The education system has dramatically transformed over the past couple of decades. It’s hard to believe how different it was before, in the 90s and early 2000s. Today, students can’t even imagine what challenges were imposed on learners 20-30 years ago. Let’s dig deeper and have a look at some of the difficulties experienced by students doing their homework in the 90s.
No e-books
Nowadays, e-books are an integral element of our lives. Some of us can’t imagine even a day without reading an e-book. They are easily portable, so students don’t worry about hefting around a full book if they’ve decided to do homework outside of their home or library. E-books can be downloaded to any device, which is really convenient. What’s more, they are normally less expensive than traditional textbooks, so students can save substantial amounts of money.
Unfortunately, 90s students couldn’t enjoy all the aforementioned benefits of e-books. Paper study materials were quite expensive, so not everyone could have access to them. Students also often shared their textbooks with each other, which complicated the process of doing homework. Additionally, pupils couldn’t be as flexible in choosing a place for learning.
Writing by hand
Even though students had an opportunity to type their assignments in the 90s using word processors, in most cases, old-fashioned teachers required hand-written works. Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it? Teachers used to believe that writing by hand was a more thoughtful activity than typing, so it helps students assimilate knowledge more effectively. Also, they assumed that writing trains the mind to process information and improves focus, so that pupils might make fewer mistakes.
Naturally, handwriting took up more time that could be potentially spent on other academic activities. Hence, it could be argued that instead of learning new concepts and generating innovative ideas (or perhaps spending more time socialising!), students had to spend more time on their homework assignments. In other words, their productivity was perhaps lower compared to now.
No assignments services
Even the most complicated tasks don’t scare modern students as they can easily find needed help on the web. It’s not a problem to get assistance with any type of assignment through the Internet. There are numerous essay writing services that can support students to complete different types of writing projects in a short time. One of the leading services on the market is Assignment Bro Help, which is famous for its high quality. Professionals working there always stick to the strict academic standards and help produce excellent grades. This is one of the most reliable companies that deliver homework to college students.
90s students didn’t have opportunities to turn to services like that? They could only really rely on themselves, and those around them, which might sometimes be quite discouraging. Students could ask their peers for help but it was quite risky. Educational experts say that when students don’t get enough academic support, they may get unmotivated for new accomplishments.
Limited communication
Today we can reach out to almost anybody, anytime. Students can get in touch with instructors by email or via messengers once they face difficulties in learning. They can receive prompt responses that will alleviate study challenges and make the education process stress-free. Modern teachers are also open to communication and always eager to help. But it hasn’t always been like this.
A few decades ago, students could communicate with educators only in person. There was no possibility to reach them via the Internet and teachers were unwilling to share their phone numbers as they wanted to keep privacy. This means that students couldn’t get answers to all of their questions, so they needed to solve most of their academic issues by themselves. Postponed communication disrupted a state of flow while studying and made the learning process more difficult.
No Wikipedia
Nowadays, almost any type of information can be easily accessed on the web. All the aspects of human knowledge are gathered in one place and freely shared with anybody. Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias have answers to almost any question that may come to your mind. This makes our lives much easier compared to the past because we don’t need to search for data from different sources.
Previously, students had to spend a lot of time looking for the required information. Doing research was extremely difficult in the 90s as individuals needed to go through numerous resources in libraries and book clubs in order to find reliable ones. They might even have to scour through the dreaded microfiche. In fact, the chances of succeeding in getting full answers to certain questions were much lower.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, now you realize how optimized today’s education process is compared to the past. Even a few decades ago the level of technological progress gave pupils different challenges with their studies. I’m sure modern students have their own unique challenges when it comes to learning, but they certainly are luckier than students from the recent past in terms of having numerous technological opportunities that can ease areas of learning and help them achieve great academic results.