Almost nobody needs a gasp of computer programming, and even fewer need to know how computers actually work.

A topic to discuss with your students perhaps: the hidden bias in algorithms.

Why do some school and local authority initiatives, not to mention government initiatives, fail, especially when they concern education technology?

A failure to ask the question, when encouraged to adopt a new thing, “So what?”. I'm by no means a Luddite, but I think critical judgment is rather important.