Monday, April 9, 2012

History of Educational Technology

There is no written evidence which can tell us exactly who has
coined the phrase educational technology. Different educationists,
scientists and philosophers at different time intervals have put
forwarded different definitions of Educational Technology. Educational
technology is a multifaceted and integrated process involving people,
procedure, ideas, devices, and organization, where technology from
different fields of science is borrowed as per the need and requirement
of education for implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to
those problems involved in all aspects of human learning.
Educational technology, broadly speaking, has passed through five stages.
The
first stage of educational technology is coupled with the use of aids
like charts, maps, symbols, models, specimens and concrete materials.
The term educational technology was used as synonyms to audio-visual
aids.
The second stage of educational technology is associated
with the 'electronic revolution' with the introduction and establishment
of sophisticated hardware and software. Use of various audio-visual
aids like projector, magic lanterns, tape-recorder, radio and television
brought a revolutionary change in the educational scenario.
Accordingly, educational technology concept was taken in terms of these
sophisticated instruments and equipments for effective presentation of
instructional materials.
The third stage of educational technology
is linked with the development of mass media which in turn led to
'communication revolution' for instructional purposes. Computer-assisted
Instruction (CAI) used for education since 1950s also became popular
during this era.
The fourth stage of educational technology is
discernible by the individualized process of instruction. The invention
of programmed learning and programmed instruction provided a new
dimension to educational technology. A system of self-learning based on
self-instructional materials and teaching machines emerged.
The
latest concept of educational technology is influenced by the concept of
system engineering or system approach which focuses on language
laboratories, teaching machines, programmed instruction, multimedia
technologies and the use of the computer in instruction. According to
it, educational technology is a systematic way of designing, carrying
out and evaluating the total process of teaching and learning in terms
of specific objectives based on research.Educational technology during the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron AgeEducational technology, despite the uncertainty of the origin of the
term, can be traced back to the time of the three-age system
periodization of human prehistory; namely the Stone Age, the Bronze Age,
and the Iron Age.
Duringthe Stone Age, ignition of fire by
rubbing stones, manufacture of various handmade weapon and utensils from
stones and clothing practice were some of the simple technological
developments of utmost importance. A fraction of Stone Age people
developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoe ship technology to migrate from
one place to another across the Ocean, by which they developed their
first informal education of knowledge of the ocean currents, weather
conditions, sailing practice, astronavigation, and star maps. During the
later Stone Age period (Neolithic period),for agricultural practice,
polished stone tools were made from a variety of hard rocks largely by
digging underground tunnels, which can be considered as the first steps
in mining technology. The polished axes were so effective that even
after appearance of bronze and iron; people used it for clearing forest
and the establishment of crop farming.
Although Stone Age cultures
left no written records, but archaeological evidences proved their
shift from nomadic life to agricultural settlement. Ancient tools
conserved in different museums, cave paintings like Altamira Cave in
Spain, and other prehistoric art, such as the Venus of Willendorf,
Mother Goddess from Laussel, France etc. are some of the evidences in
favour of their cultures.
Neolithic Revolution of Stone Age
resulted into the appearance of Bronze Age with development of
agriculture, animal domestication, and the adoption of permanent
settlements. For these practices Bronze Age people further developed
metal smelting, with copper and later bronze, an alloy of tin and
copper, being the materials of their choice.
The Iron Age people
replaced bronze and developed the knowledge of iron smelting technology
to lower the cost of living since iron utensils were stronger and
cheaper than bronze equivalents. In many Eurasian cultures, the Iron Age
was the last period before the development of written scripts.Educational technology during the period of Ancient civilizationsAccording to Paul Saettler, 2004, Educational technology can be
traced back to the time when tribal priests systematized bodies of
knowledge and ancient cultures invented pictographs or sign writing to
record and transmit information. In every stage of human civilization,
one can find an instructional technique or set of procedures intended to
implement a particular culture which were also supported by number of
investigations and evidences. The more advanced the culture, the more
complex became the technology of instruction designed to reflect
particular ways of individual and social behaviour intended to run an
educated society. Over centuries, each significant shift in educational
values, goals or objectives led to diverse technologies of instruction.
The
greatest advances in technology and engineering came with the rise of
the ancient civilizations. These advances stimulated and educated other
societies in the world to adopt new ways of living and governance.
The
Indus Valley Civilization was an early Bronze Age civilization which
was located in the northwestern region of the Indian Subcontinent. The
civilization was primarily flourished around the Indus River basin of
the Indus and the Punjab region, extending upto the Ghaggar-Hakra River
valley and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, (most of the part is under today's
Pakistan and the western states of modern-day India as well as some part
of the civilization extending upto southeastern Afghanistan, and the
easternmost part of Balochistan, Iran).
There is a long term
controversy to be sure about the language that the Harappan people
spoke. It is assumed that their writing was at least seems to be or a
pictographic script. The script appears to have had about 400 basic
signs, with lots of variations. People write their script with the
direction generally from right to left. Most of the writing was found on
seals and sealings which were probably used in trade and official &
administrative work.
Harappan people had the knowledge of the
measuring tools of length, mass, and time. They were the first in the
world to develop a system of uniform weights and measures.
In a
study carried out by P. N. Rao et al. in 2009, published in Science,
computer scientists found that the Indus script's pattern is closer to
that of spoken words, which supported the proposed hypothesis that it
codes for an as-yet-unknown language.
According to the Chinese
Civilization, some of the major techno-offerings from China include
paper, early seismological detectors, toilet paper, matches, iron
plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the suspension bridge, the
wheelbarrow, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic compass,
the raised-relief map, the blast furnace, the propeller, the crossbow,
the South Pointing Chariot, and gun powder. With the invent of paper
they have given their first step towards developments of educational
technology by further culturing different handmade products of paper as
means of visual aids.
