Martin Weller provides a fundamental and fascinating overview of the past 25 years of educational technology. His chapter on the Web is the one I related to the most because of the amazement I personally experienced when I conducted my first Web search. I appreciated the author starting with the timeline of 1994 and his account of the early phase of the Web, dial-up modem and Bulletin Board System followed by the revolutionary role of the Web in giving birth to many of the learning technologies and the online social communities being used today.
Ironically, the revelation from the book was about who invented the World Wide Web and how little I understood of its creation. For years, I thought the Web had been created by the military to share sensitive information. It is in fact, Sir Tim Berners-Lee who invented the Web to share scientific information with other scientists from around the world. I had to google the military Web involvement to demystify my perception. It was true that the internet (not the Web) was first invented for military purposes, which was then expanded to the purpose of communication among scientists (Naughton, 2016). Light bulb moment! Until now, I had referred to the Web and the Internet interchangeably. Weller (2020) further explains that the Web (online pages) was built on the Internet (network) to make it secured and reliable. Weller’s (2020) description of the Web development from its “fundamental design principles” (p. 16) with the creation of the four technologies (HTML, URI, HTTP, Web browser) still fundamentally operating to ensure accessibility of information to anyone with an integral “democratization of communication” (p. 16), with “the freedom to publish, communicate, and share” (p. 18). These clarifications created a mental framework that will certainly help me comprehend better the educational technologies and online social communities I use every day.
References:
Naughton, J. (2016). The evolution of the Internet: from military experiment to general purpose technology. Journal of Cyber Policy. 1(1), 5-28. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23738871.2016.1157619
Weller, M. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press.
September 5, 2021 at 5:02 pm
Hi Stephanie
I wrestled with the timeline that Weller chose. I understand why he would have chosen the dawn of web based technologies and as you mention the ability to communicate in broader ways with one another as the starting point but I don’t think we should rely on that as the start of education technology.
I remember sitting at a desk pre-1994 as an elementary student with scantron sheets which were used for standardized testing I believe. This would also be technology being applied to education wouldn’t it? Standardized testing done in automated ways for grading fits the bill for education technology also and starting before the internet age may provide us some insights into how to apply education technology moving forward even as our applications become more advanced.
September 8, 2021 at 5:41 am
Hi Karen,
I wasn’t sure about his timelines as well but I read in his introduction that the ed tech field didn’t have a clear history timeline for when it was developed, I just thought Weller started when he did. I worked with the Training Director at the time at first job and he had used Lotus 123 to create a training database for all HR to find learning resources and that was in 1996! So I can appreciate your comment.
Stephanie
September 5, 2021 at 9:10 pm
It’s definitely easy to meld all the terms web, network, internet, cloud, shared drive, etc as they are all so seamless and compatible these days. There is great value in separating and understanding how these different elements exist and interact. I’m curious what next layer of our online connectivity will be widely added next. Projects like Starlink excite me and leave me feeling apprehensive. It’s great to provide connection almost anywhere and provide more accessibility, but it’s also nice to disconnect and get away too!
September 8, 2021 at 5:34 am
Hi Zac,
I had to ‘google’ Starlink! 🙂 Your point about having the Web accessible but also being nice to disconnect is so valid. I read an article once on the reasons you should unplug once a week, and although I don’t do it on a regular basis, I do take technology-break days once in a while and I become more productive and focused when I re-engaged!
Thanks for comments!
Stephanie
September 5, 2021 at 10:54 pm
Hi Stephanie,
Like you, I have been under the misapprehension that the Web and the Internet were interchangeable terms. Reading the chapter on the Web from Weller (2020) was informative and enlightening. A light bulb moment/a-ha moment for me too!
Were there any other light bulb moments while reading this chapter or the others? It is always interesting to see how far technology has come and the changes (positive and negative) it has brought with it. Look forward to hearing some of your thoughts.
Gail
September 7, 2021 at 10:58 am
Hi Gail, thanks for taking the time to comment! Oh yes, I had many other “a-ah” moment while reading the chapters. The one on elearning (1999) was also intriguing and especially the initial and resistance of scholars to adopt elearning. There was a statement made by one of the professors that spoke of students preferring the face to face learning experience, but later during that same chapter, it said the students enjoyed the flexibility of online learning. I was surprised that comment was even made. Thanks again for your question!
September 6, 2021 at 11:51 am
Hi Stephanie,
I too knew little about the history of the World Wide Web and find it incredibly interesting that its creation can be attributed to just one person.
Thanks for sharing the reference to Naughton’s work. As Naughton points out, many of us, myself included, know little about the creation of what is such a big part of our lives today. I was also guilty of using the terms ‘web’ and ‘internet’ interchangeably and have found clarity between the two.
Another important point Naughton makes is about how the Internet requires the affordances provided by digital technology but its evolution has been socially shaped more so than the technology. Fundamentally the Web is what it has always been however the way we choose to use it is continuously changing and driving its evolution.
Melissa
September 8, 2021 at 5:27 am
Hi Melissa,
Your take-away from Naughton is so relevant, the evolution of the Web that has been socially shaped more so than the technology. Facebook is such a great example.
Thanks for your comment.
Stephanie
September 6, 2021 at 1:47 pm
Reading these first chapters had the same effect on me, Stephanie! I found myself thinking back to when and how I discovered and used early technologies. In contrast to younger generations, it’s unique to our generation that we can all access memories of how we first heard of the web and accessed it. I even remember in a second-year university class first hearing the term “google” (!) In contrast, younger generations
Weller’s explanation of the difference between the web and the internet also produced an “a-ha” moment for me! Thanks for recapping it here.
September 7, 2021 at 10:50 am
Hi Alex, So glad you had the same light bulb moment! We tend to sometimes just use the web without much thinking about the back end of it. You are so right with the younger generation, they won’t have the same sentiment we experienced when it was first in use. Thanks for your comment!