Today I want to take a trip down memory lane to look at the history of technology in education. My explorations take me from my teenage experiences in my birth country Germany to my home country of Canada. Unable to resist the temptation to compare these two countries in their use of technology in the classroom today, I found some interesting data to help answer my question if Germany is out running Canada in its use of technology in the classroom.
Technology has been present in education since the ‘Slide Rule was first introduced in 1654 by Robert Bissaker’ (Parson, 2017). I am old enough to remember using the slide rule in physics and math, before the use of calculators became common in classrooms. However I don’t remember the ‘Magic Lantern’ which was introduced in 1646 and already then was used in education to increase student engagement (Parson, 2017). My high school experience in the late 1970’s included the slide projector and 8mm film which at the time was the height of technology use in education. Today we utilize smart boards, overhead projectors, computers, laptops and tablets with our students.
Remembering the use of the slide projector sent me on a search to find out how Germany is doing with technology integration in the education system compared to Canada today. Germany has been known as a leader in innovation (Ugesh, 2016) and I expected to see advancement in technology integration within education. I was surprised to learn Canada actually surpasses this innovative European nation. I came across two studies which provided me with research data for comparison. The D21 Initiative (2016) study provided insight into the digital use within German schools.
In comparison, the 2016 study released by the Canadian Teacher Federation shows that Canadian schools are performing better in the provision of digital equipment available to teachers and students.
To conclude, the journey from slide rulers to smart boards has been a relatively short one in the context of history, but the leap has been profound. Adapting to a fast growing industry within education generates its own challenges, which Canada seems to be tackling well, adapting to the changes more responsively than my birth country Germany.
References
Initiative D21 (2016). Sonderstudie Schule Digital. Retrieved from https://initiatived21.de/app/uploads/2017/01/d21_schule_digital2016.pdf
Parson, K. (2017, June 17). The Ultimate history of Technology in Education. ourICT. Retrieved from http://www.ourict.co.uk/technology-education-history/
Scherer, K. (2017, Nov 12). German schools slowly going digital. Handelsblatt Global. Retrieved from https://global.handelsblatt.com/politics/german-schools-slowly-going-digital-850755
Ugesh, A. J. (2016). The ‘Made in Germany’ Champion Brands: Nation Branding, Innovation and World Export Leadership. New York, NY: Routledge.
Great post Anita. I am also surprised to see that Canada is ahead of Germany. I forget that Canada is progressive in a lot of areas, including education. I am curious about the dates you have listed for the magic lantern. 1646 is much earlier than I would have expected! The brief research I did showed it used in the early 1800s. I found this to be a fascinating topic with so much to cover. Thank you for sharing your insight. – Tanya
Hi Tanya, the date for the magic lantern was different in several articles I looked at. The one I ended up using seemed to have the most coherent time line. This article quoted the magic lantern to have been introduced in 1800 as well, perhaps this was the one you looked at? https://www.sutori.com/story/educational-technology-timeline.
I was equally as fascinated as you by how far back technology reaches. Innovation really is a part of evolution and I think we often forget the things we take for granted once actually were the hype of innovation.
Hi Anita,
I love how you compared the evolution of educational technology of Germany to Canada. My father-in-law talks about how Germany has been innovative in a lot of things; however, as you have shown in the tables, it was surprising to see that Canada has surpassed Germany in this area. Now, I ask myself, “why”? Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and findings! – Joyce
Hi Joyce, I asked the why as well. Remembering how I stay in contact with my family over there using FaceTime, their internet connection often fails us. Too many people using the same lines? And the bottleneck effect makes internet less reliable? If something doesn’t work right, users are often less likely to use it or rely on it. I would have to look further into it.
Hi Anita,
That was a really interesting comparison. It made me question if the internet in the classroom might be related to internet use in the country and looking at per capita users it looks like the statistics are relatively close. Canada is 4th in the world with per capita internet use at ~84% and Germany is 42nd with only ~52%. That very closely fits with around half the German teachers saying they didn’t have internet in the classroom and about 90% of Canadian classrooms using it. It would be interesting to see why the per capita usage is lower. Thanks for the interesting article.
Countries Compared by Media Internet Users Per capita. International Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Media/Internet/Users/Per-capita
Hi Jeff, thank you for digging up that data. Very interesting. My experience with German internet is that it is not very reliable. Social media tools such as FaceTime can be challenging to use at times. I wonder if the vast population in Germany of 82.29 million, compared to Canada’s 36.95 million has something to do with it. Too many people trying to use the same lines at once, creating a bottleneck effect. Would be interesting to look into further. Maybe when I am done with all our readings.
Thank you, Anita. These are interesting data that give a glimpse of the presence of technology in classrooms! They remind me of a Cuban’s excellent book ‘Oversold and Underused’ which explores the use of computers in US classrooms. The essence of the argument there is that even though penetration of computers in schools is high, we should take a closer look into whether and how they are used: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674011090
Hi George, thank you for sharing this resource. I think I may need to read it. The question around computers in the classroom comes up at team meetings at my work place all the time. I often find articles dealing with technology addiction in students can send one down a rabbit hole of misunderstanding the use of technology in the first place. Often the fear to add to a societal problem, keeps teachers from using computers in the classroom. Rather than looking at technology as additional screen time, I believe we can use digital tools to teach children from a young age the appropriate use of technology and therefore equipping them with the understanding to use technology with intend. Knutson said it well, when he was quoted in an article on TrustEd “When it comes to kids’ screen time, it is an issue of not only moderation and media balance, but also the context in which it is happening. There’s a significant difference between parking your child or all of your students in front of a screen to sit and absorb, and engaging with a screen or using a screen to engage with others.”