Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 [Paperback]

Larry Cuban (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (January 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080772792X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807727928
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a former high school social studies teacher (14 years), district superintendent (7 years) and university professor (20 years). I have published op-ed pieces, scholarly articles and books on classroom teaching, history of school reform, how policy gets translated into practice, and teacher and student use of technologies in K-12 and college.

My most recent research projects have been a study of school reform in Austin (TX) 1954-2009 and of a large comprehensive high school in Mapleton (CO) being converted into several small ones between 2001-2009. The Austin book, As Good As It Gets, was published in February 2010. The Mapleton study was done with Gary Lichtenstein, Arthur Evenchik, Martin Tombari, and Kristen Pozzoboni and was also published in February 2010 with the title Against the Odds.

Currently, I am studying a high school where teachers and students have had 1:1 laptops for the past four years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Technology adoption and failure in American education., February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 (Paperback)

Cuban reviews the attempts to adopt technology into American classrooms throughout the 20th century. Moving pictures, radio, TV, and other technology-based improvements were loudly acclaimed to herald a new paradigm for education. All attempts failed to make a dent in established curriculum and teaching. Cuban analyzes these failures, and applies his ideas to the current wave of technology edu-euphoria, the computer.

I'm not sure his dire 1986 predictions are valid now, with the saturation of classrooms and tool-orientation that the modern computer offers. However, his book is essential reading if you want to think carefully before adopting technology in a school system. Learn from history, don't repeat it!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history of technology in 20th century eduction, April 15, 2007

By 

Christopher Shamburg (Maplewood, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920 (Paperback)

Excellent history of technology in 20th century eduction (until 1984). Radio, TV, film...all with promises, trajectories, and pitfalls similar(though not the same) to computers and the Internet. Cuban's description and analysis of the reactions of teachers, schools, and the educational establishment to technology are credible and insightful.