During my last visit to my parents, I spent some time thumbing through some of my once-treasured Childraft’s “How and Library” volumes. After a feeble and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to share with my oldest son the same spark of interest I felt as a nine-year old when exposed to this encyclopedia just for kids, I came across an article about “The Answer Machine”.
This article from the “How things Change” volume told children that someday in the future there might be a machine to help them with their homework. A screen on the wall could answer questions they type into a keyboard.
| Ok – we’ve heard that before, what is so special about this prediction? Well, this Answer Machine will not only answer the question, “Who invented the phonograph” it will print out a picture of one, play Edison’s first recording and show a movie about the invention of the phonograph. All of this would be shown on a screen on the wall of your room. Sound familiar? |  |
 |
Childcraft even predicted screensavers by suggesting that the Answer Machine’s screen can be used to show pictures when you are done using it for your homework. |
This article was written 36 years ago, how many students in your classroom today will working in 2044? What will their “Answer Machine” look like? How are you teaching them to be able to use it?
More importantly, if the “Answer Machine” has become a reality, why should we teach the same way we did in 1969?