There is no universally-accepted definition of educational technology (also known as EdTech and instructional technology, among others), so it is not surprising that different sources also give varying histories of the field. While some sources indicate that the history of educational technology started “several decades ago” (Jones, 2019, para. 2), others extend all the way back to include cave drawings (SMARTEduEMEA, 2011, 0:13). Some sources cast a wide net in EdTech history, including instruments such as the pencil, pen, and slide rule (Elemento, 2018, 0:58), while others omit even the overhead projector and video-tape recorder (Saettler, 1968, as cited in Lesniak, n.d., p. 510).
Perspectives on the success of educational technology are equally diverse. New technologies often come with great promise as to how they will revolutionize our lives, including education. With the advent of educational films, Thomas Edison proposed in 1913 that books would soon become obsolete in schools as “it is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture” (The Economist, 2013, para. 1). Others assert that the medium through which the instruction occurs doesn’t offer learning gains: “a lecture is a lecture regardless of the medium through which it was delivered” (Veletsianos, 2014, para. 8). Writer and educator, John Warner (2017), offers an austere perspective, stating that the “history of education technology is . . . one of unfulfilled promise” (para. 22), adding that he has “a hard time naming a purely ed tech innovation that has had a significant (positive) impact on education” (para. 21). One’s perspective on the success of educational technology is perhaps highly dependent on how one defines success.
Perhaps the debated definition and history of educational technology are advantages. Learners’ needs vary greatly and continue to change over time. By not putting education technology’s history in a clearly-marked box, we are forced to keep an open perspective of what it is and perhaps be more open to its future possibilities.
Resources
Elemento, R. (2018, February 8). History of educational technology (timeline). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6WqA4wRPZE
The Economist. (2013, June 29). Teaching and technology: E-ducation. Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/leaders/2013/06/29/e-ducation
Jones, Jermaine. (2019). History of technology in education. The Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.theclassroom.com/history-technology-education-6518584.html
Lesniak, R. J. (1968). Saettler, Paul: A history of instructional technology. [Review of the book A History of Instructional Technology]. The Journal of Teacher Education, 19(4), pp. 509-510. Retrieved from https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca/doi/pdf/10.1177/002248716801900421
Veletsianos, G. (2014, November). The significance of educational technology history and research. eLearn Magazine. Retrieved from https://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2686761
SMARTEduEMEA. (2011, October 3). The history of technology in education. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s