RUNNINGHEAD:TECHNOLOGYINAMERICANSCHOOLSINTHE1980S

TechnologyinAmericanSchoolsInthe1980s
TriciaBarton,ElissaHapner,JoshuaPetty
NorthernIllinoisUniversity

RUNNINGHEAD:TECHNOLOGYINAMERICANSCHOOLSINTHE1980S

The1980swastimeofrapidgrowthandchangeininstructionaltechnology,andthat
changewasreflectedintheK12classroomsettingasteachersandadministrators
experimentedwithawiderangeoftoolsandstrategies.Instructionaltechnologybecameamajor
focusinmanyschooldistrictsascheaperandeasiertouseequipmentbecameavailable.
Intheearly1980s,amajortechnologicalfocusinschoolswasinstructionaltelevision.A
majorityofschoolsreportedhavinginstructionaltelevisioncapabilitiesintheirclassrooms.Asan
example,anestimated18.5millionstudentsreceivedtelevisioninstructionduringthe198283
schoolyear(MillerandCruce,n.d.).Thatrequiredaccesstotherealtimeprogrammingvia
antennaorcable,orinarecordedformatsuchasvideocassette(orBetamax).Someschools
usedmasterantennasystemsorclosedcircuittelevisionsystems.Theserequiredrunning
coaxialcablefromacentraltransmissionsystemhousedsomewhereineachbuilding.
BecausetheInternetdidnotbegintoappearinK12schoolsuntilthemidtolate1980s,
andthenmostofteninwellfundedhighschools,mostthecomputerswerenetworkedlocallyfor
accesstoperipheralhardware,files,andsoftwareprograms.Computerswereoftenlinkedviaa
client/serverrelationshiponanEthernetLAN.Computersaccessedacommonserverwithinthe
buildingthathostedprogramsaswellasaccesstoperipherals.Themostcommoncablingused
wascoaxial,butthatbegantochangethroughoutthemiddletotheendofthedecadeas
advancesinfiberopticcableandtelephonegradetwistedwirecoppercablemadeinstallation
easier,andmadecreatinganetworkinghierarchywithrouterspossible.Thelargeincreasein
DOSandWindowsbasedcomputersinbusinesswasreflectedinschoolswhoalsousedmany
ofthesimplerLANtechnologiesusedbybusinesses,althoughApplealsohadasignificant
corneroftheK8educationmarket,partlyduetograntprogramsandsoftwareavailability.
Inadditiontosoftwareavailability,inthe1980smanytechnologicaldevicesbecamea
boomingexpansion.Previouslyinthe1970stherewereinitialdevicesthatwereproducedand

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introducedintosociety.However,theywereverycostly.Inthe1980sthemarkettookoffselling
manyformsoftechnology(i.e.thegameconsole,theWalkman,Camcorder,VideoCassette
Recorder(VCR),etc.)becausetheyweremademoreeasilyaffordabletothepublic.
TherearethreeaffordabletechnologiesvitaltoAmericanschoolstodaythatwascrucial
toitsexpansioninthe1980s.Theyarepersonalcomputers,thecompactdisc(CD),andmobile
phones.First,thehighlyreputableIBMpersonalcomputerwascreated.Personalcomputershad
alreadybeenintroduced,butwithveryweakassurancethattheywouldbeprofitableand
beneficialforthemiddleclass.ThecompanyIBMalreadyhadacorporatecredibilitywiththeir
computersthatleadtoatrustworthybrandforthepublictoembrace.Thepersonalcomputer
camewithafloppydiskdriveandanoptionalcolormonitor.Americanschoolstodayaverage
threecomputersinoneclassroom.Theavailability,affordability,andexpansionofthepopularity
ofapersonalcomputervastlyenhancedlearning.Thenexttechnologyforthepublictoembrace
wasthecreationoftheCD.CommercialCDslaunchedtheirdebutin1982.Theinclusionofthe
CDinAmericanschoolsenabledlargeamountsofinformationtobesharedandstored.Also,
morelearningstyleswerebeingaddressedbecauseteachersandadministratorscoulduse
videos,lessons,andaudioviatheCDtoteachlessons.TheCDwasaveryfrugalchoicefor
schoolstousebecauseofthedurabilityandaffordability.
Lastly,thetechnologicaldeviceofthe1980sthatsawexponentialgrowthwasthemobile
phone.ThisisthemostappreciatedtechnologyintodaysmarketaswellasinAmerican
schools.Motorolalauncheditsversionin1983whichofferedonehouroftalkandanLED
display.Originallythecellphoneswerefortheelitecostingnearly$4,000andaroundonedollar
perminutetouse.Thankfullythemassproductionofmobilephonesandtheadvancementof
softwarehascausedthemtobemoreutilizedbyallclassesofsociety.Thesoftwarethatbrought
themobilephoneshasenabledteacherstousetheirpersonalphonestoassessstudents,callin

