Activities That Inspire Curiosity, Strengthen Memory, and Apply Learning, a teacher resource focused on classroom engagement, memory, and active learning strategies. — NEW BOOK

100+ practical activities teachers can use right away with little or no prep.

BUY ON AMAZON

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Mindful EdTech: What I Learned And What I’m Skeptical Of After Reading The Digital Delusion

November 04, 2026 / Oskar Cymerman

Tech-Free Science Classroom Collaboration.png — **Tech-Free Ts:** Two days a week without screens. More discussion, deeper thinking, and a reminder that learning happens in the brain, not on the device.

I'm about to do something that might send a few of my students into a state of panic.

Twice a week, I'm going to ask them to learn without a screen.

No Chromebooks. No phones. No digital this or that. Just students, their brains, and the occasionally terrifying prospect of having to think without consulting Google or their friendly digital-neighborhood AI.

I'm calling it Tech-Free Ts: Tech-Free Tuesdays and Tech-Free Thursdays—not a classroom revolution, but a big change nonetheless.

The idea came after reading The Digital Delusion and discussing it with my chemistry brethren. The book, written by a cognitive scientist Jared Cooney Horvath, challenges many of the assumptions we've been making about technology and learning, particularly the widespread belief that putting students in front of screens makes education better, more engaging, or more effective.

It really got me thinking…

Over the years, school districts have invested enormous amounts of money, time, and PD time into bringing technology into classrooms. We've learned new platforms, adopted countless apps, and turned activities that once required paper and pencil into ones that call for a Chromebook, a decent internet connection, and an occasional visit to the den, because the IT dude is there and a student’s laptop poo-pooed itself.

But all that aside, a question now lingers in my mind—one I probably should have been asking myself before and more often: Are my students actually learning more, or are they just doing more stuff on screens?

Not suggesting technology is the enemy—I use it regularly and some of my favorite classroom activities would be hard without it. I also remain unconvinced that every argument in The Digital Delusion should be accepted at face value.

For one, correlation doesn't equal causation. Just because student achievement has declined while educational technology use has increased doesn't mean one caused the other. Perhaps it’s the ever-increasing and often-annoying smart phone use that has a bigger impact on learning or lack thereof.

The author also lumps different types of technology uses together, without always distinguishing between passive screen time and activities that require meaningful thinking.

Additionally, author's interpretation of research—which is what likely drives book sales—has been questioned.

But this is precisely why I'm interested in trying Tech-Free Ts in my own classroom. Rather than simply accepting the book's conclusions, I want to see what happens when screens disappear twice a week.

Will students focus better, think more deeply, and remember more? Or will I discover that the screens weren't really the problem in the first place? It's hardly a controlled scientific experiment, but it should give me something interesting to look at and think about.

But the book, and more importantly, our discussions about it, reminded me of something I've believed for a long time: Learning doesn't happen because students are busy, entertained, or clicking on things. It happens because their brains are doing the work.

And sometimes, the best way to get those brains working might be to close the laptops.

So Now Then…

Reading Digital Delusion and discussing it with colleagues encouraged me to reconsider how technology affects student attention, memory, and deeper learning. One key takeaway was that technology does not automatically improve learning. In some cases, constant digital distractions and passive screen-based activities can interfere with students' ability to focus, process information, and retain knowledge.

Our discussions emphasized the importance of using technology intentionally rather than simply because it is available. We also critically examined the author's claims, recognizing that how technology is used matters more than screen time alone.

As a result, I plan to implement "Tech-Free Ts"—Tuesdays and Thursdays, when students will engage in learning without any digital devices, with an emphasis on discussion, retrieval practice, problem-solving, and hands-on activities. I also plan to evaluate digital assignments more carefully to ensure they promote active thinking rather than passive consumption.

Ultimately, this experience reinforced my belief that effective teaching should begin with how students learn, not with the tech.

For 100+ ready-to-use activities that improve student memory of class content and help them engage in deeper processing, check out my book Spark. Wire. Fire. on Amazon.

BOOKS & TOOLS

3 Memory Palace Lessons

$3.00

Fair Use

Feel free to use with your students. Please do not share it with other parties or use for profit. All rights by crushschool.com.

Sale

Smart Practice Digital Poster

$2.00 $3.00

Retrieval Practice, Spaced Practice, and Mixed Practice (Interleaving).

Mistakes Are... Poster

$3.00

In this classroom Mistakes are Expected, Respected, Inspected, Corrected!

This is a PNG Poster you can print and display in your classroom to encourage a culture of risk-taking and learning from mistakes.

Comment 0 Likes

categories / Science, Teaching, BRAIN-BASED, micro-lessons
tags / teaching teens, parenting teens, deeper learning, independence, lifelong learning, simplicity, skills, success skills, learning, making life easier, kids, Technology in education, Tech-Free Ts, Digital Delusion, screen time in schools, student attention, memory and learning, digital distractions, critical thinking, active learning, science-backed teaching strategies.

Candy Crush vs. Chemistry: What Will the Brain Remember?

October 28, 2026 / Oskar Cymerman

Smartphone displaying a colorful puzzle game rests on a chemistry worksheet filled with average atomic mass calculations, illustrating the competition between digital distractions and student learning. — Candy Crush vs. Chemistry: When students switch between learning and entertainment, what happens to attention, memory, and understanding?

A high school junior picks up her phone and plays a few Candy Crush moves in between average atomic mass calculations in chemistry. I walk up frowning.

“But I’m done with the problem and I want to play my video game while I wait for everyone else to finish,” she says.

She thinks she has a point and it might sound valid to a random eavesdropper, but she doesn’t know.

She doesn’t know that she’s going against her biology.

“But I finished it, so what’s the big deal?,” she insists.

