A Lesson in Technology History

Photo used under a Creative Commons License 

The rotary phone came along several years before my arrival on the planet, but it is still the first type of phone I remember using as a child.

What's the first type of phone you learned to use? How about your children or students?

The first of the two videos below came to my attention via @jbergland, and the second via @KimKomando. They found me a few weeks apart, but the second video immediately made me recall the first one.

The evolution of the technology over 60 years is awe inspiring to me. I'm struck by the fact that folks in 1954 needed the first video to learn about a new technology, and just two or three generations later, kids in the second video could benefit from the first one to learn about an antiquated technology.

Wow. Just wow.

Relax for a few minutes and contemplate the progress that occurred in the 60 years between the making of these two videos.

How could you use these videos, or videos on another type of technology, to spur your students' interest in history and/or scientific achievement?








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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Please see specifics on my re-use policy in the right-hand column of my blog before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.