{"id":308,"date":"2020-09-05T18:20:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T01:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0152\/?p=308"},"modified":"2020-09-05T18:20:08","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T01:20:08","slug":"25-years-of-ed-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0152\/25-years-of-ed-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Years of Ed Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I flip to the introduction in Martin Weller’s Book 25 years of Ed Tech<\/a>, I find myself laughing at his cartoon depicting the past 25 years of technology and learning. In 1994 online learning was invented, in 2012, we reinvented it, and in 2019, it was reinvented yet again. Then it seems that (COVID-19) changed learning as we knew it; as an educator, I was thrust into what I thought was a new way of teaching. However, as I now look back, what I thought was a “New” method of teaching was an old method that ha
\ns been used for over 25 years. As the access to technology is consistently increasing, the techniques we teach also need to be updated. Weller discusses in chapter 2, how web browsers were becoming more popular. In 1995 and Netscape dominated the market using HTML coding to create web pages. Weller compared the task of creating HTML web pages to waiting for a mythical creature to emerge and make its way to land. As HTML webpages are an older technology, it made me realize that newer learning platforms are still using an older technology. The college that I teach at uses Bright Space (D2L) as the primary platform for students. Currently, the courses are all using web-based pages with links and set up using HTLM coding. I had no prior experience with HTLM coding until I had to create an online course; everything I learned was self-taught. I ask myself, how is it possible that 25 years later, we are still using older technology? We are in 2020, and we have 5G networks and the ability to create instant web pages.
\nI have been intrigued and fascinated by Weller’s book. I felt that I had been taken back in time, to when I first started down my University path and how each year a new technology was introduced. As Weller states in Chapter 8, the internet is no longer seen as a fad as it once was. The majority of educational institutes are currently using some e-learning platforms and tools. As I continue to read Martin Weller’s Book 25 years of Ed Tech, I realized technology has come along way and I can’t wait to see what chapter 9 holds.<\/p>\n

25 Years of Ed Tech<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n