“Well done, but this is not about you slacking off,” I reply.

We go back and forth. I’m not sure why I’m getting into it with her.

Finally, annoyance in his voice, a kid sitting at her table saves us both by simplifying: “He wants you to put your phone away!”

It’s that damn Digital Delusion book I’ve been listening to on my rides to and back from work. And though the title suggests the author’s main goal is to sway educators away from educational technology, to me, his book is a cognitive science one—a discourse on how learning does and doesn’t work.

Fractured focus is real in today’s classroom. So is loss of information.

The Big Cognitive Deal

The brain consolidates memories while we sleep. It replays the “important” memories at night while at rest. The human hippocampus serves as a review machine of sorts—first encoding and strengthening memories, and later working with the cortex to recall that information.

But what makes memories important?

How does the human brain choose what to replay and remember?

I wish there was an easy answer that would allow every teacher to extract and implement its wisdoms in the classroom to maximize memory formation and minimize forgetting. There isn’t.

But while this eureka-sized brain discovery still eludes us, there are a few straightforward things we think we know. Studies involving human memory show that what we pay attention to and how meaningfully we process information have a major influence on how well we encode and later remember it.

So I wonder this about my chemistry junior: How much of the chemistry-related information is she actually encoding while switching from class content to her phone and how much of what will get replayed in her hippocampus at night has to do with the saga of the Candy Crush variety?

After all, she’s switching between these two tasks. Moreover, my interaction with her leads me to believe her conscious mind is prioritizing the video game while treating the atomic mass as necessary evil.

How does her hippocampus weigh the importance of these two experiences at night?, I consider. What does it deem worth saving?, I wonder.

Taking On Our Own Biology And Losing

The conscious human brain can’t multitask, so when a student attempts to do two things at once, task switching is what they’re really doing.

The phone distraction vs. human memory game has concluded. There are many studies that tell the same tale. Memory lost. It didn’t stand a chance.

Switching between learning and phone interrupts encoding, which leads to often incomplete or inaccurrate processing of information. Phone 1, Memory 0.

Working memory and processing of information are less effective when class content is competing against phone entertainment, draining our brain’s cognitive resources all at the same time. Phone 2, Memory 0.

Returning from one task to another requires the brain to repeatedly reset attention and goals to the new task, making learning less efficient and producing more errors. Phone 3, Memory 0.

The human brain is simply not built to give two cognitively demanding tasks its full attention simultaneously. What we often call multitasking is actually rapid task-switching between activities that use the same attention and compete for the same limited working-memory.

When I so-harshly demanded that my chemistry student put her phone away I couldn’t help but think: How deep is her processing and understanding of this concept? She seems to be able to plug in the numbers into the formula and get the right answer, but is she truly understanding what she’s actually doing, given the presence of competing information and the entertainment her phone provides? Will she be able to recall how to do this next week?

The answer is probably more shallow than I’d like, but time will tell.

No Rest For The (Phone-Wielding) Wicked

Recent studies show that memory consolidation also occurs during rest periods while we’re awake. In a classroom setting, teachers can help activate their students’ hippocampal memory replay process with a short, cognitively-undemanding break from the active task they’re undertaking.

Perhaps we can let them stand up and walk a little or talk to a friend about this Friday’s football game for five minutes; encoding and consolidation happening in the background.

But when my junior kept picking up her phone in between the calculations, I kept thinking: Is she giving her brain a fair chance to encode and consolidate what she’s learning? Or, Is the swiping of colorful candy pieces and the problem-solving required for it too demanding for her brain to be at the rest level required for the background memory replay to take place?

I am not convinced that we know exactly what is happening in young brains in those moments, but multiple research studies point to excessive screen usage causing thinning of the brain’s cerebral cortex and reduction in its grey matter in adults, both responsible for processing memory and other brain functions.

The brain of a sixteen year old cannot be that much different from 18-25 year olds in those studies, which points to their cognitive processing and memory making being weakened by the ubiquity of smartphones.

And now I worry: How is my junior’s knowledge of all these things? Does she go through life switching between phone and this, then that task? Does she know how it affects her brain and learning? Would she care if she did?

And she’s just one of many in the Generation Scroll and Swipe.

Screenagers are here. Loss of information imminent?

The Quality of Encoding Matters

Imagine two students performing the same chemical reaction.

Student A watches the reaction, even enjoys the bubbling and the color change, but then goes back to scrolling while his partner does the rest of the lab.

Student B predicts what will happen, observes the process, looks for evidence, compares the results to her prediction, and discusses with her partner the potential products of the reaction.

Both students are encoding information, but are they encoding the same things?

Student A might remember the visual spectacle and even talk about it at the dinner table, but student B is more likely to develop a meaningful memory of the scientific concepts behind the processes she witnessed because she engaged in deeper processing and made connections to her prior knowledge.

Student minds being fully present for the learning experience matter because the quality of encoding matters.

The Big Learning Deal

There are things every classroom educator can do to help their students learn and retain more.

Some involve addition and some subtraction.

I used to be for teaching students how to use their smartphones for learning. Unfortunately, after a decade of experience and experimentation with phones in my classroom I learned they are almost never necessary and almost always a distraction. If we can subtract them from the classroom, we should.

If we can do the same thing without the laptop or the tablet, we should. Digitizing a worksheet is not the way to learn, but a shortcut to task switching through tab switching. Subtract.

Brain breaks without devices, but movement and small-talk instead. Add.

More 1:1 human interaction: teacher-student, student-student. Add. Add.

More meaningful learning. Prediction before explanation. Retrieval over repetition. Application instead of consumption. Add. Add. Add.

For 100+ ready-to-use activities that improve student memory of class content and help them engage in deeper processing, check out my book Spark. Wire. Fire. on Amazon.