{"id":132,"date":"2026-08-29T13:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T20:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/?p=132"},"modified":"2026-10-17T10:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:14:05","slug":"the-8th-century-connection-to-education-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/the-8th-century-connection-to-education-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"The 8th Century Connection to Education Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The definition of education technology (edtech) can vary based on competing experiences and understanding of what technology is and what education is. The Association for Educational Communications and Technology defines edtech as \u201cthe study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources\u201d (Hlynka & Jacobsen, 2010). One can arguably suggest that this definition can be examined further to understand the fundamental principles that made education technology possible. It sparks curiosity in understanding how modern-day education technologies evolved over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Weller (2020) discusses the \u201chistorical amnesia in education technology\u201d in his book 25 years of Ed Tech<\/em>. One can arguably suggest education technology dates to the 8th<\/sup> century (Elamin, 2024). This era encompasses prominent Islamic and Arab scholars that laid the foundation of education technology, one that is built on to make edtech\u2019s evolution possible. There is a disconnect between the history of education technology to early Arab and Islamic scholars. Colonialism shaped what edtech is and how one perceives it (Koole et al., 2024). Elamin (2024) explains \u201cwhile the Islamic Golden Age\u2019s Contributions have been monumental, they have often been overshadowed by Eurocentric accounts of scientific progress. This neglect obscures the pivotal role played by Islamic scholars in shaping global knowledge systems.\u201d Education technology then is built on this monumental foundation and arguably persuades for a \u201cmore balanced and inclusive understanding of history highlighting the interconnectedness of civilizations in advancing human progress\u201d (Elamin, 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weller does not fall short of mentioning Western or European influencers that shaped education technology, however, it fell short in mentioning some prominent Arab and Islamic scholars. One therefore wonders if the history of education technology is hegemonic to Western and European scholars and findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a deep-dive lens on the history of education technology, prominent Arab and Islamic figure such as Muhammad Al-Khwarizmi laid foundational knowledge and structures that education technology is built on today. Al-Khwarizmi was a Muslim mathematician and astronomer that introduced algebra, Hindu-Arabic numerical system including the number zero and step-by-step solutions to solve problems (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.). Current day technologies that education technology heavily relies on such as computer programs, software and applications as well as artificial intelligence (AI) rely on Al-Khawarizmi\u2019s foundational work yet is failed to be recognized through the evolution of education technology. An article By the Numbers from the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo stated that \u201clater Enlightenment-era European scholars claimed some of those advances as their own, without always acknowledging the Islamic influences on their supposedly new findings\u201d (University of Waterloo, Faculty of Mathematics, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings introduce a new debate, is education technology only advanced technology or does it date back to fundamental findings that evolved into modern day technology. This debate sets a new discussion in the world of edtech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam, T., Sarwar, M. B., & Moustafa, N. (2023, July 13). Decolonising EdTech: A resource list for tackling coloniality and digital neocolonialism in EdTech. NORRAG. https:\/\/www.norrageducation.org\/decolonising-edtech-a-resource-list-for-tackling-coloniality-and-digital-neocolonialism-in-edtech\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elamin, M. O. I. (2024). Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi: The pioneer of algorithms and his enduring legacy in artificial intelligence. Journal of Ecohumanism, 3(8), 1859\u20131880. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.62754\/joe.v3i8.5896<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hlynka, D., & Jacobsen, M. (2010). What is educational technology, anyway? A commentary on the new AECT definition of the field. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 36(3). https:\/\/cjlt.ca\/index.php\/cjlt\/article\/view\/26395<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koole, M., Smith, M., Traxler, J., Adam, T., & Footring, S. (2024). Decolonising educational technology. Education Sciences, 14(10), 1070. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/educsci14101070<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslim Intellectual Network for Empowerment. (2024, September 9). Al-Khwarizmi: The pioneer who shaped mathematics, algorithms, and the modern world<\/em>. Medium. https:\/\/mineglobal.medium.com\/al-khwarizmi-the-pioneer-who-shaped-mathematics-algorithms-and-the-modern-world-ac50eb9e58de<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Al-Khwarizmi. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/al-Khwarizmi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15215\/aupress\/9781771993050.01<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Waterloo, Faculty of Mathematics. (2021, August 6). Top 8 facts about the Islamic mathematician Al Khwarizmi. https:\/\/uwaterloo.ca\/math\/news\/top-8-facts-about-islamic-mathematician-al-khwarizmi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transparency Statement:<\/em><\/strong> Generative AI, ChatGPT, was used to create the reference list and in-text citations only.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The definition of education technology (edtech) can vary based on competing experiences and understanding of what technology is and what education is. The Association for Educational Communications and Technology defines edtech as \u201cthe study and ethical practice of facilitating learning… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru331\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}