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emergencies,andinadditionusethelargerversionsliketabletswithverysimilarsoftwareto
supplementthelearningexperience.Itisdifficulttounderstandthebreakthroughsthatthese
deviceswereduringthe1980s,yetwerecognizewheretheyhaveledus.
Whendiscussingtechnologyfromthe1980s,youcannotjusttalkabouttheitems
themselves,youmustalsotalkaboutthepeopleresponsibleforthecreationoftheseitems.
Whilesomeoftheseitemswerenotcreatedduringthedecade,itwasduringthe1980sthatthey
considerablyincreasedinpopularity.Whilepersonalcomputerswerecreatedinthe1970s,it
wasntuntilthe1980sthattheirpopularityexpandedintoschools.Whiletherearemanydifferent
companiestoday,themaincompaniesatthetimewereAppleandtheInternationalBusiness
MachinesCorporation(IBM).Anothervitalpieceofeducationaltechnologywasthevideocassette
recorder(VCR)andvideohomesystem(VHS).Otherpopularpiecesoftechnologyincludethe
SpeakandSpell,theNintendoEntertainmentSystem(NES),andtheSonyWalkman.
Whentalkingabout1980stechnologyyouhavetoacknowledgethepersonalcomputer,
betterknownasthePC.Moreoftenthannot,thisconversationwillstartbytalkingaboutSteve
JobsandStevenWozniak,foundersoftheAppleCorporation.EventhoughApplewasfounded
in1976,theywereextremelybusyinthe1980s.TheoriginalAppleII,whichwascreatedby
ApplecofounderStevenWozniak,wasreleasedin1977buttherewereseveralnewermodels
oftheAppleIIthatwerereleasedduringthe80s.TheseincludedtheAppleIIc(1984),AppleIIGS
(1986),andAppleIIcPlus(1988).Duringthedecade,ApplealsointroducedtheAppleIII(1981),
AppleLisa(1983),AppleMacintosh(1984),andMacintoshPortable(1989).Applestillusesthe
Macintoshnametothisday,howevertheyvesinceshortenedittoMac.Applewasnottheonly
companyinthePCbusiness,howevertheothercompanywasIBM.IBMlaunchedtheIBM
System/23in1981.Thissystemwascreatedbyateamofengineers,headedbyPhilipDon

RUNNINGHEAD:TECHNOLOGYINAMERICANSCHOOLSINTHE1980S

Estridge.IBMalsolaunchedtheIBMPortableandtheIBMPCjrin1984,aswellasIBM
Convertiblein1986.
Possiblythemostcommonpieceofclassroomtechnologyusedinthe1980swasthe
overheadprojector.Beforetheprojector,mostteacherswerestillwritingonchalkboards.The
projectorallowedteacherstobemoreefficient,becausetheycouldmoreeasilypreparetheir
materialsinadvance.Thiscouldalsopotentiallyhelpwithclassroommanagementaswell
becauseteacherscouldnowwritematerialsontheboardwhilefacingtheclass.Theoverhead
projectorwascreatedbyRogerAppledornofthe3MCompany.Anothercommonpieceof
technology,whichisalsostillusedinsomeclassroomsandhouseholdstodayistheVCRand
VHScassettetapes.CharlesPaulsonGinsburg,sometimesreferredtoasthefatherofthe
videocassetterecorder,beganworkingonavideotaperecorder(VTR)in1952,whilehewas
workingfortheAmpexCorporation.TheVCRwasreleasedbySonyin1971.ThemodernVHS
tapewascreatedbytheVictorCompanyofJapan,betterknowntodayasJVC,in1976.VHS
tapeswerealsoreleasedbyPanasonicduringthesameyear.
Anotherinterestingpieceofeducationaltechnologyinthe1980swastheSpeakand
Spell.Thisproduct,createdbyPaulBreedlove,RichardWiggins,LarryBrantingham,andGene
FrantzofTexasInstruments,wasmarketedtowardchildrenandaidedtheminlearningphonics.
TheSpeakandSpellwasalsofamouslyfeaturedinthe1982filmE.T.theExtraTerrestrial.This
connectiontopopculturewasyetanotherinfluenceonnotonlyAmericanschoolchildren,but
alsotheperceptionoftechnologyanditsimportanceinchildren'slearning.
LongbeforetherewereiPodsandmp3players,therewastheSonyWalkman.Thiswas
thepredecessortoallportablemusiclisteningdevices.TheWalkman,whichwascreatedby
NobutoshiKiharain1979,playedmusicfromaudiocassettes.Anotherfamouspieceof
technology,whichlaunchedinthe1980s,wasthe1983releaseoftheFamicom(shortfor

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FamilyComputer).IntheUnitedStates,itismorecommonlyknownastheNintendo
EntertainmentSystem,orNESforshort.TheNESwascreatedbyMasayukiUemura.
Withthegrowthofnewtechnologycametheaneedforsupportpositions.Often,
teacherswithaninterestincomputerstookcoursesontheirownorwereselftaughtexpertsthat
becamementorsintheirbuildings.Certificationsincomputerscienceortechnologywererare
untilthe1990s.Technicalsupportinschoolswashandledthesameway,byateacherwhotook
onthatrolevoluntarily.Librarianswerefrequentlyinchargeoftheaudiovisualequipment(not
onlymanaging,butalsocleaningandmaintaining),butnotnecessarilycomputers.Asthe
decadeprogressedandstatesanddistrictsbegantorequiresomecomputersciencecreditfor
graduation,statesbegantodevelopcomputersciencecertification.Technicalsupportpersonnel
alsorosefromtheranksoftheinterestedstaffmembers,andwereinmanycasesuntrained.As
technologyincreasedbytheendofthedecade,directorpositionsslowlyemergedtoorganize
equipmentandpersonnel.

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