Every now and then humanity is presented with a new idea that changes the world as we know it. Here are ten technologies, certainly not chronologically ordered, that forever altered education in American classrooms.

• Literacy: It is difficult to imagine a formal education without literacy. Since literacy dates back to recorded history, inquisitive minds will only have to speculate what education might have been like before reading and writing were invented. On the other hand, we know for sure that most of the education system is based on literacy skills.
• The Printing Press / Moveable Type: Although literacy allowed the proliferation of ideas beyond human speech, the production of texts was limited. Most people could not read or had no desire to read. There wasn’t much to read. Throughout the Middle Ages, literacy was mainly maintained by religious groups and aristocrats. However, with the advent of printing and movable type, literacy skyrocketed. Since books and texts became available, people had a reason to learn to read. The culmination of this invention was the creation of the textbook, from which the educational system has yet to become.
• Videos: Whether for better or for worse, the introduction of movies into the classroom (be it filmstrip, VHS, or DVD) has changed the educational experience for teachers and students. This technology led to the day of cinema, where a documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman could be shown in the dark to a room full of twelve-year-old children. Some teachers misuse this technology (see the movie Bad teacher); Some students just use this time to whisper quietly to their friends, draw pictures, or tune out, but sometimes students actually learn things that their teacher wouldn’t have taught them otherwise. As with most technologies, the wearer will realize their capacity for good or evil.
• The Internet: Due to the power of the most information that has been carried out in the history of civilization, education has begun to change in ways that we are only beginning to realize. The internet has brought us, for better or for worse, advancements such as: online classes, class websites, class discussion forums, forums where students can ask for answers, easy access to educational videos and resources, and opening world libraries directly in your home. with the click of a finger. Society has only just begun to understand the immeasurable ways in which this invention has and will continue to alter how and where people are educated.
• Smartphones: It has yet to be determined whether super smartphones will eventually improve the education system, but at present they are creating a host of problems for educators. These sophisticated communication devices can be distracting to students or used to cheat in ways never dreamed of by the previous generation: instant messaging, texting, video games, YouTube, Bluetooth communication, and the entire World Wide Web in your pocket. Perhaps the establishment will fight back with more educational applications for this broadcast technology, but there are few good examples of this today.

As we are in the modern age of invention, it is safe to assume that technology will continue to change the classroom experience.