Now in their 80s, brothers Stephen and John Miklosiik remember scribbling in pencil the notes they took in their high school while teachers screeched chalk across a blackboard.

They're still keen on what happens in the classrooms at Port High, which is why they decided to provide today's students with the latest technology in learning, at a time when a teacher's lessons notes can now be photographed with a cellphone or downloaded at home.

The alumni donated what they called a "modest" $28,000 to the school, which has afforded five new smartboards and seven projectors, plus smaller purchases that include iPad Minis.

"This will basically put smartboards in every classroom," said guidance counsellor Barclay Walker, bringing the school's total up to 20.

A smartboard uses projected images that can be touched and manipulated similar to a smartphone.

"It grabs kids' attention and gets them involved in what goes on in the classroom," Walker said.

Personal support worker Crystal Pogson said it allows her to conduct lessons without turning her back to students.

"It's a fun way of learning. It sticks with you a little more," she said.

Stephen Miklosik, a retired anesthesiologist who now calls Columbus, Ohio, home, said Monday that he first learned about the classroom teaching aids while watching TV.

"We all need to be in the 21st century," the 80-year-old said, adding his way of learning now seems "primitive" by today's standards.

John Miklosik, at 83 long retired as a CBC technology assistant, said he was first introduced to touch-screen technology by a professor who in the early 1970s said it would change the way people lived their lives.

He said he and his brother felt compelled to give back to their old high school.

"Our parents always taught us it was education or nothing," he said.

greg.furminger@sunmedia.ca