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Examples from Tuer’s History of the Horn-Book, 1896. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

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The horn-book was a tool used in children's education from the 16th through the 18th centuries. Sheets of vellum (and later paper) containing the alphabet and other lesson tools were stretched over a wooden frame. The horn-book gets its name from the thin transparent pieces of horn used to protect the sheets of the book.

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While the origin of the slate board is unclear, their popularity among public schools rose dramatically in the 17th and 18th centuries. A thin sheet of slate was bound in wood planks for ease of handling. Slate boards were originally accompanied by a "slate pencil" but this was later replaced by a piece of chalk.

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Elementary school children standing and watching teacher write at blackboard, Washington, D.C. c. 1899

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From individual slates comes the large wall-mounted slate sheet that would become known as the blackboard. This term was continually used until the mid 20th century. James Pillans, Headmaster of the Old High School of Edinburgh, Scotland, is widely credited for inventing the blackboard and colored chalk which he used to teach geography.

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The Magic Lantern or lantern slides were an early precursor to the projector. By the early 1920's, Chicago schools had over 8,000 lantern slides used in their classrooms.

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Since its invention in the mid-nineteenth century, the lantern slide, also known as a magic lantern slide, has played a pivotal role in the history of projected images. The lantern slide is a positive transparency that can be projected.

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Traditional slate blackboards got a slick green coating that made them easier to ship and therefore cheaper to get in every classroom. Blackboards were replaced by their brighter little sibling. Slate pencils were used at first but they were quickly replaced with regular chalk.

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When you picture the blackboard from your school years, what color is it? Chances are, it's green.

Zurijeta/Shutterstock

Picture a traditional classroom: apple on the teacher's desk, student writing on the chalkboard. Now think back to your real classroom growing up. Chances are, the blackboard was green. So what's up with the name?

Originally, blackboards really were black. Before wall-sized chalkboards existed, late 18th-century students used their own mini boards made of slate or painted wood, according to Concordia University. Those first boards were, in fact, black, and they paved the way for the larger ones.

The massive, wall-sized chalkboards arrived in 1800 when a Scottish headmaster named James Pillans wanted his students to draw maps, according to Slate's excerpt of Blackboard: A Personal History of the Classroom. The students couldn't fit the maps their teacher wanted on their tiny boards, so Pillans put a bunch of slates together to create a single, large board. Problem solved! Looking for more education trivia? Find out why apples are associated with teachers.

From there, the idea spread quickly as teachers could finally show a concept to the whole class at one time. By 1815, the massive writing spaces were common enough to earn their own name: blackboard. Manufacturers saw how important they were and by 1840, giant pieces of slate were being shipped to American and European schools.

The color change came in the 1960s when companies sold steel plates coated with green porcelain-based enamel instead of the traditional dark slate. The new material was lighter and less fragile than the first blackboards, so they were cheaper to ship and more likely to survive the journey. Teachers weren't complaining either. After all, the new "greenboards" made the chalk powder easier to erase fully. Plus, the enamel left less of a glare and the color was nicer to look at. Despite their advantages, learn the scientific reason the sound of nails on a chalkboard is so annoying.

At that point, people started using the word "chalkboard" as a more accurate descriptor, but "blackboard" still stuck around. Not that you'd see many blackboards in modern classrooms. Most schools use whiteboards with an erasable marker, and at least 60 percent of teachers even have access to Smart Boards that let them write on a projected computer display. The times, they are a'changing. Now that you know why blackboards are green, read about these other things you've probably never thought about-until just now.

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This Is Why Most Blackboards Are Green, Not Black

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When you picture the blackboard from your school years, what color is it? Chances are, it's green. Zurijeta/Shutterstock Picture a traditional classroom: apple on the teacher's desk, student writing on the chalkboard. Now think back to your real classroom growing up. Chances are, the blackboard was green. So what's up with the name?

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"In the 1950s, the psychologist B. F. Skinner of Harvard University suggested that techniques he had developed for training rats and pigeons might be adopted for teaching humans. He used this apparatus teaching a Harvard course in natural sciences. The machine is a rectangular wooden box with a hinged metal lid with windows. Various paper discs fit inside, with questions and answers written along radii of the discs.  Skinner's "programmed learning" was refined and adopted in many classrooms in the 1960s. It underlies techniques still used in instruction for the office, the home and the school."

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B.F Skinner. Teaching machine and programmed learning

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The invention of the film projector sparked a spiral of inventions and innovations that allowed teachers to break away from the front of the classroom with their back turned. Slide projectors with clear film sheets allowed instructors to face the class while teaching.