Ancient Egyptian language was at one point
one of the longest surviving and used languages in the world. Their
script was made up of pictures of the real things like birds, animals,
different tools, etc. These pictures are popularly called hieroglyph.
Their language was made up of above 500 hieroglyphs which are known as
hieroglyphics. On the stone monuments or tombs which were discovered and
rescued latter on provides the evidence of existence of many forms of
artistic hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt.Educational technology during Medieval and Modern PeriodPaper and the pulp papermaking process which was developed in China
during the early 2nd century AD, was carried to the Middle East and was
spread to Mediterranean by the Muslim conquests. Evidences support that a
paper mill was also established in Sicily in the 12th century. The
discovery of spinning wheel increased the productivity of thread making
process to a great extent and when Lynn White added the spinning wheel
with increasing supply of rags, this led to the production of cheap
paper, which was a prime factor in the development of printing
technology.
The invention of the printing press was taken place in
approximately 1450 AD, by Johannes Gutenburg, a German inventor. The
invention of printing press was a prime developmental factor in the
history of educational technology to convey the instruction as per the
need of the complex and advanced-technology cultured society.
In
the pre-industrial phases, while industry was simply the handwork at
artisan level, the instructional processes were relied heavily upon
simple things like the slate, the horn book, the blackboard, and chalk.
It was limited to a single text book with a few illustrations.
Educational technology was considered synonymous to simple aids like
charts and pictures.
The year 1873 may be considered a landmark in
the early history of technology of education or audio-visual education.
An exhibition was held in Vienna at international level in which an
American school won the admiration of the educators for the exhibition
of maps, charts, textbooks and other equipments.
Maria Montessori
(1870-1952), internationally renowned child educator and the originator
of Montessori Method exerted a dynamic impact on educational technology
through her development of graded materials designed to provide for the
proper sequencing of subject matter for each individual learner. Modern
educational technology suggests many extension of Montessori's idea of
prepared child centered environment.
In1833, Charles Babbage's
design of a general purpose computing device laid the foundation of the
modern computer and in 1943, the first computing machine as per hi
design was constructed by International Business Machines Corporation in
USA. The Computer Assisted instruction (CAI) in which the computer
functions essentially as a tutor as well as the Talking Type writer was
developed by O.K. Moore in 1966. Since 1974, computers are interestingly
used in education in schools, colleges and universities.
In the
beginning of the 19th century, there were noteworthy changes in the
field of education. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), right from
its start of school broadcasts in 1920 had maintained rapid pace in
making sound contribution to formal education. In the USA, by 1952, 20
states had the provision for educational broadcasting. Parallel to this
time about 98% of the schools in United Kingdom were equipped with
radios and there were regular daily programmes.
Sidney L. Pressey,
a psychologist of Ohio state university developed a self-teaching
machine called 'Drum Tutor' in 1920. Professor Skinner, however, in his
famous article 'Science of Learning and art of Teaching' published in
1945 pleaded for the application of the knowledge derived from
behavioral psychology to classroom procedures and suggested automated
teaching devices as means of doing so.
Although the first
practical use of Regular television broadcasts was in Germany in 1929
and in 1936 the Olympic Games in Berlin were broadcasted through
television stations in Berlin, Open circuit television began to be used
primarily for broadcasting programmes for entertainment in 1950. Since
1960, television is used for educational purposes.
In 1950,
Brynmor, in England, used educational technological steps for the first
time. It is to be cared that in 1960, as a result of industrial
revolution in America and Russia, other countries also started
progressing in the filed of educational technology. In this way, the
beginning of educational technology took place in 1960 from America and
Russia and now it has reached England, Europe and India.
During
the time of around 1950s, new technocracy was turning it attraction to
educations when there was a steep shortage of teachers in America and
therefore an urgent need of educational technology was felt. Dr. Alvin
C. Eurich and a little later his associate, Dr. Alexander J. Stoddard
introduced mass production technology in America.
Team teaching
had its origin in America in the mid of 1950's and was first started in
the year 1955 at Harvard University as a part of internship plan.
In
the year 1956, Benjamin Bloom from USA introduced the taxonomy of
educational objectives through his publication, "The Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals,
Handbook I: Cognitive Domain".
In 1961, Micro teaching technique was first adopted by Dwight W. Allen and his co-workers at Stanford University in USA.
Electronics
is the main technology being developed in the beginning of 21st
century. Broadband Internet access became popular and occupied almost
all the important offices and educational places and even in common
places in developed countries with the advantage of connecting home
computers with music libraries and mobile phones.
Today's
classroom is more likely to be a technology lab, a room with rows of
students using internet connected or Wi-Fi enabled laptops, palmtops,
notepad, or perhaps students are attending a video conferencing or
virtual classroom or may have been listening to a podcast or taking in a
video lecture. Rapid technological changes in the field of educational
have created new ways to teach and to learn. Technological changes also
motivated the teachers to access a variety of information on a global
scale via the Internet, to enhance their lessons as well as to make them
competent professional in their area of concern. At the same time,
students can utilize vast resources of the Internet to enrich their
learning experience to cope up with changing trend of the society. Now a
days students as well teachers are attending seminars, conferences,
workshops at national and international level by using the multimedia
techno-resources like PowerPoint and even they pursue a variety of
important courses of their choice in distance mode via online learning
ways. Online learning facility has opened infinite number of doors of
opportunities for today's learner to make their life happier than ever
before.