With technology’s increasing impact, veteran teachers share how their craft has changed

Before news was spread faster and group chats existed, awareness often came from sharp turning points. For business teacher Julie Cuvelier, high school meant passing handwritten notes across desks—and facing harsh realities way before they became national conversation topics. 

Cuvelier still remembers the shift when a freshman classmate was killed in a car crash involving drinking with older students. At the time, discussing those risks in class was a new concept, but resulted in students stepping up to talk to their peers. 

“It then started becoming more talked about that drinking and driving was bad,” Cuvelier said, “but now it’s known.” 

What once required tragedy and guest speakers to realize has become baseline common sense for today’s teenagers. Today, information travels instantly. While students have access to more knowledge at higher speeds, the basic way of high school—and how students interact—has been completely rewritten. 

For today’s high schoolers, personal technology is just part of the routine. But for older generations of teachers, school looked entirely different. 

“The biggest difference is no cell phones,” math teacher Josh Wilkinson said. “Pagers, maybe, but no phones. Electronics just weren’t brought to school.” 

Before Google and online databases, completing an assignment required physical effort and trips to the library. 

“We learned to type on computers, but everything was handwritten,” counselor Carrie Dieken said. “The library was important for papers. Everything in there relied on books, newspapers and magazines.” 

Without personal devices sitting on desks or in pockets, students also faced fewer distractions during class periods. 

“We didn’t have technology to distract us from listening to what teachers were telling us to do,” English teacher Troy Slater said. 

This difference didn’t just alter how schoolwork got done; it changed the school’s overall school environment. English teacher Matt Klemesrud noted that free time used to revolve around direct, face-to-face conversation.

“There was definitely more social interaction before,” Klemesrud said. 

While modern devices give teachers and students powerful resources, they also bring challenges that earlier classes never had to manage. 

“Compared to before, people depend on technology way more, including teachers,” Spanish teacher Angie. Wagoner said. She added that device usage has also contributed to an “increase in disruptive behavior” compared to her own time as a student. 

High school today moves faster and connects people instantly—but as teachers recall, every digital upgrade comes with a trade-off from the simpler, face-to-face hallways of the past.