TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

I originally wrote this about 10 years ago. It's slightly edited to correct typos and clarify information. Overall, this is a snapshot of technology.

I was asked how technology has changed in the classroom since I started teaching. In 1995, some teachers had a classroom computer and most schools had a lab.

During that first year of teaching, I approached one of our administrators about needing a couple of new computers for my students. I taught English and journalism, and I was able to gettwo brand new computers with Pentium 133 MHZ processor. I don't remember what that exactly meant, but it was good for 1995. They also had a hard drive, maybe a 2 Gb. They might have been five, I'm not sure. Anyhow, I felt good about that. I returned after Chirstmas Break and they were in my classroom/office.

As the journalism teacher, I was lucky enough to have some Macintosh computers, as well. And by some, I mean, two. One had a small hard drive and the other didn't have one. After a semester, we quit using those. (Editor’s Note: Instead of disposing of these machines, we should have kept them. They are probably worth a bit on Ebay — which did not exist in ‘95).

PageMaker was relatively new and unknown at the time, but we had version 4.2 on the Macs. It wasn't worth using, but we did some mock ups and cuts and pastes. I also came across a bootleg version of PageMaker 5.0 that I could use with my other district–issued computer: the  Gateway. I also was able to borrow another teacher's Gateway because she never used it and I told her she could "house it in my classroom." I found ways to get computers.

Back in ‘95, we didn't have the Internet, but suddenly we were able to go into the "head end" room and use a computer with our new email addresses to communicate. Well, actually, we had to use our own email addresses, but we would eventually be receiving district e–mail addresses. There was only one computer set up this way. I remember trying to get in there early in the morning to "check email." Wow, this was so 1995.

Most teachers back then didn't really incorporate technology. But it began to change during the next few years. We were able to receive the Technology Literacy Grant at that school and make some major changes and upgrades. We spent money using stipends and such to get teachers trained on email, Microsoft, etc.

Times began to change and by 2000 we had "a lot of" teachers getting "with the program."

I can't imagine how fun it must be to be a teacher these days with the Internet, with collaboration, with the endless supply of information. If all the other political mumbo jumbo didn't come with the package ...