Not sure of the educational value of this interactive, but having just celebrated a birthday, this interactive from WaPo made for an interesting stroll down memory lane. If nothing else, this tool will demonstrate to your students how fast the world is moving when it comes to technological change. Students enter their birth year and get a custom experience so they can see how much has changed in their lifetimes. 

Having entered graduate school in 1994, this chart brought me back to a period when email was a novelty in those pre-spam days and only 5% of Americans were using the internet:

Oh and the interminable dial-up speeds...you'll get to relive them in this interactive too:) A few questions to make this of educational value:

• Which of the four categories: video, internet, cell phone or music, has changed the most in your lifetime?
• Which of these technologies has the largest influence on your life? 
• Which of these trends (video, internet, cell phone or music) do your or your parents currently spend money on? 

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Here are a series of WSJ videos that trace the history of services like cable TV, banking and cell phones. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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