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Jan 1, 1450
The Hornbook
Originally used in Europe in 1450, the hornbook was used for early childhood education. The hornbook consisted of letters of the alphabet, mounted on wood, bone, leather or stone and protected by a thin sheet of transparent horn. Typically, the wooden frame often had a handle, and it was hung from the child's belt. -
Writing Slate
There is history of writing slates being manufactured and exported in excess ever since the 18th century. Writing slates were possible at the time because the slate was much cheaper at the time than paper and it allowed children to practice their writing and arithmetic. They were available in many designs: lined slates, slates divided in squares, slates with maps, and two and three-leafed slates. -
Chalkboard
The "blackboard" or "chalkboard" is still a main focal point in today's classrooms. It was first introduced into the US education system in 1801 when a mathematician at West Point used chalk and blackboard in a lecture. -
Pencil
While the graphite used in pencils was first invented in the 1500s, pencils were not mass produced until the 1870s by the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company. By the end of the 19th century, ober 240,000 pencils were used each day in the US. -
Mimeograph
The mimeograph machine or stencil duplicator was a low- cost printing press that used a hand crank to force ink through a stencil onto paper. After multiple patents, Thomas Edison manufactured this equipment that was a common technology for printing small quantities such as classroom materials. -
Filmstrip
The filmstrip was a common form of still image instructional multimedia used in schools. From the 1940s to 1980s, filmstrips were an easy and inexpensive alternative to other projecters, but soon became obsolete during the take over of full-motion videocassettes and DVDs. -
Hand-Held Calculator
While tools for arithmetic calculations have been prominent since 2000BC, it was not until 1948 that the first hand-held calculator was developed. The Curta calculator could do addition, subtraction, multipication and division and became very popular in the classrooms to minimize the need for "in your head" calculations. -
Liquid Paper
As a result of a mistake one too many times, Bette Nesmith Graham invented the first correction fluid in her kitchen. Liquid paper became widely used to correct trypewriting or handwriting mistakes. -
Ballpoint Pen
Who is to blame for all that red ink on your paper? First patented in 1888, the ballpoint pen was introduced to the American marketplace by Marcel Bich. Bich later shortened his name to Bic in 1953, the brand that dominates the country. The ballpoint pen is a popular writing utensil in schools today, and the Bic Cristal design is even featured in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for its industrial design. -
Overhead Projector
While originally used for police identification work, the overhead projector was first introduced in the classroom in 1957 when the United States' first Federal Aid to Education porgram stimulated overhead sales. As a prominent learning tool, the overhead was typically at a comfortable writing height for the educator and allowed him/her to continue to face the class, facilitating better communication between the students and teacher. -
Interactive Whitboard (SMARTBoards)
In many classrooms, interactive whiteboards, such as those developed by SMART technologies, has replaced the traditional whiteboards. Interactive whiteboards has a large interactive display that conencts to a compulter and allows the users to control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus or other device. -
iPad
In the three years since Apple has release the iPad tablet, it has stirred a lot of controversy. Debates on whether the iPad belongs in the classroom are constantly being explored while more and more educational applications for the device are being released each day.
