The Evolution of Classroom Technology by Dan Schulstad

You dont need to use technology to be a great teacher. I agree.

Unfortunately however, aside from decision makers grappling with how many interactive
whiteboards or tablets to purchase for their school, or teachers in specific and uncommon
circumstances, this argument has already passed us by. The consensus, supported by
growing statistical evidence, is that technology is playing an increasing role in our lives, in
our students lives and by extension in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom.
Back in 1913 Thomas Edison, in the context of his development of motion picture machines,
declared that within 10 years books would become obsolete in public schools (NY Dramatic
Mirror 9 July 1913, p.24). Those of you who are tablet-resistant and eBook adverse will find
comfort in Edisons prediction not coming true, while perhaps simultaneously wondering if
he simply got the time period wrong by a zero plus some. History is peppered with similar
proclamations of the revolutionary, landscape-changing power of technology; each new
thing is a game changer and for that we can partly thank the snake oil sellers that market
their products. The reality is that evolution, while feeling like it has sped up, has been
steady and constant throughout the modern educational age.
Much of the classroom technology in the 17
th
and 18
th
century (NY Times 15 September,
2010) also doubled as classroom management aids paddles and pointers not only helped
you learn more quickly, but they also kept you paying attention. Could a corporal
punishment tweak help us zap our students off Facebook and back to the lesson? The
issue of when, how and permissible use is an enduring one for teachers today.
Visuals made their way into the classroom by way of the magic lantern in 1870, while
slates (imagine wooden iPads) made mistakes disappear, and chalkboards reigned
supreme until the arrival of glowing screens. The breakthrough of the sliding chalkboard
cannot pass without note, as more information was visible to the learner for longer. Ready
availability of pencils at the turn of the 19
th
century saw the demise of the slate (and the
facilitation of passing notes), and the 1920s saw filmstrip projectors and radio enter the fray.
Each new development arrived with clear positive educational impacts, and classroom
management disadvantages.
The overhead projector, another beloved technology tool, began to be widely adopted in
schools from the 1930s, while the mimeograph helped teachers (literally) crank out copies
in the 40s. The audio-linguists lived in the language lab from the 1950s, sticking students
in cubicles to talk to recordings, and Skinners famous Teaching Machine pioneered the
use of machines in the classroom a device which create[d] vastly improved conditions
for effective study (Borges, 2007). Educational television gathered momentum in the 1960s
as, again, educators attempted to leverage the popular entertainment use of a medium, and
take most of the fun out of it by adapting it for educational purposes (Lets start a Facebook
group with our class!).
The use of hand-held calculators in the 1970s was accompanied by concerns that this use
of technology would eliminate the need for a solid foundation of knowledge. The potential
for electronic live translators in the next 10 years is likely to have a similar effect. In the
80s computers started becoming more common in public schools, along with CD-ROM
technology. In the 90s students started bringing handheld electronic dictionaries to class,
surprising us with the occasional robotic repetition of a word. Just as with traditional
dictionaries, teachers had to regulate and moderate their use.
1999 saw computers, projectors and whiteboards come together as a technology trinity:
Interactive Whiteboards. Early adopting teachers lived up to the label, while undertrained
and unconvinced teachers left their brand new whiteboards more inactive than active,
lending support to Larry Cubans (2001) assertion that classroom technology had been
oversold and underused. In 2005 instant polling technology made a brief appearance, a
function that has since been largely supplanted by mobile technology. The now familiar
tablet computer, in the form of an iPad appeared in 2010, and the ghost of Edison made an
appearance as the end of the text book was heralded and publishers where left nervously
scrambling to adapt or perish. Carts of iPads, multiple Interactive Whiteboards and
laptops/netbooks were purchased, marketers excited to not only sell educational services,
but also a slice of the future. Some teachers were left holding the whiteboard marker in the
middle of the classroom as the technology whirlwind blew all their materials about, and
professional development programs played catch up.
In 2010 in the United States, the National Technology Education Plan (2010) laid out a bold
vision for the future of the American educational system, where technology would address
not only overall performance, but also bridge traditional socio-economic divides. Mobile
learning, including wireless access through smartphones, has been an important
developing area in recent years. Mobile Learning is seen as a way to leverage the
omnipresent nature of the smartphone to impact on overall learning time. Anytime,
anywhere is the latest call to education, where downtime turns into learning time. In the
US last year 60% of American adults went online wirelessly with a laptop or mobile device
and the trend is upwards (Fox, 2012). Amongst traditionally low frequency technology using
groups, smartphone and cell phone use is high; a Pew survey showing that over a third of
teens use their Smartphone as their primary access point to the Internet (Fox, 2012).
So if mobile technology holds the key to more and more equitable educational opportunities
for everyone, then why is it banned in so many classrooms? In the US 69% of schools have
total bans on cell phones (Faure and Orthober 2011). Smartphones in this way suffer from
their association with their previously unsmart incarnation: the cell phone.
Classroom management issues are a common reason for non-use of technology in the
classroom. The onus lies on teachers to create a classroom environment and develop a
rapport with their learners where measured, timely and strategic use of smartphone
technology is permitted. Its a BYO technology world, and teachers and institutions, wary of
losing control, search for ways of circumventing it. Whats it like in your school?
Bibliography
(2010). Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology. U. S. D. o.
Education. Washington, D.C., ED Pubs
Borges, H 2007 Skinner and teaching machine online video 2
nd
of April viewed 4

May,
2013http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXR9Ft8rzhk
Cuban, L 2001, Oversold and Underused, Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Faure, C. and Orthober, C 2011, Using Text-Messaging in the Secondary
Classroom.American Secondary Education 39(2): 55.
Fox, S 2012, The Power of Mobile, Pew Internet and American Life Project, viewed
September 09, 2012 http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2010/September/The-Power-of-
Mobile.aspx
Smith, F 1913, The Evolution of the Motion Picture: VI Looking into the Future with
Thomas A. Edison The New York Dramatic Mirror, 9 July, p.24
Wilson, C., Orelllana, M. & Meek, M. 2010, The Learning Machines The New York Times,
15 September viewed May
4
th
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/19/magazine/classroom-
technology.html?_r=0









Authors Bio:
Dan is the Center director at International House Boston and does allow smartphones in the classroom. As a
CELTA trainer and in-service classroom technology trainer he struggles to get everyones attention, deals with
ringing phones, binging text messages and frequently has to repeat himself and ask students to pay attention.
He is interested in the blurring boundaries between learning in the classroom and outside of the classroom and
predicts that in 20 years paperback books will make a comeback, just like the vinyl records he collects.