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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Educators have been using projectors to integrate technology into classrooms since the late 1800s, and today's projectors maintain the same basic purpose: transmitting images onto a surface. But that's where the similarities between projectors from then and now end.

Projectors have evolved significantly in weight, technology and dimension since they were first introduced into classrooms.

Here are five projectors that have helped students view learning in a whole new light:

Late 1800s: The Magic Lantern

Photo: Toy Theatre

A Brief History: Magic lanterns projected images printed on glass slides. Oil lamps and candles served as light sources for the magic lantern, according to the Magic Lantern Society. Magicians, photographers and lecturers were among the first to embrace the device, which became so popular as a form of entertainment that catalogs, such as that from Sears, Roebuck & Company, sold toy magic lanterns for children.

Interesting Fact: Chicago's public-school system had a collection of approximately 8,000 lantern slides by the end of World War I, according to The New York Times.

1925: The Filmstrip Projector

Photo: American Planning Association

A Brief History: Filmstrips were used to show educational films in classrooms, serving as a predecessor of videocassettes, DVDs and Blu-ray technology. Filmstrip projectors allowed teachers to pause presentations for class discussions by turning a knob, and the projectors were widely used in classrooms until VCRs replaced them in the 1980s.

Interesting Fact: Thomas Edison predicted motion pictures would replace books in public schools:

"Books," declared the inventor with decision, "will soon be obsolete in the public schools. Scholars will be instructed through the eye. It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. Our school system will be completely changed inside of ten years. "

1960s: The Overhead Projector

Photo: North Carolina State University

A Brief History: Roger Appeldorn created a machine that projected the image of writing on clear film in the early 1960s, while working at 3M, according to the company's recount of the invention of the overhead projector. Appeldorn specifically reached out to businesses and teachers to push the product. His marketing efforts worked: 3M became a major manufacturer of overhead projectors, and it wasn't long before the presentation devices became a mainstay in classrooms across the country through the 1970s, '80s and '90s.

While overhead projectors haven't completely disappeared, they've been marginalized in part by document cameras, which offer the same presentation functionality, with impressive additional features such as zoom and high-definition imagery.

Interesting Fact: The U.S. Army used a version of the overhead projector for training purposes during World War II, according to the National Museum of American History.

1980s: The Data Projector

Photo: Computer Desktop Encyclopedia

A Brief History: A data projector takes signals from a video source, such as a computer or television, and projects an image on a projection screen. Early data projectors used a single cathode ray tube (CRT) to project a monochrome image, according to PC Magazine. CRT projection systems have since given way to lighter and more convenient projection technologies, such as liquid crystal display panels (LCD) and digital light processing (DLP).

Interesting Fact: The first data projectors weighed more than 40 pounds, according to PC Magazine.

2010: The 3D Projector

Photo: Texas Instruments

A Brief History: Implementing 3D technology in schools became more affordable in 2010, when manufacturers included DLP chips in their projectors.

In 2011, the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado piloted 3D projectors to impressive results. Projectors marked "3D Ready" are able to produce two virtually simultaneous images. Then, with the use of active or passive glasses, images are streamed to the wearer's eyes, according to Projector Reviews. Active 3D glasses feature electronic shutters that flicker to ensure the right picture goes into the correct eye. Passive 3D glasses show the two images superimposed on each other before the polarized lenses filter the images to each eye.

Interesting Fact: According to Texas Instruments, research shows that there's a 46 percent increase in student engagement and a 34 percent increase in test scores in schools that use DLP 3D Ready projection.

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Technology in Education: A History of Classroom Projectors

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Since the magic lantern projector in the 1800s, projectors have helped students & educators. Learn about the evolution of filmstrip, overhead, data, & 3D projectors

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Apple II, the Personal Computer, and Floppy Disks

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Apple II, the Personal Computer, and Floppy Disks

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Yes, even without internet, computers are useful to teachers. Computers allowed students to learn geography and solve math problems using computer games on floppy disks.

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Description

In 1976, computer pioneers Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs began selling their Apple I computer in kit form to computer stores. By August of that year, Wozniak started designing an improved version, the Apple II. Wozniak and Jobs demonstrated a prototype in December, and then introduced it to the public in April 1977. The Apple II started the boom in personal computer sales in the late 1970s, and pushed Apple into the lead among personal computer makers.

