CHAPTER 2

HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY AND
INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
 The development of Educational
Technology can be traced even the early
beginning of men’s effort to live. Would you
believe that technology could be traced as
early as the stone age.
STONE AGE

The stone age technology

could be shown by the ignition of
fire by rubbing two stones, hand-
made weapon, manufacturing,
utensils making using stones and
the use of clothing from animal
skin and fur.
BRONZE AGE
The bronze age period showed the development
of agricultural technology, fishing techniques and
domesticating animals and establishment of
permanent homes instead of going from one place
to another. The people also developed metal
technology using copper and bronze.
IRON AGE
During the iron age, the
people made progress by
resorting to iron smelting
technology since iron was
cheaper than bronze. The iron
age was the last period prior to
the discovery of writing.
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DURING THE
PERIOD OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION

The Chinese Civilization, contributed

technology like paper, seismological detectors,
toilet paper, matches, iron plough suspension
bridge, wheelbarrow, parachute, natural gas as
fuel, magnetic compass, elevated relief map and
gun powder. With the invention of paper, came
their first step towards developments of
educational technology by further culturing
different handmade paper products as means of
visual aids.
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DURING THE
MEDIEVAL AND MODERN PERIOD
Paper and pulp papermaking process which was
developed in china during the early 2nd century AD,
was carried to the Middle East and was spread to
the Mediterranean b y 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 facts
in the development of printing technology.
 The invention of the printing press took place in
approximately 1450 AD, by Johannes Gutenburg, a
German inventor. This event 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 1873, educational technology paved its way to

known as audio visual education,
when an international exhibition held in Vienna
showcased the winning American exhibition of
maps, charts, textbooks and other equipment. This
was followed by Maria Montessori (1870-1952), an
internationally renowned child educator, when she
introduced the Montessori Method, which developed
graded designed activities to provide for the proper
sequencing of subject matter for each individual
learner.
 Earlier than Montessori’s innovation, Charles
Babbage’s design of a general purpose computing
device laid the foundation of modern computer in
1883.

In the 1929, the first practical use of regular

television broadcast was done in Germany. The
Olympic Games in 1936 were shown on television in
Berlin. Then, open circuit television began to
broadcast entertainment in 1950. In 1960, television
was used in education.
 In 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 co-workers at
Stanford University in USA,
 Electronics is the main technology being
developed in the beginning of the 21st century.
Broadband Internet access became popular and
occupied almost all the important offices and
education places and even in common places in
developed countries with the advantage of
connecting home computers with music libraries
and mobile phones.
Stage 1
The first stage of educational technology is
associated with the use of aids like charts, maps,
symbols, models, specimens and concrete materials.
Educational technology referred to audio-visual aids.
Examples of these visual aids are those that cater to
the sense of sight, sense of hearing, sense of touch,
sense of smell and sense of taste.
Stage 2
Stage 2 in the development of educational
technology refers to the introduction of electronics
through the sophisticated hardware and software.
This stage shows the use of varied audio-visual
gadgets like projector, tape recorder, radio and
television which marked changes in the educational
scenario. These gadgets were used for effective
presentations in lectures and lessons.
Stage 3
The third stage of educational technology
revolved around the use of communication
enhancement equipment to promote mass media for
instructional purposes. Computer-assisted
Instruction (CAI) became an important component
of instruction. Both students and teachers used the
computer to surf for topics and some researches. The
ERIC search was used to make a review of
researches undertaken on specific topics but for a
corresponding fee usually paid in the library.
Stage 4
The fourth stage of educational technology
exemplified individualized teaching and learning
with use of programmed learning and programmed
instruction. It created a new approach to educational
technology with the introduction of self-learning
based on self-instructional materials and teaching
machines. Students could avail of these instructional
materials in the library, in the computer store or in
their own classrooms. The teachers select materials
for self-learning which are usually self-learning kits
and modules accessed in prints or via the computer.
They are sometimes prepared by the teacher or a
group of teachers teaching common subjects.
Stage 5
“The latest concept of educational technology is
influenced by the concept of system engineering of
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.
“(http://blitzlondon.blogspot.com/2012/10/history-
of-educational-technology.html).
 HISTORY OF INFORMATION
AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN
EDUCATION
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) uses the term
ICTs, or information and communication
technologies to describe: “the tools and the
processes to access, retrieve, store, organize,
manipulate, produce, present and exchange
information by electronic and other automated
means.
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION

1. Late 1970’s – Early 1980’s: Programming, Drill

and Practice
This is the era when computers were beginning
to be used in school. It was in the early years of
1980’s when teachers were teaching “ADP” in the
class which stands for “Automated Data Processing”
using NOKIA MikroMikko.
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION

2. Late 1980’s – Early 1990’s: Computer Based

Training (CBT) with multimedia
Later, the multimedia computers with advanced
graphics and sound came to the markets. It was an
improvement of the drill and practice exercises
which failed to teach the students that much due to
the absence of multimedia which contains colors and
animation that motivated the students to do the
exercise.
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION

3. Early 1990’s: Internet-Based Training (IBT)

The third wave of using computers in education
came with the adoption of the World Wide Web. The
failure of CD-ROMs were deemed related to the
challenges to update the content in the CD-ROMs.
Since information changes so fast, the internet
became a rich source of the expanding knowledge in
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION

giving Internet-based training, but again without the

multimedia, all one could do on the internet were
early experiments with animation, videos and
audios. It was noticed that merely clicking and
reading e-learning source materials online didn’t
make people very smart. And again, some people
claimed that the problem was the lack of
multimedia.
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION
4. Late 1990’s – Early 2000: E-Learning
improvements were made on the Internet-based
training in late 1990’s and early 2000 in the form of
e-leaning. The e-learning industry was built, even
though it was not proven that anyone (Except the IT
managers) needed these products. The markets for
e-learning courses and especially for Learning
Management System (LMS) were created.
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION
An enormous number of websites, articles and
companies made it clear to all concerned. With
education that this is something they must be
involved in. the IT managers of thousands of
educational institutions and organization were asked
by the educational experts to come up with e-
learning solutions and companies were happy to
help the IT managers. The pedagogical thinking
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION

around the e-learning is closely related to the

computer-based training. The point is to deliver
courses for students. Later on, the learning platform
developers has become more aware that learning
requires social activities among the learners
themselves.
 FIVE PHASES OF USING COMPUTERS IN
EDUCATION

5. Late 2000: Social Software + Free and Open

Content
In the late 2000, social software and free and
open content marked a real breakthrough in the
field of education technology. Blogs and wikis have
already brought web back to its original idea:
simple tool for personal notes that are easily
accessible and even editable by peers and your
potential peers.