Chalkboard to Touch Screens by Reina Munoz-zegarra

Early 1990s

rei2148593 — 2025-09-10 06:03:37 UTC

In the early 1990s, my mother was in elementary school. When asked about the technology used in the classroom around that time, she responded with, "overhead projectors and the VCR Tv cart that was rolled from classroom to classroom". During this time, those were the only kinds of screens they had, besides that, all work and notes were hand written on the chalkboard by teachers.

Late 1990s

rei2148593 — 2025-09-10 06:20:13 UTC

Around this time, my mom was in Middle School. She described this as the first time having technology be more common on campus. She was introduced to computer labs and remembers having to take typing classes when the computer became important to class activities or assignments.

Despite computers becoming more popular, she says it was very common to use encyclopedia's and find physical books when research was required for an assignment.

Early 2000s

rei2148593 — 2025-09-10 06:24:50 UTC

In the early 2000s, my mother was about 13-18 years old so chat rooms and search engines were becoming increasingly popular.

I was curious about what kind of technology teens had at the time and she explained that only a few kids had a cell phone and then some families had computers at home that they had to share among themselves. At this time, she says cellphones were mostly kept away in bags and were rarely distractions.

Mid-Late 2000s

rei2148593 — 2025-09-10 06:29:54 UTC

My mother got pregnant in 2005 and decided to go to Students Choice, an online learning program that was the equivalent to a high school diploma. Most days were spent on computers so she became increasingly familiar with how to use one and this impacted her learning in a similar way to Gen Z during the COVID 19 Pandemic. She enjoyed going at her own pace and doing the work in one spot.

I was born in 2006 and my mother mentioned that having that digital learning opportunity really supported her education since she was unable to attend public high school due to her pregnancy and then even after having me while I was a new born.

Late 2010s

rei2148593 — 2025-09-10 06:32:10 UTC

In 2016, my third baby sister was born and was raised in a fast paced digital era. I decided to interview her because her first memories of school were from the 2020 pandemic when she started the first half of Pre-K online at our kitchen table. At this point in time, her only knowledge of the digital world was through the use of zoom and google classroom.

Early 2020s

rei2148593 — 2025-09-10 06:37:17 UTC

Now over the past five years she is now in fourth grade and to my surprise, she said that her teachers rarely use their smart boards.

She described the day starting with morning announcements and a digital agenda on the smart board but after that, the teacher takes the lessons to the white board or has students do physical paper and pencil work.

When technology is used in the classroom, it is through engaging and rewarding resources such as BrainPop, IXL Learning, and even the use of Google Classroom.

These sites help students learn about topics and practice their abilities with helpful and simplified explanations for them to understand.

She also says not many kids have cellphones which was surprising but then when asked about the new state phone ban, she explains that no students are too upset or even care enough.