Lesson 1: HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY  


A Little Personal Introduction

Being a qualifying BEED student who have been out of school for four years, I was wondering what kind of fish Educational Technology was, only to find out it was not a fish but rather a bird.

Anyway, wikipedia.org defines Educational Technology as the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. Technology can refer to material objects of use to humanity but it can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. Some modern tools include but are not limited to overhead projectors, laptop computers, and calculators.


From the Dawn of Time 
 

Before writing was invented, humans used poetic devices such as meters, rhymes, and alliterations as teaching aids in memorization. When writing was invented, first as logograms like hieroglyphs, characters, and cuneiforms, storage of knowledge for posterity use became possible. Writing was, as it is today, a force multiplier since written instructions lighten up the tasks of teachers. Later the hieroglyphs evolved into abjads such as that of the Phoenicians, abugidas such as baybayin or kinudlit as called in Visayan, and alphabets such as our present system.
 

Writings in tree barks, leaves, clay tablets, papyri, and later paper using styli, pencils, paint brushes, and later pens hasten and widen out the dispersal of knowledge. Remains of great libraries are found in the ruins of Assyrian and Indian Empires. With the invention of writing, written exam was also made possible. According to edhistory.com, the first known school was in 2000 B.C. in Mesopotania in which students inscribed their cuneiforms in clay tablets. During Roman times, student write their exams on wax boards with styli. Some Chinese however have been writing on paper with brushpen as early as the third century A.D.

One personal observation on this period is the focus on memorization. 


The Fall of the Roman Empire
 

In the second and third quarters of the first millennium A.D., the world saw the gradual fall of t he Roman Empire and the rise of Islam in Africa and the Middle East. Monasteries became repositories of knowledge in Europe, while on the other hand Greek writings were translated into Arabic in the Muslim world. This time which spanned from the last half of the first and early half of the second millennia is infamously known as the Dark Ages, though it was not really that dark since this period saw the rise of universities in such a way that by the early half of the second millennium there were already well known universities in both the Muslim and Christian worlds.

The first university was not in Europe however but in Bihar, India. Nalanda University was founded in 427 A.D. which was devoted to Buddhist studies, but also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war. Perhaps the oldest in the Muslim world is University of al-Karaouine, founded in 895 A.D. in Fes, Morocco as recognized by UNESCO according to wikipedia.org. In the 9th century, hospital medical schools were formed in the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be a practicing Doctor of Medicine. Al-Azhar University, founded in 972 A.D. in Cairo, Egypt, offered a variety of post-graduate degrees, had a Madrasah and theological seminary, taught Islamic law, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, early Islamic philosophy and logic in Islamic philosophy.

The first however who carried the name university was the University of Bologna, founded 1088 in Italy. The word university comes from "universitas magistrorum et scholarium" (community of teachers and scholars). The famous University of Salamanca was founded 1134 in Spain but its royal charter was given only in 1218 when it was the first to have been formally endowed such title.

The end of the period showed renewed interest in science and the introduction of the Indo-Arabic numeral system in Europe. The period is characterized by the wedding of education to the religious institutions.

 
Renaissance
 
The Renaissance is the product of the rise of universities and is the age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation. It was triggered by the invention of the printing press in Europe which further hasten the dispersal of knowledge. New theories of education were formulated. Between the 15th and 16th century Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam put more emphasis on understanding the context over memorization. His idea was expanded in 17th century by Johannes Amos Comenius who championed the use of children senses as more effective education tool than memorizing.  He wrote two books: The Gate of Tongues Unlocked in 1636 and Orbis Sensualium Pictus in 158 which are precursor of K-12/MTB-MLE program.
 
Contemporary to Comenius was John Locke who theorized that the mind is tabula rasa at birth and child knows best when thought with the basic or simpler concept before attempting complex ones.

My personal observation of the period is the realization of the importance of comprehension.


Age of Enlightenment
 

At the beginning of the 18th century our Filipino ancestor slowly abandoned the Kinudlit (Philippine native script) and switch to the Latin script. The leading education theorist was Jean-Jacques Rousseau' who published Emile in 1762. He believed on the innate goodness of the child.
 
Rousseau's idea was put into practice by his fellow Swissman Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the pioneer of early child education. Pestalozzi employed the following principles in teaching: (1) begin with the concrete object before introducing abstract concepts; (2) begin with the immediate environment before dealing with what is distant and remote; (3) begin with easy exercises before introducing complex ones; and (4) always proceed gradually, cumulatively, and slowly.

Contemporary to Pestalozzi was Johann Herbart who put emphasis on formal education. Based on his work, Herbart’s followers designed a five-step teaching method: (1) preparation, (2) presentation, (3) comparison, (4) generalization, and (5) application.

 The 19th century brought Friedrich Froebel who invented kindergarten. He incorporated songs, stories, gifts, and occupation as expansion of the theories of Pestalozzi. 

The 19th century brought also new inventions that made life in the classroom easier. Blackboard (chalkboard) was invented in 1801; the school slate was in 1820 - it is the precursor of our modern iPad.; the typewriter in 1867; the magic lantern (precursor of slide projector) in 1870; and fountain pen in 1884. Pencil and paper replaced the school slate by the end of 19th century.

This period championed early childhood education and practical teaching techniques.

 
20th Century

In 1907 Maria Montessori introduced her method of teaching children . It is also in this century when new educational tools become available. 

The first radio education program was in 1917. In 1930 the overhead projector was invented. But the single thing that might be as peculiar  as the invention of paper is the ballpen which became popular since 1938.

Other milestones are:
Curta (pocket size mechanical calculator) in 1948;
the computer as flight simulator and the slide rule in 1950;
Educational TV in 1957;
Skinner Teaching Machine in 1958;
the photocopier and the first use of computer in public in 1959;
language labs and headphones in 1960; and
the ARPANET (precursor of the internet) in 1969

The hand held electronic calculators was introduced in 1970. Educators have apprehension on its use in the classroom since it interfere on the mastery of basic operations.
 
Apple II was introduced in 1972. The first scientific calculator make the slide rule obsolete since 1974.

Then  IBM personal computers was developed in 1981 followed by MS Windows operating system in 1985, that by 1986 personal computers started appearing on the classrooms. MS Powerpoint revolutionized visual aids since 1987.

Whiteboards started replacing blackboards since 1990, and smartboard was introduced 1991.
 

 
21st century

In the year 2000 flipped classroom for secondary students was first tried in the U.S. In a flipped classroom students are instructed by the teacher in their respective homes through videos uploaded by the teacher. Then do their "homeworks" in the classroom (hence the name flipped).  It allow teachers time to move more in-depth with active learning activities and collaborative efforts with other student. In my opinion this is just an improvement of the advance reading by night then check-up test in the morning.

Another innovation arrived in 2005 called the i-clicker. An iClicker is a radio frequency device that allows a student to anonymously respond to questions your instructor poses in class. This lets you and your instructor quickly know how well you understand the lesson material.


The latest of new technologies for the classroom is the tablet computers, more popularly known as iPad (an Apple tradename), first introduced in 2010. According to an article in wikipedia.org, the iPad has several uses in the classroom, and has been praised as a valuable tool for homeschooling. Soon after the iPad was released, it was reported that 81% of the top book apps were for children. The iPad has also been called a revolutionary tool to help children with autism learn how to communicate and socialize more easily.