In an essay in 1984—at the dawn of the personal computer era—the novelist Thomas Pynchon wondered if it was “O.K. to be a Luddite,” meaning someone who opposes technological progress.

I want to suggest another approach. I like to call it “Luddite pedagogy,” but it’s not a retreat to purity or denial, much less “turning back” the proverbial clock. It’s a reclaiming ...