Many Bridges Crossed, Miles to Go Before We Sleep

Most of this content is reprinted from a blog  (with permission) by Miles MacFarlane. His original title was "20+ Years of EdTech."  He has taught for twenty years. I've always liked Frost's poem and somehow, it became the subject of this post. Mr. MacFarlane wrote:

I have used every one of these devices in fulfillment of my duties as a classroom teacher. These were the tools available to me since I became an educator. It makes me feel rather old, but proud nonetheless, to have mastered these valuable communication technologies for teaching and learning.

I figured out how this thing worked.

Even managed to get the hang of this bad boy.

I could tune in radio stations on AM AND FM. Shortwave was hit and miss.

I could drop my needle on any music track I wanted and weighted the stylus with pennies to compensate for scratches.

I could load film and flash, knew how many pictures were left, and where to take it for developing.

I mastered the hand-crank Gestetner...

... how to make spirit masters in the Thermofax...

and how to fill the electric Gestetner with copy fluid.

OK, never used a CB in class, but 10-4, I could work one for sure there good buddy.

Threading this monster was a challenge, but not impossible.

This was much easier, as long as the film and cassettes were rewound.

This vid camera was much easier to run than the16mm and the school had one. It was too valuable to use. Don't touch it.

If you stood the right way holding the rabbit ears, the picture was clear...

... and changing the channel with the remote was easy peasy!

Typing lessons was part of a healthy fitness regime.

And some say today's technology is too complicated.

Want to talk about that?

New Educational Technology Promises Joy and Faster Learning

Ed Tech Advertisement, circa ~1963

Larry Cuban, a Stanford professor, pulled together a great article which looks at the promise and attitudes towards new educational technology as revealed in the advertising.

Published on the Education Week site, it says:

For more than a century, educational technology ads have glistened with hope. Newly invented devices from the typewriter to film projectors, from the overhead projector to instructional television, from the Apple IIe to the iPad, have painted pictures of engaged students who will learn more, faster, and better. They have pictured teachers using new technologies to teach effectively. Of course, it is the nature of advertising to promise a rosier future, appealing to what policymakers, administrators, and, yes, parents yearn for ... a better, easier, and even enjoyable way for teachers and students to teach and learn. And that is what these ads do. They assure readers that both teachers and students will be better off using these machines.

Great article, well done Larry.  Note to self, need to secure an overhead projector and an Apple IIe