Year ago, long before the Internet, Skype, YouTube and social media online... before the television had become a common source of entertainment, education and news in most American households... there was the radio.
Commercial radio in the United States developed after World War I. During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s it was the main source of immediate news for the masses. Listeners gathered around the radio to hear music, religious services, speeches, plays, etc. It was also used as a means of providing a more in depth education for school children, especially in rural areas far from the amenities available in a city.
In Kansas Radio Classroom was developed by the Kansas State Department of Public Instruction and the Radio Office at Kansas State Teachers' College, Emporia. It was broadcast via five radio stations around the state from 3:15 to 3:30pm on weekdays.
We have a Radio Classroom promotional pamphlet and two booklets for teachers in the State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library. All three were published in the 1940s. Take a look at education "on the edge of technology" 70 years ago.
What? You're not using Radio Classroom? (1946)
http://cdm16884.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16884coll103/id/329/rec/3
The Radio Classroom : a series of programs, presented under the auspices of the State Department of Education by Emporia State Teachers College over the Kansas State Network and designed for classroom instruction in the rural schools. September 16, 1946- April 4, 1947. (1946)
http://cdm16884.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16884coll42/id/175/rec/2
The Radio Classroom Teachers' Manual : a series of programs, presented under the auspices of the State Department of Education by Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia over the Kansas state network and designed for classroom instruction in the rural and elementary schools. September 29, 1947- April 16, 1948. (1947)
http://cdm16884.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16884coll42/id/174/rec/1