The Apple II used a MOS 6502 chip for its central processing unit. It came with 4 KB RAM, but could be extended up to 48 KB RAM. It included a BASIC interpreter and could support graphics and a color monitor. External storage was originally on cassette tape, but later Apple introduced an external floppy disk drive. Among the Apple II's most important features were its 8 expansion slots on the motherboard. These allowed hobbyists to add additional cards made by Apple and many other vendors who quickly sprung up. The boards included floppy disk controllers, SCSI cards, video cards, and CP/M or PASCAL emulator cards.

In 1979 Software Arts introduced the first computer spreadsheet, Visicalc for the Apple II. This "killer application" was extremely popular and fostered extensive sales of the Apple II.

The Apple II went through several improvements and upgrades. By 1984, when the Macintosh appeared, over 2 million Apple II computers had been sold.

Location

Currently not on view

Object Name

microcomputer

Place Made

United States: California, Cupertino

Physical Description

plastic (overall material)

metal (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 10.2 cm x 38.1 cm x 43.2 cm; 4 in x 15 in x 17 in

ID Number

1990.0167.01.1

catalog number

1990.0167.01.1

accession number

1990.0167

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.

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In 1976, computer pioneers Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs began selling their Apple I computer in kit form to computer stores. By August of that year, Wozniak started designing an improved version, the Apple II. Wozniak and Jobs demonstrated a prototype in December, and then introduced it to the public in April 1977.

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With the invention of the World Wide Web comes resources galore. Over the course of 2 decades the internet went from a calculator and source of communication (email) to the most valuable tool in existence. The importance of the internet in reference to education is not it's wealth of knowledge. But rather, the availability and accessibility of that knowledge. In the age of Covid, many teachers were forced to utilize all the internet has to offer. Virtual field trips and at-home museum exhibits will be tools educators can continue to use into the future.

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Sharing Resources

The Internet started in the 1960s as a way for government researchers to share information. Computers in the '60s were large and immobile and in order to make use of information stored in any one computer, one had to either travel to the site of the computer or have magnetic computer tapes sent through the conventional postal system.

Another catalyst in the formation of the Internet was the heating up of the Cold War. The Soviet Union's launch of the Sputnik satellite spurred the U.S. Defense Department to consider ways information could still be disseminated even after a nuclear attack. This eventually led to the formation of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the network that ultimately evolved into what we now know as the Internet. ARPANET was a great success but membership was limited to certain academic and research organizations who had contracts with the Defense Department. In response to this, other networks were created to provide information sharing.

January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communications protocol was established called Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP). This allowed different kinds of computers on different networks to "talk" to each other. ARPANET and the Defense Data Network officially changed to the TCP/IP standard on January 1, 1983, hence the birth of the Internet. All networks could now be connected by a universal language.

The image above is a scale model of the UNIVAC I (the name stood for Universal Automatic Computer) which was delivered to the Census Bureau in 1951. It weighed some 16,000 pounds, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, and could perform about 1,000 calculations per second. It was the first American commercial computer, as well as the first computer designed for business use. (Business computers like the UNIVAC processed data more slowly than the IAS-type machines, but were designed for fast input and output.) The first few sales were to government agencies, the A.C. Nielsen Company, and the Prudential Insurance Company. The first UNIVAC for business applications was installed at the General Electric Appliance Division, to do payroll, in 1954. By 1957 Remington-Rand (which had purchased the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1950) had sold forty-six machines.

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The Internet started in the 1960s as a way for government researchers to share information. Computers in the '60s were large and immobile and in order to make use of information stored in any one computer, one had to either travel to the site of the computer or have magnetic computer tapes sent through the conventional postal system.

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As technology continues to evolve, how will it be used in the future? Should we continue to use these ever-advancing tools? What are the effects tech has on education?

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Modern technology like smartboards and student iPads have become the norm in the typical classroom. From ensuring a student's full participation to greater ease in grading exams, many educators' jobs have become easier through these technologies. However, the tools we've seen could be just the tip of the iceberg.

