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1450
The Gutenberg Printing Press
Availability of manually copied manuscripts had improved with the invention of the Gutenberg printing press -
Hornbooks
A hornbook was a sheet of paper containing the letters of the alphabet, mounted on a wooden frame and protected with thin, transparent plates of horn. The frame was shaped like a table-tennis paddle, it had a handle, and was usually hung at the child’s belt. -
Magic Lantern
Magic lantern is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. It projected these onto the walls in darkened classrooms -
Modern Blackboard
Teachers had no way of presenting a lesson or a problem to the class as a whole; instead they had to go to each individual student and write a problem or assignment on each one’s slate.
In 1801, the rather obvious solution to the problem made its debut. James Pillans, headmaster and geography teacher at the Old High School in Edinburgh, Scotland, is credited with inventing the first modern blackboard when he hung a large piece of slate on the classroom wall. -
Radio
As radio emerged in the 1910s, it sparked an entirely new type of learning; on-air classes began popping up for any student within listening range. -
Mimeograph
The stencil duplicator or mimeograph machine is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. In the 1940s, the mimeograph began to be used by teachers to print classroom materials. Additionally, school office staff used them to print out various documents used for daily operations within the school. -
Ballpoint Pen
The first ballpoint pen was introduced into classrooms in the 1940s. -
Photocopier
The photocopier entered the classrooms, allowing for quick mass production of material. -
Videotapes
In the 1960s, with the emergence of the information age, VHS, VCR and audio tapes could be used to enrich lessons. They created a new and exciting way of instruction. -
Filmstrip Viewer
The filmstrip is a form of still image instructional multimedia. They provided a way for students to view individual filmstrips at their own pace. -
The Scantron System of Testing
The Scantron system of testing, introduced by Michael Sokolski n 1972, allowed educators to grade tests more quickly and efficiently. -
Handheld Calculator
Handheld calculators entered classrooms for the first time for quick mathematical calculations -
IBM PC
The IBM 5150 debuted in August 1981, just one year after developers were given the go-ahead, according to the IBM Archives.
Though other personal computer options existed before this date, the IBM PC ushered in the availability of computers for everyone by creating an affordable model — and schools began to take notice, their use was limited to word processing. -
World Wide Web
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, an English engineer and computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web in 1989. He wrote the first web browser in 1990 while employed at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.The browser was released outside CERN in 1991, first to other research institutions starting in January 1991 and then to the general public in August 1991. -
Interactive Whiteboard
SMART introduced the first SMART Board interactive whiteboard in 1991, and the boards are now used in classrooms, lecture halls, group meetings and presentations across the world. -
iPads
Since their emergence in 2010, iPads are a relatively new form of technology that have increasingly entered into the sphere of education as a means to enhance student learning. They enable students to have access to a portable device with touch screen abilities and they have changed student learning through their ability to engage students with their learning in a variety of creative ways. -
Chromebooks
A Chromebook is a small, basic laptop, that runs Google’s Chrome OS and needs an internet connection to function. It’s easy to use, fast and by comparison, more budget-friendly than its macOS or Windows counterparts.In the classroom itself, Chromebooks provide a gateway to everything a student needs in order to learn and everything a teacher needs to guide them.
