The history of Educational Technology

Educational technology:

• It refers to the use of technology in educational settings, whether it be elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, corporate training sites, or independent study at home.

• It has a general and a specialized meaning. The former refers to the instructional use of computers, television, and other kinds of electronic hardware and software. The latter states that it draws attention to the instructional use of educational technology.

Let’s have a look at the most important facts in the history of educational technology:

• The radio was the one of the first technologies to gain attention. Schools, colleges, departments of education, andcommercial stations provided radio programming to schools.• During World War II there was a boost for audiovisual

education. The military used overhead projectors to support lectures, slide projectors to support training in ship and aircraft recognition, and audio equipment for teaching foreign languages.

• During the second half of the century, educators embraced other theories of learning. At least two of these theories have influenced the development of instructional media for schools. One of these theories is behaviorism; the other is constructivism.

• The interest in behaviorism occurred about the same time that the first computer-assisted programs (CAI) were being developed.

• Constructivists designed computer-based programs that promote higher-level thinking and encourage collaborative learning.

• Instructional television was the focus of attention during the 1950s and the 1960s.In 1952, there were set aside 242 television channels

for educational purposes and this led to a rapid development of educational television

stations.

• The next technology to capture the interest of educators was the computer. By 1983, computers were being used for instructional purposes in 40 percent of all elementary schools and 75 percent of all secondary schools in the United States.

• In 1990 multimedia PCs were developed; schools used videodiscs; object-oriented multimedia authoring tools were in wide use; Simulations, educational databases and other types of CAI programs were delivered on CD-ROM disks, many with animation and sound; the US crime increasesd dramatically.

• Around 1994 , digital video, virtual reality, and 3-D systems captured the attention of many object-oriented authoring systems such as HyperCard, Hyperstudio, and Authorware grew in popularity in schools; most US classrooms had at least one PC available for instructional delivery, but not all teachers had access to a computer for instructional preparation.

• Between the years 1997 and 2007, the growth of the internet expanded far faster than most predicted. Educational software became more useful and interesting to students as graphics and video were incorporated. Larger computer storage capacity and the growing prevalence of CD-ROM and DVD drives in personal computers made it easier for educators to store large graphic and video and sound files for educational applications.

• In 2009 it was introduced the first fully automated classroom.

• Nowadays, the first widespread use of electronic textbooks in US schools.

But what is the role of computers in our classrooms?

• Their function in schools can be classified according to three categories:

(1)computer literacy(2)computers as tools(3)computers as a catalyst for school

transformation.

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology• http://www.answers.com/topic/school-technology-

in-education• http://cter.ed.uiuc.edu/cter2/ci335/

timeline.html• http://www.docstoc.com/docs/426986/History-

of-Educational-Technology• http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/histofcs.html