Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Evolution of Technology


This article was interesting because it was about how much technology in the classroom has evolved thought the years.  There was obviously not always digital technology in classrooms but the technology they did have seemed to work for them and continue to progress rapidly much like it does today.  Many of the technologies we use today date back to as early as the 1890s!  Just as the chalkboard was important back then, it is still often used today especially in math classrooms for writing new formulas and showing step-by-step solutions to problems.  The pencil has been around in the classroom since as early as 1900 and is still one of the most important tools of any math class.
            Videotapes have been around since 1951 and we still use this type of visual technology, but of course now we are able to look up any needed videos on youtube.  Educational television has also been around since 1958 and I feel it is a great way to get students interested in a subject.  There are so many educational programs geared toward children to get them interested in learning such as Bill Nye the Science Guy or Sesame Street for younger children.  Teachers should take advantage of these television programs because they would be a great way to start a lesson and get the students interested.  The article goes on to describe other technologies that we know to be important in classrooms today such as graphing calculators and smart boards. There are of course other technologies such as IPads which are not used too often in classrooms currently but hopefully in the future they will be incorporated more.

1 comment:

  1. Sarah,

    This article is rather englightening. It shows us just how simple pieces of technology, though we might not think of them as such, have been around for quite a while. Just as you described, some have been around since the 1890's and even a pencil has been around since the early 1900's. While new pieces of technology are being created to replace the older ones, we should continue to use the old pieces of techology for they are the building blocks of our education system and education as we see it.

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