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Sandbox
New York students used boxes covered with white sand to trace letters of the alphabet with their fingers. This method of education was appealing because it was a low-cost way to reach many students. -
Chalkboard
James Pillan, a geography teacher in Scotland, is associated with the creation of the black chalkboard when he hung a black slate in his classroom. These chalkboards replaced previously-used sandboxes. -
Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison invented the kinetoscope, a peep-hole viewer camera to create a sequence of small photographs attached to a cylinder. -
Lead pencil
Lead pencils were mass-produced along with the creation of hard paper. These pencils started to replace chalkboard slates. -
Radio
Haaren High School in New York was the first public school to use the radio in the classroom. Broadcasts highlighted American history lessons, folk music, and children's stories. -
Overhead projector
Originally made for the military to train soldiers, overhead projectors made their way into classrooms to make lessons more interactive and easily viewable for students. -
Typewriters
Research in the early 1930s showed that typewriters should be put in every classroom to build skills for professional future jobs, to learn better in every subject, and to develop characteristics of elementary school-aged children. -
Television
Many television sets were introduced into schools that did not have enough certified teachers, but for the most part, televisions were used as a supplemental resource for students.
