{"id":207,"date":"2020-09-05T07:48:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T14:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0162\/?p=207"},"modified":"2020-09-05T07:49:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T14:49:56","slug":"reflection-on-25-years-of-ed-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0162\/reflection-on-25-years-of-ed-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection on 25 Years of Ed Tech – Chapters 1 – 8"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Repetition – Photo by Matthew T Rader<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve been reading Martin Weller’s book titled, 25 Years of Ed Tech.\u00a0 It’s an historical recounting of Weller’s experience as a professor of educational technology at Open University in the UK with the development of ed tech over a twenty-five year period beginning in 1994.<\/p>\n

Was 1994 the appropriate year to start with?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I think so.\u00a0 <\/span>The book that Weller set out to write is a history of how web based digital technology has had an impact on education, not a history on educational technology in general.\u00a0 <\/span>Certainly, educational technology was in use prior to 1994 and took many forms, but in order for this book to be focused and concise, Weller would have had to make a decision on what to include and when to begin.\u00a0 <\/span>Lunduke (2017) indicated that Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), the topic of the first chapter of 25 Years of Ed Tech<\/i>, had been in use since the eighties.\u00a0 <\/span>Having said that, Weller (2020) admitted in the introduction of his book that he\u2019s \u201cguilty of\u2026 being rather arbitrary in allocating a specific year to any given technology\u201c (p. 6).\u00a0 <\/span>The book had to begin somewhere, and the transition between BBS and the web was certainly a pivotal moment into the era which is the central theme of this history.\u00a0 So, this seems like a logical place to start.<\/p>\n

Reactions to Weller\u2019s Writing<\/b><\/h3>\n

One of main themes of Weller\u2019s (2020) book that has so far stood out to me is the \u201chistorical amnesia of educational technology\u201d (p. 11). \u00a0 <\/span>This concept reinforces Santayana\u2019s (1905\/2017) frequently misquoted passage, \u201cthose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it\u201d (p. 132).\u00a0 <\/span>This theme was most obviously illustrated to me when Weller outlined Carr-Chellman and Duschatel\u2019s (2000, as cited in Weller, 2020) application of constructivism theory in the development of the ideal online course.\u00a0 <\/span>The list of recommended components are so familiar…<\/p>\n