Researching the history of educational technology is an interesting and interminable venture.\u00a0 A simple internet search will turn up an endless array of articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, and other internet medias analyzing diverse topics related to the field of EdTech.\u00a0 Although there is seemingly an endless amount of information on the subject; the topics, concepts, and frameworks (or lack of) can leave researchers with more questions than answers.\u00a0 Perhaps the problem is that the history of the field is vast, nebulous, and to all appearances based on a variety of opinions on origin and definition.\u00a0 Januszewski (1996, p.285) found that individual constructs varied in the field of educational technology, but that the plurality of histories provided more options to adopt EdTech for specific needs.\u00a0 Nearly a quarter of a century later, the disparity in these histories has led to players without an instructional design background filling specific EdTech needs.\u00a0 Collins and Halverson (2010) argued that new technologies have exploded, and companies are capitalizing on educational technology products that are targeting consumers with deep pockets and that schools are being left behind. They argued that if schools continued to be excluded from the technology discussion, they \u201cmay not be able to adapt and integrate new technologies, and the association of schooling with education, developed over the past 150 years, will dissolve into a world where wealthier students pursue their learning outside of the public school\u201d (Collins, & Halverson, 2010, p.165).\u00a0 In more recent publications, the theme of learning from our history, or lack of history to mold the future continues to be explored. \u00a0Macgilchrist, Allert, and Bruch (2019) speculated about the inherent characteristics of future students through three imagined futures influenced by the present-day policies of educational technology. The authors hypothesized that these social science fiction scenarios could inform future research in educational technology and guide the ID of digital learning environments, and after exploration of the nebulous history of EdTech and its equally hazy future I agree this is warranted; let us clean up the messy landscape now and create a solid history for the future.<\/p>\n
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Collins, A., and Halverson, R. (2010). The second educational revolution: rethinking education in the age of technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26<\/em>,18-27. doi:10.1111\/j.1365-2729.2009.00339.x<\/p>\n Macgilchrist, F., Allert, H., & Bruch, A. (2019). Students and society in the 2020s. Three future \u2018histories\u2019 of education and technology, Learning, Media and Technology, doi: 10.1080\/17439884.2019.1656235<\/p>\n Januszewski, A. (1996). History in Educational Technology. Retrieved from http:\/\/search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca\/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED397800<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Researching the history of educational technology is an interesting and interminable venture.\u00a0 A simple internet search will turn up an endless array of articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, and other internet medias analyzing diverse topics related to the field of EdTech.\u00a0 Although there is seemingly an endless amount of information on the subject; the topics, concepts, … Continue reading The Nebulous History of EdTech and Its Equally Hazy Future<\/span>