I’m a teacher. In 1986 we had one computer in the room, it ran a very primitive times tables game on a floppy disc. Very exciting.
In the 90s, we all learnt how to use Microsoft Word to make a bookmark. We had one computer in a double room, so, 60 kids. They all learnt how to make a bookmark with their name in a cool font, in colour and add a picture from clip art. Amazing! It was a shame that we didn’t have a printer at all, so we couldn’t print them. 😝😂
School computers had kidpix, that loved that!
By 2000 our school had a computer room. We got to visit for one hour a week and there was a dedicated ‘computer teacher’. She taught the kids all sorts of cool things. There was a printer! We started to use the Internet. Class teachers didn’t have to stay for the lesson, but I stayed because I wanted to learn too.
By about 2002/3 I had four computers, connected to the Internet, in my classroom! This was a big step forward. So kids would learn something in their computer lesson, but during the week, they would each get another couple of half hours each, using the computer in the room. They could type up stories, add photos, do some research and even visit game sites that reinforced topics in the classroom. We all started to learn about Cyber Safety too. Not all classrooms had these computers, just the rooms where teachers had undertaken to use them. Administration staff would pop in randomly to make sure we were using them.
by 2010, what we could do on a computer, to add value to our lessons was really changing. My room was also one of the first to get an interactive smart board. This may have been a little earlier, maybe 2008?
Things progressed rapidly. By 2012 we no longer had a ‘computer teacher’. It was assumed that classroom teachers would have the skills to teach children computer skills. I could do this, some teachers couldn’t. iPads turned up at some stage. We had 10 per year level. So we would get the 10ipads around an hour a day for our class. Kids all had word, PowerPoint etc covered by this stage, I teach Year 6, 11/12 year olds. We could make movies, film presentations etc, but with shared iPads, there were always issues with other students deleting work.
By 2022 every child in my class had their own personal iPad. This made life a lot easier. We still used pen and paper, and we weren’t forced to overuse iPads just because parents had purchased them. I was told we could use them as much or as little as I liked, choose whatever was best for each lesson. I could air drop resources to kids and they could send me their work etc. They were a distraction for some kids, but I’m firm, so it worked well.
In 41 years of teaching I’ve seen huge changes. Used carefully, with firm boundaries, changes in technology are incredible.
For context, I’m at a state school in Australia.