The connection between computer technology and education began early on. In fact, when computers first came on the scene, there were many experts that believed that only universities and the military would ever use the modern invention.
High school students in the late 1970s. (Photo by Fred Ross/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Yet by the 1970s, computers had found their way into high schools and dedicated computer science cases were added to the curriculum across the country. Leading this push for computer education at the high school level were two main factors … the Cold War and Steve Jobs. Let’s take a look at high school computer science classes of the 1970s in this collection of colorized photos.
Mainframes and Punch Cards
By the end of the 1970s, computers had come a long way from mainframes and punch cards, as this colorized photo shows. (historyextra.com)
If your high school was affluent enough, students may have had a room-sized IBM mainframe computer for rudimentary computer programming classes. Students wrote their own programs which were transferred onto a stack of punch cards that the students rubber-banded together and turned in to the teacher. The teacher would run the punch cards through the IBM mainframe and assign you a grade based on whether the program worked or not. It was a frustrating and cumbersome ordeal, but these students were the lucky ones. The majority of high schools didn’t have computers for their students to use.
Keeping Up With Our Cold War Rivals
Check out that "Star Wars" poster in the back of this colorized pic from 1978. (aadl.org)
In the heat of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an unofficial war of technology. To keep ahead of our political rivals, the greatest minds in the U.S. worked to advance technology and create new innovations. But some experts feared American students were in danger of falling behind. If we didn’t start to get high schoolers interested in technology, it was feared, the Soviets could pass us up with their technological superiority.
Enter Steve Jobs
A colorized photo of Steve Jobs from the mid-1970s. (morrisonhotelgallery.com)
Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple in 1976 with Steve Wozniak, understood that computers could revolutionize the world. He helped transform computers from intimidating behemoths to user-friendly desktop computers with monitors, floppy discs, and mouses. He also knew that he needed to find a way to get people to try out his Apple personal computers. Once they tried them, he was confident, people would want to buy their own personal computer. To accomplish this goal, Steve Jobs took an unorthodox approach.
A Huge (Tax Exempt) Donation
Computer classrooms, like the one in this colorized photo, look vastly different in the late 1970s than they do today. (reddit)
Steve Jobs sought out and received a huge tax exemption for donating Apples to high schools around the country. Prior to this, companies only received such tax breaks for donations to colleges and universities. But Jobs’ initial donation of 5,000 computers via the Minnesota Education Computing Consortium in 1978 showed that computers belonged in the hands of high school students who Jobs viewed as future innovators. The Minnesota Education Computing Consortium not only helped high schoolers learn the basics of computer technology, but it helped boost the sales of Apple II computers.
Computer Science, a New Class Offering
More and more schools offered dedicated computer science classes, as we see in this colorized photo from the mid-1970s. (pinterest)
With the financial incentives now in place, Apple could continue its mission of putting computers in high school classrooms across the country. The challenge now shifted from getting the physical computers in place to convincing school officials and teachers to offer a class in computer science. Many high schools already offered some form of business machines class to instruct future business administrators and managers on how to use a typewriter and an adding machine. Some schools felt that computers belonged in this category. Yet others saw a wider potential.
Students Spurred the Growth of Computer Classes
The boys in this colorized photo from the later 1970s seem enthralled by computer technology. (pinterest)
While many older school board members frowned at the new technology, the younger generation embraced it. They may have been introduced to computers through games like Oregon Trail, but many of them quickly grasped the basics of programming. As they mastered computer science lessons at a fast pace, schools clamored for experienced computer science teachers who could help shape the curriculum and bring computer technology into the everyday world. By the early to mid-1980s, many schools were hitting this mark. Students were taught a balance of computer operations and programming and encouraged to use computer technology in other classes. It was the high schoolers who graduated in the late 1970s and early 1980s who became the next generation of computer innovators.
