Next Generation Science Standards in a Historical Context - Part VI: Tools and Technologies for Learning

Tools and Technologies for Learning

·        1609 – Galileo observes the moon with a telescope, moving astronomy out of the realm of religion and into the world of science.

·        1638 – The first printing press in the American Colonies is installed at Harvard College permitting the production of academic literature and textbooks.

·        1654 - The first slide rule with the familiar inner sliding rule is invented by instrument-maker Robert Bissaker. Until handheld calculators are invented 300 years later, slide rules remain the most commonly used calculation tool in engineering and the sciences. 

·        1801 - The blackboard is invented by James Pillans, allowing teachers to share information with an entire class simultaneously. It becomes the most widely used educational tool worldwide for the next two centuries. 

·        1868 - The “modern” typewriter is invented in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Sholes, Frank Hall, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule.

·        1902 - Pencils and paper are mass-produced for the first time making them affordable and readily available to nearly all American students, teachers, and schools. In tandem, the two products quickly replace slates as the most dominant means of learning and practicing the 3R’s in classrooms.

·        1939 - Televisions are introduced into the classroom as an instructional learning tool.

·        1959 The Xerox Corporation introduces the Xerox copier rendering the ditto machine obsolete; personal computers (PCs) are used for the first time in public schools (New York).

·        1962 - Roger Appledorn, an engineer with the 3M Corporation, advances the technology that makes overhead projector one of the most widely used tools in the history of classrooms and boardrooms.

·        1964 - IBM releases the first Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter (MT/ST).

·        1972 - Texas Instruments produces the first line of electronic handheld calculators.

·        1973 – The first handheld cell phone (mobile telephone) is invented by Martin Cooper.

·        1977 - The Apple Computer Company headed by Steve Wozniak and Steven Jobs introduces the Apple II personal computer, which is enthusiastically adopted by American schools.

·        1981 - IBM introduces the PC and MS-DOS.

·        1990 - The Internet becomes accessible to the public; Whiteboards are introduced to American schools replacing blackboards; Multimedia features were developed into PCs making possible high-capacity simulations, videos, games, sound and animation.

·        1991 - The Smart Board (an interactive Whiteboard) is released by SMART Technologies.

·        1994 - Netscape Communications (previously Mosaic Communications) releases Mozilla 1.0, the first commercial web browser.

·        1998 - Google begins operation.

·        2002 - 99% of American schools have Internet access.

·        2007 - The Kindle electronic readers (e-books) are commercially sold for the first time by Amazon.com revolutionizing how people read books and store books in their libraries; the Apple Company introduces the iPhone, the first touchscreen cell phone.

·        2010 - The Apple Company releases the iPad, a “slate computer” and schools begin substituting multiple textbooks with single iPads.

·        2013 - Approximately 36% of humanity worldwide has Internet access

·        2015 – The beginning of the Innovation Age as more than 50% of humanity has access not only to the Internet, but to the Cloud.