Evolving PDC curriculum and tools: A study in responding to technological change

•A history of parallel and distributed computing (PDC) technology evolution, from the late 1990s to the present.•Specific ways in which teaching PDC has changed during that timespan.•Descriptions and pictures of a wide variety of Beowulf clusters.•Select software tools specifically designed for PDC education.•A dozen insights reflecting the author's experiences as a PDC educator.