What If...

“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!”

Discourse at Teacher’s Conference 1703

“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 even clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?”

Discussion at Principal’s Association 1815

“Students today depend too much upon ink we can make. 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

“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.”

The Rural American Teacher 1928

“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.”

PTA Gazette 1941

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

Federal Teachers Meeting 1950

“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.”

High School Math Teacher 1980

“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?”

Middle School Math Teacher 1989

“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 for one class, and parents in other classes will never buy them for their students.”

High School Math Teacher 1993

“All this emphasis on Internet in the classroom is a bunch of bunk. Why would you ever want the Internet for student use? It’s just the latest fad – Let them use the library.”

District Leader 1995

“We don’t need a school web page. Who is ever going to look at it? Our families in this district can’t afford computers and the Internet.”

Many, Many Educators 1999

“Teachers will never use .”

District Technology Committee Member 1999

“Why do you want network drops at every teacher’s desk? You’re not thinking about getting a computer for ALL of them, are you?”

Building Administrator 2000

“What can you do with an LCD Projector that you can’t do with an overhead projector?”

Social Studies Teacher 2003

“Why are we talking about students having laptops in high school? Most parents won’t even give their kids their old computer, much less buy them a new one.”

Member of District Technology Committee 2004

“I don’t think we need to have a wireless network in our schools anytime soon.”

District Technology Director 2004 (no joke!)

No, we will not allow high school students to earn credits with online classes. I don’t care what other systems are doing. We will never allow that here.”

Associate Superintendent of a N.C. School System 2007 (Can you believe it???)

What If... We had listened?