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To explore the history of educational technology, I first set out to define what technology is. My initial internet searches revealed that technology has a variety of dictionary and encyclopedia definitions. Beyond the basic denotations of technology as a \u201ccollection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes\u201d (“Technology,” n.d.), I wanted a more human perspective, so I expanded my search to include videos and blog posts. Kevin Kelly, in a 2010 TEDxAmsterdam talk, shared his insights into what technology means, and presented a definition that I found relatable: \u201cTechnology is anything useful invented by a mind\u201d (Kelly, 2010). Human Technologies, developed as a core subject at the International College Hong Kong (ICHK), expands on this definition to include cognitive, material, social, spiritual, and somatic technologies (ICHK, n.d.). For example, breathing may be innate to humans, but CPR, Lamaze, and meditation are each somatic technologies.<\/p>\n
What does this mean for educational technology? Education, when seen as the \u201cthe process of facilitating learning\u201d (“Education,” n.d.), doesn\u2019t necessarily require tools and devices. Yet, throughout human history, we have increasingly applied our ingenuity to change the nature of education. Thinking of technology as not just a set of tools but also as a set of processes, I wondered: How have humans technologized education?<\/p>\n
The Socratic method, from the classical Greek period, represents an example of early cognitive and social technologies in education. By developing a formalized method for debate, Socrates and his contemporaries created an educational technology that uses structured discourse as a way to facilitate learning. This form of debate inspired Plato\u2019s Republic<\/em> and led to the first concepts of universities (Smith, 1997).<\/p>\n The highly-criticized factory model of schooling\u2014involving rigid systems and standardization\u2014is a way of technologizing education to facilitate its application on a mass scale. Rows of desks, chalkboards, and school bells are each examples of material technologies, yet there are also social technologies at work: the teacher-student power structure of a classroom, and the timetable-oriented structure of a school day. Through my research on the topic, I was intrigued to find Watters (2015) offers a critique of how terms like industrialized education are often used \u201cnot so much to explain the history of education, as to try to shape its future\u201d (para. 22).<\/p>\n The certification process is another way humans have technologized education. Receiving credentials through formal schooling can be seen as a social technology, one used to delineate a person\u2019s knowledge into discreet units of education. These credentials are then recognized as interchangeable by many facets of society, which creates a \u201cplug-and-play\u201d form of education (Brown & Tannock, 2009).<\/p>\n Exploring education technology\u2014not just as material tools, but also as somatic, social, and cognitive processes\u2014presented an opportunity to consider how education itself is a technology. Is upgrading to \u201cEducation 2.0\u201d (Vagelatos, Foskolos, & Komninos, 2010) such a new idea, or are we already many versions into this technological development?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/p>\n Brown, P., & Tannock, S. (2009). Education, meritocracy and the global war for talent. Journal of Education Policy<\/em>, 24<\/em>(4), 377\u2013392. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/02680930802669938<\/p>\n Education. (n.d.). In Wikipedia<\/em>. Retrieved September 6, 2019, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Education<\/p>\n International College Hong Kong. (n.d.). Human Technologies | ICHK. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from https:\/\/www.ichk.edu.hk\/home\/learning\/innovation\/human-technologies\/<\/p>\n Smith, M. K. (1997). Plato on education | infed.org. Retrieved September 7, 2019, from http:\/\/infed.org\/mobi\/plato-on-education\/<\/p>\n Technology. (n.d.). In Wikipedia<\/em>. Retrieved September 6, 2019, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Technology<\/p>\n TEDxAmsterdam. (2010). Kevin Kelly: Technology\u2019s epic story | TED Talk. Retrieved September 8, 2019, from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GS1xL1qcBa4<\/p>\n Vagelatos, A. T., Foskolos, F. K., & Komninos, T. P. (2010). Education 2.0: Bringing innovation to the classroom. Proceedings – 14th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics, PCI 2010<\/em>, (September), 201\u2013204. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/PCI.2010.15<\/p>\n Watters, A. (2015). The Invented History of \u201cThe Factory Model of Education.\u201d Retrieved September 6, 2019, from http:\/\/hackeducation.com\/2015\/04\/25\/factory-model<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Attribution<\/p>\n Photo by Giammarco Boscaro<\/a> on <\/span>Unsplash<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To explore the history of educational technology, I first set out to define what technology is. My initial internet searches revealed that technology has a variety of dictionary and encyclopedia definitions. Beyond the basic denotations of technology as a \u201ccollection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes\u201d (“Technology,” n.d.), I wanted a more human perspective, so… Continue reading How have humans technologized education?<\/span>