The document presents concerns from teachers and administrators over several centuries about students' dependence on new writing technologies as they were introduced, such as paper, pencils, ink, fountain pens, ballpoint pens, and calculators. Each generation worried that students no longer knew how to write with previous technologies and would not be able to function without the new technology. The document concludes that these concerns will likely always exist with new technologies but that technologies continue to make our lives easier.

1. TechnologyTechnology
andand
EducationEducation

2. "Students today can’t prepare bark to calculate their
problems. They depend upon their slates which are more
expensive. What will they do when their slate is dropped and it
breaks? They will be unable to write.
-Teachers Conference, 1703

3. "Students today depend upon paper too
much. They don’t know how to write on slate
without getting chalk dust all over
themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly.
What will they do when they run out of
paper?"
-Principal’s Association, 1815
"Students today depend upon paper too much.
They don’t know how to write on slate without
getting chalk dust all over themselves. They
can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do
when they run out of paper?"
-Principal’s Association, 1815

4. "Students depend too much on ink. They
don’t know how to use a pen knife to sharpen
a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the
pencil."
-National Association of Teachers, 1907

5. "Students today depend upon store bought
ink. They don’t know how to make their own.
When they run out they will be unable to
write words or ciphers until their next trip to
the settlement. This is a sad commentary on
modern education.
-The Rural Teacher, 1929

6. "Students today depend upon these expensive
fountain pens. They can no longer write with a
straight pen and nib (not to mention sharpening
their own quills). We parents must not allow
them to wallow in such luxury to the detriment
of learning how to cope in the real business
world, which is not so extravagant."
-PTA Gazette, 1941

7. "Ball point pens will be the ruin of education in
our country. Students use these devices and
then throw them away. The virtues of thrift
and frugality are being discarded. Business and
banks will never allow such expensive
luxuries."
-The Federal Teacher, 1950

8. "Students today depend too much on
hand-held calculators."
-Anonymous, 1985

9. Today we still use pens, pencils and calculators.
Now we have computers which make our lives even
easier and I’m sure that no matter what changes
happen in the future someone will complain about
it.

10. Creative Commons Attributions
• Slide 1
“School Supply Mountain” by Evelyn
Giggles on Flickr
• Slide 2
“Money” by martin.mollie on Flickr
• Slide 3
“UF Chalkboard Green Chemistry
Laboratory” by cdsessums on
creativecommons.org
• Slide 4
“Pencils” by martin.mollie on Flickr
• Slide 5
“ink-stain-texture-9” by designshard on
Flickr
• Slide 6
“2007-01-30 A new pen online” by
squank11 on Flickr
• Slide 7
“lightbox+writing utensils” by songlines
on Flickr
• Slide 8
“Calculator” by martin.mollie on Flickr
• Slide 9
“Free Dell Flamingo Pink Birthday Laptop
Creative Commons” by Pink
Sherbet Photography by Sharon
Pruitt