1) The document presents concerns from educators over many decades about students' dependence on new technologies for writing, calculating, and learning. 2) Each excerpt expresses doubt that the technologies students were beginning to use (such as paper, pencils, ink, calculators, computers, and mobile devices) would last or be useful for the future. 3) However, the technologies that were once considered luxuries or fads ultimately became integrated into modern education.

1. What If . . .

2. Students today can’t prepare
bark to calculate their problems.
They depend on their slates
which are more expensive. What
will they do when the slate is
dropped and it breaks? They will
be unable to write!

3. Teacher’s Conference
1703

4. Students today depend on paper
too much. They don’t know how
to write on a 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?

5. Principal’s Association
1815

6. Students today depend too
much upon ink. They don’t know
how to use a pen knife to
sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink
will never replace the pencil.

7. National Association of
Teachers
1907

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

9. The Rural American Teacher
1928

10. Students today depend on these
expensive fountain pens. They
can no longer write with a
straight pen and nib. 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.

11. PTA Gazette
1941

12. Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of
education in our country.
Students use these devices and
then throw them away. The
American values of thrift and
frugality are being discarded.
Business and banks will never
allow such expensive luxuries.

13. Federal Teachers
1950

14. You can’t use those calculators
on the test. If I let you do that,
you wouldn’t ever learn how to
use the tables in the back of the
book and use interpolation to
figure out your trig ratios.

15. High School Math Teacher
1980

16. We can’t let them use
calculators in middle school. If
we do, they’ll forget how to do
long division or how to multiply
three digit numbers by three
digit numbers. What will they do
when they don’t have access to
a calculator?

17. Middle School Math Teacher
1989

18. Why are you writing a grant for a
classroom set of graphing
calculators? We’ll never be
allowed to use them and – even
if we can – that’s only one class,
and parents in other classes will
never buy them for their
students.

19. High School Math Teacher
1993

20. Why would you ever want the
Internet for student use? It’s just
the latest fad – have them use
the library.

21. District Employee
1995

22. You don’t need a web page [for
AHS]. Who’s ever going to look
at it?

23. District Employee
1995

24. Teachers will never use email.

25. Teacher on a District
Committee
1996

26. Why do you want network drops
at every teacher’s desk? You’re
not thinking of getting a
computer for all of them are
you?

27. Building Administrator
1999

28. What can you do with an LCD
Projector that you can’t do with
an overhead projector?

29. Member of School
Accountability Committee
1999

30. Why are we talking about
students having laptops in high
school? I don’t think most
parents will even give their kids
their old computer, much less
buy them a new one.

31. Member of Laptop Committee
2000

32. Why would I want to put my
grades on the web? Who’s going
to look at them?

33. Teacher
2001

34. I don’t think we’ll have a wireless
network at AHS anytime soon.

35. Me
Spring 2005

36. Turn off and put away all Cell
Phones, iPods, and Electronic
Devices during class!

37. Signs around AHS
Fall 2006

38. What If . . .
We’d listened?