A Shout Out to Older Technologies

The most surprising thing I encountered in my reading for this course was the mentioning of the ball-point pen as a technology. Really? The ball-point pen? That’s something that’s just always been there, it’s not technology! Except, oh wait, it hasn’t always been there and it is technology. 

The word “technology” tends to hold connotations to modern or futuristic devices that wow us into believing we may not be that far off from a Jetsons-esque world of jet-packs and living in space after all.  Our culture is so oriented toward the future that we tend to forget that items that have become standard were once new and wow-inducing, too. The ball-point pen hadn’t been invented until 1888 and hadn’t gained popularity until around the mid 1900s.  Given how commonplace ball-point pens are today and how easy they are to overlook completely, it is difficult to imagine a time where they did not exist. 

In light of that realization, this blog post is dedicated to the older technologies that may be overlooked, but remain valuable assets in a classroom:

·         The ball-point pen

·         Chalkboard

·         Pencils

·         Highlighters

·         Sticky tac

·         Perforated paper

·         Overhead projectors

·         White-out

          These items have existed long enough to become either so standard they’re overlooked, or so outdated they’re being replaced.  The chalkboard might be replaced by smartboards and overhead projectors might be substituted with digital projectors, but both remain to be fully-functioning technologies utilized in classrooms throughout the country. So here’s to all the old technology that has become so standard we no longer recognize them as technology.