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My mother grew up in a small, rural town in southern Mexico during the 1970s. Technology was scarce, both at home and at school. Her family paid for her tuition and basic supplies. Most of her learning relied on simple tools: pencils, notebooks, and textbooks. In her classroom, the chalkboard was the most sophisticated piece of equipment. Much of the day was spent copying lessons by hand. My mother recounts that the typewriter used by the secretary was the most advanced piece of technology at the school. Although she never had the chance to use it, she was fascinated and hoped for the opportunity someday. In hindsight, my mother realizes how few resources were available in her school. She hopes that today, every child around the world has access to the tools and technology needed to succeed.

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During the 1980s, the video cassette recorder (VCR) became accessible for educational use. Teachers could now record documentaries and other educational programs. This allowed them to save content and show it at any point in their lesson plans. The VCR could be paused, rewound, and replayed. They could stop a video to discuss a point in detail or replay a scene for clarification. For students, this made learning more engaging and memorable than simply reading from a textbook or listening to a lecture. Seeing historical events or scientific experiments brought to life on screen helped the information stick. The VCR was a transformative tool that brought visual media directly into the classroom.

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My sister, a millennial born in 1990, grew up in an era where technology was starting to become more common in schools. One of her earliest memories from third grade was her teacher wheeling in a large black television on a cart for a special "movie day" on Fridays. As she got older, she saw it used more often in classes like history to watch films, such as the movie "Stand and Deliver", with Edward James Olmos, about an inner-city teacher. Another tool that was a staple in her classes was the overhead projector, which teachers used to display their lessons onto a screen. My sister recalls teachers writing on clear plastic sheets to show notes to the whole class or using them to project pre-made diagrams and charts. However, her favorite part of the school week was going to the computer lab. The computer lab was located in the school library, and her class only had access to it for 45 minutes once a week. Because of her love for computers, she chose to take a dedicated computer class in high school. That is where she learned to type and use Microsoft programs. My sister believes this gave her a major advantage over other students, as she learned how to format her papers in MLA format and how to use email. These skills were essential for her later in high school and college.

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Smart Boards in classrooms during the 2000s and 2010s, changed the way lessons were taught. Teachers could present materials, annotate in real time, and include videos or images to enhance understanding. Students, in turn, could interact directly with the board, solve problems in front of the class, and participate in collaborative activities. This hands-on approach made learning more visual and engaging.

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Starting kindergarten in 2020, my niece was five years old when she was confined to remote learning during the Covid pandemic. This experience forced her to learn how to navigate a laptop and use video conferencing. Staying focused in front of a screen was tough, and she had to quickly grasp digital concepts like mute buttons and camera etiquette at a young age. When she returned to in-person school. She recalls receiving her own Chromebook. Instead of paper handouts, she now receives most of her assignments and materials on Google Classroom. Her favorite technology feature is Kahoot! She enjoys playing the games for classroom learning and also gets to be the creator, using it to design her own interactive presentations. However, she says her least favorite part of technology is how her parents have direct access to all of her grades and daily reports on apps like ClassDojo and PowerSchool. My niece finds the of the digital platforms a little frustrating because it means her parents are always aware of her academic performance and classroom behavior.

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Following this technological trajectory, the next major shift in education is already underway with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Just as the VCR transformed lectures into visual lessons and the Chromebook brought personalized learning, AI promises to revolutionize education on an entirely new scale. AI can create individualized learning experience for every student. AI tools can act as personal tutors, adapting lessons in real-time based on a student's strengths and weaknesses. This means a student who is struggling with a concept can receive a different explanation or more practice problems, while another student can be given more advanced material. However, the increasing reliance on AI also presents new challenges. We must address the digital divide to ensure all students have equal access to these modern tools. We also have to teach students how to think critically and ethically about the information AI provides. The next generation will not just be using technology, but actively collaborating with it, making skills like critical thinking, creativity, and digital literacy more important than ever. The future of education will likely be a partnership between human teachers and intelligent technology.