At Craigburn Primary School we are very lucky to have access to lots of different types of technology to support us in our learning.
In our class we have:
- laptops
- Apple computers (that we can flip into Windows if needed)
- iPads
- iPods
- iPhones
- iPad minis
- Interactive Whiteboards
- digital cameras
We use these devices for research, publishing our work, communicating with others around the world, downloading music and movies, practising skills and for fun!! We also love our class blog that shares our learning with the whole world!
Lots of our class members have devices and computers at home too – these can help with their school learning and be used for fun too.
When Miss Sporn went to school there were no computers at schools and only 6 electronic typewriters to share with a whole class.
Here is what an electronic typewriter looks like.
Miss Sporn learned to type on a manual typewriter – here’s a picture of one.
There have been huge changes since those days!!!
We’d like to invite our parents, grandparent,family friends to post their comments about how technology has changed for them over time. What did you use as a child or adult compared to now? Perhaps you had turntables, Commodore 64 computers, polaroid cameras or something else – we may need pictures so we can see what they look like.
We’re really looking forward to hearing from you about your experience with technology.
The typewriter looks just like a keybourd!
Hi there Ben,
It’s wonderful to see you on our blog – Again!!! You’re such a regular – I love it!
You’re right the electronic type writer does look just like a keyboard but it had a little motor under it to make the keys move. I used to hear it humming as it worked – it sounded very odd!
Thanks
Miss Sporn
I can remember way back when there was no USB sticks, no DVDs or CDs, no floppy disks, no tape cassettes and my dad had to bring home his computer work on punch cards. Those old computers weren’t even colour screens, they could only produce green writing and nothing else.
Google up punch cards to see what they look like and how they worked?
Like Ms. Sporn, I learnt to type on a manual typewriter- it was hard work, your fingers got tired! It was a privilege to use the electric typewriter!
My first computer was a Commodore 64, then we got an Apple 2E- we thought it was amazing back then! We didn’t have Internet though, and I didn’t get my first mobile phone until I was 22.
I wish I could go back to school now and learn using the amazing technology you have available to you!
When I was at school we used pens and ink wells. In the 1950’s fountain pens became common and ink wells were no longer used. We listen to an education radio program in class once a week. My teacher used a blackboard and chalk and we had to take turns to clean the dusters!
I learnt to type on a manual typewriter. I much prefer the computer keyboard and wordprocessing we have now.
In Year 5 we had our music lesson via a speaker in the classroom. We all had music books to sing along with the audio.
We also wrote in lead pencil only and had cursive writing lessons that we had to practice over and over again. We may have done things differently but at the end of the day, we still came up with the same answer for maths questions that you do……
When I went to High School we thought we were pretty lucky to have Electric Typewriters! A little more fancy than the original typewriters but still nothing like the computers we have today.
There were no coloured photocopiers and coloured printing cost a fortune. We had to use encyclopedias for research and if the one I needed was out on loan or being used by someone else – bad luck! A set of encylopedias cost a lot of money so we didn’t have any at home either.
We used calculators a lot in Maths and if we needed photos of anything we had to use a camera that had a roll of film in it and take it to get developed. Too bad if the photos weren’t great! We couldn’t check them first on the little screen on the back of the camera because there wasn’t one.
We only had slide projectors to look at different pictures of things as a class so we all had to sit in the dark while the teacher clicked through each slide. We also had VCR’s to watch movies but the remote was on a chord.
Enjoy all the technology you have on offer – it opens up so many wonderful opportunities! 🙂
Tracy (Holly W’s Mum)
I remember using a fountain pen when I was at school we used to buy the ink to refill them. They were only used for your very best work! There were no mobile phones but I remember writing lots of letters to my friends and family to keep in touch, it wasn’t as quick as a text message but great fun when you received a reply back in the post. I still love writing now. I feel really old now!