Why do waves of innovation in educational technology repeatedly fail to transform classrooms in the ways advocates predict? What happens when reformers misunderstand how teachers actually work? And how should we think more realistically about the relationship between technology, institutions, and learning?

Justin Reich is Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab. His research focuses on educational technology, digital learning, and the institutional realities that shape how innovations succeed or fail in schools. He is the author of Failure to Disrupt, a widely discussed book examining why decades of ed-tech reform have rarely produced large scale transformation.

Through his work, Justin bridges technology, policy, and classroom practice, challenging simplistic narratives about disruption in education.

In this episode, we explore Justin’s argument that educational technology does not fail because teachers resist change, but because reformers often misunderstand the institutional constraints of schooling. Schools are complex social systems shaped by accountability structures, curriculum standards, and professional norms. Technologies that ignore these realities tend to produce marginal gains rather than systemic change.

We also discuss the tension between entrepreneurial visions of disruption and the everyday realities of classroom life. Justin emphasizes that sustainable improvement requires deep attention to pedagogy, teacher expertise, and the conditions under which educators work. For education leaders and policymakers, this means shifting from technological optimism toward institutional humility.

This conversation invites listeners to rethink what meaningful educational change looks like. Rather than asking how technology can replace schools, Justin encourages us to ask how it can strengthen teaching within the systems that already exist, while acknowledging both their constraints and their potential.