The term educational technology is broad in terms of meaning and scope. Relating educational technology with digital learning would narrow down its scope and would not take into consideration the field’s rich history leading up to its significant reformation in recent years.
Educational technology is the study, practices and theories of delivering learning and improving learner performance through the creation, usage and management of technical means, such as process and media, referred to as technologies (Robinson, Molenda, Rezabek, 2008, as cited in Wikipedia, 2018). The origin of educational technology is not consistent across bibliography.
According to NY Times, educational technology evolved along with classroom technology. In 1806 and prior to print press, the resource available to teachers and students was a desktop sandbox to practice the alphabet and with a flat iron, they would smooth the sand prior to presenting a new letter (Gutek, 1986, p. 62 as cited in Haran, 2015). In 1846, the chalkboard and the slate were introduced followed by the hornbook and the printed textbooks. Around the turn of the 20th century, lead pencils were mass-produced replacing the school slate and the magic lantern and the stereoscope were the first visual technological inventions. A few decades later, films, radios, the overhead projector and the TV, played a key role in education prior to teaching machines, programmed instruction, computers and presentation software that came much later. Unquestionably, today’s technologies such as the Internet, the Learning Management Systems, digital textbooks, cloud computing and social media have shaped the media used to deliver education.
However, bibliography supports that as early as the fifth century BC, formal teaching took place through storytelling and mastering the art of lecturing in ancient Greece. Ancient written documents were found in ancient Greece and Egypt, proving that written communication was well developed before the invention of printing in Europe during the 15th century.
Therefore, we clearly see the relationship between media and technologies and how those have been used through history in delivering effective education.
References
Bates, T. (2014, December 10). A short history of educational technology. Online learning and distance education resources [blog]. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/12/10/a-short-history-of-educational-technology/
Educational technology. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 9, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology#cite_note-1
Haran, M. (2015, May 29). A history of education technology. Institute Of Progressive Education & Learning [blog]. Retrieved from http://institute-of-progressive-education-and-learning.org/a-history-of-education-technology/
Haran, M. (2014, October 3). Education technology – a primer. Institute Of Progressive Education & Learning [blog]. Retrieved from http://institute-of-progressive-education-and-learning.org/education-technology-a-primer/
September 10, 2018 at 11:38 am
Dino, great post! I like how you discussed all of the educational technology that has been used over the years. I’m wondering if you found any documentation from the articles on whether or not these old ways of incorporating technology into education were successful?
Great post!
September 16, 2018 at 11:04 pm
Thank you, Andrea. Regarding your question, it seemed that technologies come and go like history repeating itself. For example, audiovisual media in learning received a lot of traction at the time and the US government, especially the military, invested enormous amount in this technology. It seemed that learning videos didn’t result in a significant increase in learning retention compared to traditional teaching and it was abandoned. Nowadays, the evolution of social media, the explosion of mobile phone technology, higher bandwidth, and video streaming created the affordances for videos to be one the most effective learning media of our time.
September 13, 2018 at 7:02 pm
Dino, I am enjoying reading each students post on this topic. I continue to learn more about educational technologies that I was unaware of before. I had never heard of a hornbook and enjoyed looking through Wikipedia and YouTube to learn more about it. We are blessed to live in a time where information is so easily attainable. I can’t wait to see what comes soon in the field of educational technology, as my small children progress through their life-long learning journey.
September 16, 2018 at 11:09 pm
Hi Brandon – I’m happy you found out as well about the hornbook, I didn;t know about it either until I read the blog. Having kids growing while exploring digital media constitutes a great learning opportunity for parents. Enjoy the ride!