For this activity, I have been reading Marin Weller’s book, 25 Years of Ed Tech. The book covers one significant ed-tech advancement for the years 1994-2018. For this post, I will be covering the years 1994 to 2001. The technologies in the book are based on the author’s experience working at the Institution of Educational Technology at the Open University in England.
A Few Thoughts:
One theme throughout the chapters was that the ed-tech field does not do a good job of looking at and reflecting on the past and learning from it. Weller (2020) suggested that this may be because “there is no time to look in the rear-view mirror in a field that is always interested in the future” (p. 4). However, this can lead the field to rediscover “tired concepts” (p. 14) and rehash old debates. The cartoon in the first few pages demonstrates this rediscovery process. If we fail to look at the past, we are destined to make similar mistakes or rediscover old concepts.
Another takeaway was that many of the technologies were, at one time or another, considered just a fad and would not make any significant contributions to ed-tech in the future. Weller cautioned that focusing on short-term limitations can lead us to miss how important these technologies can be in the long term. I will take the learning from this book and be sure to apply it throughout this program and in my practice as an instructor not simply writing off a technology because it does not work for us here and now.
Overall, I am enjoying reading this book and look forward to the following chapters!
Reference:
Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of ed tech. Athabasca University Press. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993050.01
September 2, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Thanks for your thoughts Tim,
As a high school teacher, I often see educators always wanting to ‘reinvent the wheel,’ as your pictures in this post aptly reflect. I often try to find if a particular concept/idea/structure has been implemented elsewhere and look to adapt it. We can gain much insight and may even save time and energy by looking in the past, as Weller suggests.
September 3, 2022 at 10:40 am
I agree! All educators should look at successfully implemented ideas regardless of the source. As a postsecondary instructor, I think we can learn a lot from some structures and concepts that high school educators implement.