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Tech Savvy 1920 By Dr. Stephen J. Ochs, Lawler Chair of History
During this April of 2020, Prep faculty, enabled by administrative and technology staff, have adapted to the closure of the campus by employing digital technology to continue classroom instruction and other aspects of school life. One hundred years ago, as a result of a $200 donation from John P. McShea of Philadelphia, Prep teachers were enabled to adopt a relatively new piece of technology –a Balopticon -- to augment their instruction.
The Balopticon, a projector invented in 1911 by the American firm of Bausch and Lomb, allowed a room full of people to view the same document, picture, photo, slide, etc., for a long period of time. It was the forerunner of the overhead projector used extensively in classrooms throughout the nation before computer-based projection. Bausch and Lomb marketed the simple device to schools with advertisements that claimed that the Balopticon would add "interest and effectiveness to English classes." Teachers could project student essays to a screen "so that the whole class may read and criticize them." Mistakes would be "driven home," because "students could see their grammatical and syntactical errors confronting them on a brilliant screen." [Gulp!]
On April 8, 1920, students were able to assess one another's skills in a different way, as they divided into two teams, "Algebra" and "Latin," and battled each other in an extended baseball game. (The House Diarist recorded no score.)