A history of technology in the classroom: a teacher who’s seen it all
When I became an instructor at Central Catholic High School in 1997, I already had 14 years of teaching experience in the 6,7, and 8th grade classrooms at Holy Guardian Angels School. My certification spanned grades 7-12, and I was beginning to feel the desire to move on to where most of my students were heading: high school. I had a gut feeling that an open position would be mine, and after interviewing with my former principal at my alma mater, I was hired to teach 9th and 10th grade English. I was thrilled and terrified at the same time.
In 1997 we were still using phones with cords and listening to voicemail on our answering machines. In the classroom the 9th grade curriculum included Romeo & Juliet. I recognized that listening to teenagers reading Shakespeare for the first time would be agonizing, so I sought an audio version for my students to hear as they read. At Central Catholic, this meant firing up the record player that had most likely been used when I was a student. We got through with no memorable scratches or skips, and we successfully agreed that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
It only took me one year to realize that the records needed to be upgraded, so I purchased cassette tapes. Fortunately there was a “boom box” in the building, so I could easily zip though Verona, as long as I noted the time status on the tape as I paused to clarify the passages.
A few years went by before the tapes began to thin from such intense use. This was just in time for a new technology that would last forever, the CD, or compact disc as most people did not say. This required a new means of presentation, and I was lucky that Central was keeping up with the times by purchasing a CD player. Romeo’s declaration of love and devotion were crisp and clear, and that CD lasted a long time.
As all technology advanced, it became evident that teachers could best communicate and plan lessons with desktop computers, followed by individual laptops. My first had a built in CD player, and with a touch of my Smart Board I was able to really project Mercutio’s taunts to Tybalt, and the sword fights echoed in the room.
One year, a younger colleague suggested that I could lose the CD and simply down load it onto my laptop. The next year it was loaded into iTunes, still using my classroom projector for the audio portion. This year I am no longer tethered to the wall outlet since my Blue Tooth speaker allows me to travel in the room as my students discover Juliet’s coy words to Romeo: “You kiss by the book.” (They always like that line, no matter what means they hear it!)
Eight years ago my students were issued personal tablets which they use for their four years in the school. I love how I can download study guides and worksheets, saving paper and ink. My homework, upcoming assignments and grades are easily accessible. My pupils can go through a day without ever holding a pen! Communication with them and parents has never been easier.
Perfect, right?
Not necessarily.
It took several years, but it has become evident that holding that pen makes a difference when it comes to remembering the facts written. Touching a screen seems to be not as effective to aid recall. This year I once again began requiring a paper notebook for each class session. I tell them if it’s not a big note-taking day they must write at least one fact in their notebook. Interestingly, no one has protested.
The use of the Smartphone in the school is a topic for another discussion, but it leads to another observation in my English classroom. Every now and then we take a day to put down the literature and vocabulary books and form a circle with our desks and just talk. We discuss themes from literature, future careers, or just life as a teenager. These days are requested weekly. Needless to say a day off from the books may be my students’ goal, but I truly believe that the real pleasure they encounter by looking at each other and listening to a voice unveiled by a screen is a true joy. They listen, laugh, and genuinely respond to each other through their words and nods of approval.
I went from blackboard to whiteboards, from records to Bluetooth, to Apple Tv, from pens to tablets, but it seems that when it comes to a true connection all it takes is a circle, an engaging topic, and an open mind for real learning to occur.
Could the Bard have been seeing the future when, as spoken in The Merchant of Venice, he writes, “All that glitters is not gold.” Shiny technology can never, in my classroom, replace the circle of communication that only requires the spoken word.