With limitless possibilities in mind, we asked members of Forbes Technology Council how they believe educators will push the barriers to leverage tech in the classroom. Here are their best predictions for the future of education technology.
1. Video Lectures
Most educators that I've spoken to have one wish: They want more time to spend helping their students. With the increasing trend in "flipped" learning models, video becomes an incredibly useful tool. One records a lecture once and publishes it for students to view at home. Class time can now be spent doing supervised, hands-on learning that used to be left to students to figure out at home. - Josh Caid, Cherwell Software
2. Immersive Mixed-Reality Experiences
With augmented and virtual reality, students will no longer be bored to snores reading about history or science in textbooks. They'll be able to "step outside" of their classroom and straight into the lesson. Imagine journeying through the cosmos to see planets up close or standing behind the founding fathers of the United States as they sign the Declaration of Independence. - Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC
3. Virtual Reality Experiments
VR opens up broad opportunities for the educational sector. Students are getting more engaged in the learning process when they can actually experience historical events or places they are being taught about. It's also a great tool for conducting dangerous experiments without any threat at all. - Daria Leshchenko, SupportYourApp Inc.
4. Incorporation Of Chrome OS
Beyond the smartboard and the iPad are the ubiquitous Chrome devices (and workalikes like Chromium), which not only provide the front end to basic collaboration (such as Google Docs) but also offer resources for teachers like the Classwork page, used for resources and assignments. Chrome OS will be the basis for other services like podcasts, remote lectures, eBook distribution and cross-school collaboration. - Steve Pao, Hillwork, LLC
5. Predictive Analytics
I've witnessed the use of predictive analytics in healthcare, analyzing data on populations to determine those at risk and target specific remedies in preventive care. I don't see why the same couldn't be done with test scores, social determinants of health and other measures to determine those students at risk and target specific remedies. - Jamie Gianna, Partners Behavioral Health Management
6. Deeper Insight Into Each Student's Learning Experience
Traditionally, educators have been limited to observations or tests when assessing their students' learning experiences. Today, more and more of a student's learning experience is on digital tools-tools that can capture these experiences in intimate detail through data. These digital breadcrumbs hold immense opportunities for understanding and personalizing each student's learning experience. - Tyler Shaddix, GoGuardian
7. AR-Powered International Field Trips
Virtual field trips using AR technology will allow students to travel the world and see detailed and interactive info appearing on historical artifacts for them to learn and expand their knowledge on history. - Elaine Montilla, The Graduate Center, CUNY
8. Real-Time Digital Engagement
Digital-engagement technologies continue to advance in ways that facilitate student involvement, learning and growth using real-time data gathering, bidirectional communication and flexible instruction models. Now, teachers can interact with students at the group and individual level, give quizzes and surveys, collect feedback and adjust their lessons on the fly to support student learning. - Ron Cogburn, Exela Technologies
9. Instant Feedback For Students
Classrooms can use online documents to provide instant feedback for students. For example, as a student is working on a project via an online document, the teacher can add comments in real time to help the student. Plus, you can share online documents with the entire class, which will help with peer reviews and collaborations. - Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
10. Back-Office Tech
The ability to provide the "best" education is extremely contextual. For example, a Reggio-inspired program has a very different objective than a STEM program. Leveraging technology to help the teaching organization's back office-such as automating redundant tasks and providing deep data insights-is what gives educators the necessary mindshare to enhance the quality of their curriculum. - Steven Khuong, Curacubby
11. Teaching Low-Code App Development
Thanks to low-code technology, in five years, everyone will be a developer. It is here to stay, and some high schools have already taken notice. I believe more colleges will soon be teaching app creation without code. Technology makes the creation of new solutions easier and faster, which breaks through the deep-tech barrier. This will definitely help young grads when they start careers. - Katherine Kostereva, Creatio (formerly bpm'online)
12. Transmedia Edutainment
The combination of mobile, online, augmented reality and standard education will combine to make powerful collaborative and precision education for each individual. No longer will it be one-size-fits-all education. Education will span all media, which will help it reach a broader audience of learners who will need perpetual retraining to keep pace with exponential growth in technology. - José Morey, Liberty BioSecurity
13. Better Use Of Existing Resources
Considering that schools are still behind the tech curve, educators are going to get better at using existing tech resources for educational purposes. YouTube can be used for student films or for short lessons that students can review during vacation. Google Docs can be used to better track homework assignments. Teachers haven't scratched the surface of what can be done with what is already available. - Robert Weissgraeber, AX Semantics
14. Developments In Nontraditional Education
Tech certainly has an important role to play in improving our classrooms, but in the immediate future, I see the bigger developments in nontraditional education. Platforms like Udemy, Corsera and even Quora are growing in acceptance and recognition, so there's huge potential to use tools like VR, AI, chatbots and even 3D printing to improve the value and impact of these nontraditional classes. - Ben Lee, Rootstrap

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Council Post: 14 Predictions For The Future Of Classroom Technology

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Modern technology like smartboards and student iPads have become the norm in the typical classroom. From ensuring a student's full participation to greater ease in grading exams, many educators' jobs have become easier through these technologies. However, the tools we've seen could be just the tip of the iceberg.