Comments on: The List: Seven “Back to School” Artifacts

By: Bartz A Johnson Jr

Bartz A Johnson Jr — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:17:19 +0000

Curators have to qualify their decisions and that’s cool. But I did have the “Little Professor” and the best ‘toys’ are the ones we learned from. I enjoyed mine until I got a ‘big-boy’ TI from Dad for XMas. The first thing I did was type in “07734.”

However, I think the author mixed up a couple of facts:
“this “Little Professor,” made by Texas Instruments in the late 1970s, made early use of solar cells to keep the device LCD screen charged conveniently.”

There were no solar cells, it ran on a 9-volt battery and the screen was LED, not LCD.
Resource: http://datamath.org/Edu/Professor-76.htm

By: Beth Py-Lieberman

Beth Py-Lieberman — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:32:00 +0000

Hi John,

Thanks for your question. I asked the curator Peggy Kidwell for more details and this is what she offers: “The blackboard protractor was from a retired member of the mathematics faculty at Montgomery College. She began teaching there in the 1950s, but had no recollection as to when the protractor had arrived. It has her initials on it, which suggests, although it in no way proves, that it was more or less assigned to that professor. Of course, it might have been used by others earlier.”

By: John Libby

John Libby — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:45:14 +0000

We were delighted to see the blackboard protractor featured here. As it dates to around the time the Bliss Electrical School became the first campus of Montgomery College, the item might have been used in both institutions. I’m curious whether there are more details on how it was described upon acquisition.

John Libby, Alumni Coordinator, Montgomery College (Md.)

By: vicky weiseman

vicky weiseman — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:02:27 +0000

Thanks for clarifying, Beth. Interesting.

By: Beth Py-Lieberman

Beth Py-Lieberman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:07:00 +0000

Hi Vicky,

I checked in with the museum’s curator Peggy Kidwell on whether or not one should label the “Little Professor” a toy or a calculator, and she writes back to say: “The technology of the TI Little Professor was that of an electronic calculator, the use was as an educational toy.” Beth Py-Lieberman, Editor

By: Tutoring Match

Tutoring Match — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:00:46 +0000

It’s interesting to take a look back at how education has evolved. These artifacts are reminders of how far we’ve come. As technology continues to be integrated into the classroom, the way that students learn continues to become more advanced. Soon, tools used in the classroom today will be considered artifacts.

By: vicky weiseman

vicky weiseman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:41:08 +0000

I had one of those “Little Professor” toys, but it’s not a calculator. It’s a math learning toy. A math equation showed on the screen and you either answered it or filled in the blank (whatever setting you chose).