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1564
Pencil
The pencil has a long history that dates to 1564. But it was not produced until 1900. That was another big step forward. For one, the pencil replaced the slate and chalk. It was undoubtedly easier to assign homework because it was a lightweight tool. -
Hornbook
Wooden paddles with printed lessons were popular in the colonial era. Lessons were written on a wooden paddle that served as the horn book. On the paper there was usually the alphabet and a religious verse which children could copy to help them how to write. -
Slide Rule
The slide rule was for scientists and engineers. They used it to do math. In 1950, It made its way to the classroom. Here it was a very common tool. Until the invention of the calculator -
Slates and Chalk
In 1800s, paper was still too expensive for many families and school district. So, people needed a less costly way to write. Personal slates and chalk solved that problem and allowed for students to erase any mistakes. -
Magic Lantern
A primitive version of a slide projector that projected images printed on glass plates onto walls. The precursor to a slide projector, the ‘magic lantern’ projected images printed on glass plates and showed them in darkened rooms to students. By the end of World War I, Chicago’s public school system had roughly 8000 lantern slides. -
Typewriter
The typewriter was first released in 1873 by Christopher L. Sholes. He used only capital letters in his version. Others though, had models with both capital and lowercase letters by the end of the 1800s. -
Stereoscope
Virtual reality and VR glasses credit the stereoscope. It was a 3D viewing tool and popular source of entertainment. Made by the Keystone Viewing Company, they got into schools. That helped
teachers use images to illustrate points during lectures. -
Radio
Sparked an entirely new wave of learning on-air classes began popping up for any student within listening range. The radio made it possible for organizations to broadcast lessons to school. The Board of Education of New York City was the first to do this, and over the following few decades, classes delivered over the airwaves evolved into the first storm of remote learning -
Film Projector
Which was created to bring movies into the classroom, was utilized in classrooms up until the early 1980s. The projector showed stationary images that had to be manually adjusted as you moved down the film strip, accompanied by an audio recording. -
Overhead Projector
Instead of writing on the blackboard with their backs to the class, teachers could now write speciic points on reusable transparency sheet while still dacing the class. Initially used by the U.S. military for training purposes in World War II, overhead projectors quickly spread to schoold and other organizations around the country. -
Ballpoint Pen
Originally invented in 1888, the ballpoint pen was put aside in the classroom and life in general, until 1940. At first the pen relied on gravity for the ink to be pushed down toward the tip and having to hold the pen straight up. Soon after the ball at the tip was able to soak up the ink and be used without gravity. -
Mimeograph
Was one of the first copy machines, enabling instructors and other school personnel to print copies of class materials. Also called ditto machines, all you had to do was a crank the ink filled drum. -
Headphones
Some learners struggle to hear in class and focus. So headphones offered a way to reinforce ideas and class materials. Not just for music, they gave schools a chance to create language labs where students studied foreign languages. Fast forward to ear buds that also block out noise. -
Skinner Teaching Machine
The teaching machine allowed students to learn at their own pace. It put questions and answers on paper dics. It produced a combined system of teaching and testing providing reinforcement for correct answers so that the student can move on
to the next lesson -
Educational Television
By the early sixties, there were more than 50 channels of TV which included educational programming that aired across the country. Television can reinforce what children learn in school and provide a supplementary method to teaching children about important subjects -
Photocopier
Today’s scanner owes a nod to the photocopier. At the time, it gave teachers and admin the chance to make copies of class material. Almost at once, this new tech took over for the mimeograph and other like it -
Liquid Paper
Today, all it takes to correct a typing error is one click to the backspace key. But back in 1960 typewriters were still the only game in town. So when liquid paper came onto the scene it helped students easily fix mistakes. Without having to tear up their homework and start over -
Hand-held Calculator
Many teachers worried that using a calculator undermine basic math skills. And that only delayed become widely popular. Let’s credit it for today’s spread sheet which use the same ideas. -
Scantron
Introduced by Michael Sokolsky in 1972 allowed educators to grade tests more quickly and efficiently scantron is a company from Eagan Minnesota USA that makes and sells machine-readable papers on which students mark answers to test questions. -
Personal Computer
First surpassed the typewriter in sophistication. They also made a stir in the education market in conjunction with the Plato computer. This essential piece of technology has made online learning possible today -
CD ROM Drive
An entire encyclopedia might be saved on a single disk using a CD-ROM drive. That is just one of the many factors that led to the eventual replacement of floppy disks. And even now, we still employ them on computers. However many classes now substitute electronic literature. -
World Wide Web
All connections were dial-up at the time. As a result of using the telephone connection and being unable to handle video, it was slow. It was given life when a British researcher developed hyper-text mark-up language or html and when the national science foundation removed restrictions on the commercial use of the internet -
Interactive Whiteboard
The interactive whiteboard is handy digital tool. So much so that many school systems are rolling them out. They use a touch sensitive screen, projector, and computer. Much like the chalkboard and overhead projector that came before. Today’s models make team work easier. Plus, teachers can use them to give feedback -
Moodle
Created by Martin Dougiamas. It enables educators to create their own online learning platform. It has grown to become a well-known online learning environment. It is credited by many as influencing online programming. -
iClicker
Was one of the first tools that let teachers take polls in real time. It allowed them to offer quizzes and take attendance. Plus, it had the option to share or keep results private. -
E Reader
An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device. Entrepreneur Bob Brown deserves credit for coming up with the concept of the e-reader after watching his first “talkie” and writing about it in the “Readies.” -
Tablets
Were introduced after smartphones. Unlike mobile phones, more teachers are on board with using them as a teaching tool. In particular because there are educational apps that encourage and engage students. Additionally, teachers can monitor students development -
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is a free application designed to help students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, go paperless, and much more! It was introduced as a feature of Google Apps for Education following its public release on August 12, 2014 -
Predictive Learning Analytics
Attention is being drawn to big data in the form of PLa for use in the classroom. They can better allocate resources, alter workflows, or focus employee training with this information. Additionally, it aids teachers in identifying students who might fail a course. -
Ed Tech Apps
Apps are certainly not new. But the employment of them is a rising and enduring trend. Mobile apps are advancing the teaching of concepts and the tutoring of them. They also deal with important challenges that both teachers and students encounter