[Graphic] The History Of Technology In The Classroom

By / / Technology / New Teacher

[Graphic] The History Of Technology In The Classroom

The history of technology in the classroom is a subjective and comprehensive thing.

First, we have to define what we mean by technology, and secondly, we have to think broadly enough for the effort to be worthwhile.

Are we thinking purely about the teaching and learning process, or should we truly include all of the innovations that make running a school possible?

Does electricity count?

How about architecture?

What about various classroom supplies–chemistry labs and microscopes, for example?

The following infographic from the University of Phoenix offers a decent list to get started. It glosses over quite a bit of early technology and misses quite a bit in the middle (e.g., word processing) but does a good job of showing the rapid growth in the last 10 years.

13 Examples Of The Evolution Of Classroom Technology

1890: The Chalkboard (this was actually a pretty big deal at one point)

1925: Film

1957: B.F. Skinner Teaching Machine

1960: Overhead Projector

1970: Educational Programming

1972: Scantrons (Can we go back in time and sabotage this one?)

1977: Desktop PCs

1996: The Internet (game-changer)

1999: Interactive Whiteboards (meh)

2004: YouTube (crazy underrated tech in our eyes)

2005: “Clickers”

2007: Tablets

2013: Mobile Apps (likely the beginning of something new)

history-of-technology-in-the-classroom

13 Examples Of The Evolution Of Classroom Technology