There is no evidence in writing that can reveal who coined the term educational technology. Different educators, scientists and philosophers at various time intervals have proposed various theories that define Educational Technology.
Education technology can be described as a complex and interconnected system that includes individuals, procedures and ideas, as well as devices and organizations, in which technology from various fields of science are incorporated according to the needs and demands of education developing, evaluating, and implementing solutions to the issues that are a part of every aspect of human learning.
The field of education technology, generally speaking is a technology that has gone through five phases.
The initial stage of education technology involves making use of tools, such as charts and maps, symbols, examples, models and other materials. The term”educational technology” was used to refer to audio-visual aids.
The next stage of education technology is connected to the “electronic revolution” with the development and implementation of advanced technology and hardware. Utilization of different audio-visual aids such as projectors magic lanterns, tape-recorder television, radio and projectors revolutionized the teaching environment. The concept of education technology was defined as a reference to these advanced tools and equipments that allow for the efficient presentation of educational material.
The third stage of education technology is a result of the rise of mass media, which resulted in a “communication revolution” for educational purposes. The Computer Assistive Instruction (CAI) is a method of education in the 1950s was also fashionable during this period.
The fourth stage of education technology can be seen in the individualization of instruction. The invention of program-based learning and the use of computer-controlled instruction gave an entirely new aspect to education technology. Self-learning systems built on self-instructional material and teaching equipment was developed.
The most recent concept of educational technologies is informed by the idea of system engineering or a system approach that focuses on languages laboratories, teaching equipment programming, multimedia technology, including the utilization of computers for instruction. According to this definition the term “educational technology” refers to an approach to designing and carrying out the whole method of teaching and learning with regard to specific goals which are based on research.
Educational technology in the Stone Age, the Bronze Age as well as The Iron Age
Educational technology, regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the source of the term can be found in the period in the 3-age, which was the periodization of human prehistory, namely three ages: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age along with the Iron Age.
In the Stone Age, ignition of fire through friction between stones, production of various hand-crafted weapons and utensils made of stones, and the practice of making clothing were just a few of the technological innovations that were of paramount importance.
A small portion of Stone Age people developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoes to move from one location from one place to the other across the Ocean and started their initial informal learning of understanding of ocean’s currents, weather conditions and sailing practices astronavigation, astronavigation, or star map.
The latter Stone Age period (Neolithic period),for farming the polished stone tools were constructed from various hard rocks mostly through digging underground tunnels. This can be regarded as the beginning of mining technology. The axes that were polished were so effective that after the appearance of iron and bronze the people employed it to clear forests and for the beginning of crops.
Age cultures
While Stone Age cultures left no writings, archeological evidences show their transition from nomadic existence to the settlement of agriculture. Old tools preserved in numerous museum collections, cave drawings, such as The Altamira Cave, Spain as well as other works of art prehistoric like that of Venus of Willendorf and the mother Goddess of Laussel, France etc. are just a few evidences that support their civilizations.
Neolithic Revolution of Stone Age led to the development of the Bronze Age with development of farming, domestication of animals and the introduction permanently established settlements. In order to practice these methods, Bronze Age people further developed metal smeltingusing copper, and later bronze, an alloy made of copper and tin being the primary materials they used.
It was during the Iron Age people replaced bronze and mastered iron smelting techniques to lower costs of living as iron tools were more durable and more affordable than bronze counterparts. In the majority of Eurasian societies this Iron Age was the last time before the invention writing scripts.
Educational technology in the time of Ancient civilisations
In the words of Paul Saettler, 2004, educational technology dates back to the period when tribal priests organized sources of knowledge and the earliest civilizations invented pictographs and sign writing to convey information.
At every stage of human development you can discover an instructional strategy or set of instructions designed to be implemented by a particular culture , which was also backed by a variety of research and evidences.
The more technologically advanced the culture, more complicated the methods of instruction that was designed to reflect specific ways of social and individual behavior designed to lead an informed society. Over the course of time, every major shift in the values of education, targets or goals led to a variety of instructional methods.
Significant Technological
The most significant technological and engineering advancements were made with the advent of ancient civilizations. These innovations influenced and educated the other cultures of the world to develop innovative ways of living and government.
Indus Valley Civilization Indus Valley Civilization is an earlier Bronze Age civilization which was located in the northwestern part within the Indian Subcontinent.
The Indus Valley Civilization was mostly developed within Indus Valley, the Indus River basin, which was part of the Indus and the Punjab region, stretching up to the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley as well as the Ganges-Yamuna doab (most of the area that is today’s Pakistan and the western states of contemporary India as well as a parts of the civilization stretching into the southeastern region of Afghanistan and the easternmost region in Balochistan, Iran).
There’s a long-term dispute to determine the language the Harappan people used to communicate. It is thought that their writing at the very least or was a pictographic script. The script is believed to have contained around 400 standard signs, but with numerous variations. The scripts were written using the general direction of left to right. The majority of the script was found on seals and seals, which were likely used in commercial and official work.
Harappan people were knowledgeable of measuring instruments of length mass, time, and length. They were the very first in the world to create an uniform system of weights and measurements.
In a study conducted in 2009 by P. N. Rao and co. in 2009 and published in Science in 2009, computer scientists observed in 2009 that Indus script’s pattern is more similar to the spoken word and supports the theory that it encodes for a language that is not yet known.
Chinese Civilization
Based on the Chinese Civilization, some of the main technological innovations that came from China include paper as well as early seismological detectors matches, toilet paper iron ploughs and the multi-tube seed drill the suspension bridge the wheelbarrow, parachute, natural gas as a fuel source the magnetic compass the relief map with raised relief, blast furnace, propeller the crossbow South Pointing Chariot, and gun powder. The invention of paper they’ve made their first step in the development in technology used for education. They have also made progress by creating various hand-made products from paper to create visual aids.
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian Language was once one of the longest-lived and widely used languages in the world. Their script consisted of photographs of actual objects like animals, birds various tools, etc. These images are commonly referred to as hieroglyphs. The language they used consisted of over 500 hieroglyphs, which are referred to as hieroglyphics. On the stone monuments , or tombs that were discovered and then rediscovered later on, there is evidence of the existence of various forms of artistic hieroglyphics from the time of early Egypt.
Educational technology in the Medieval as well as the Modern Period
Paper and the process of making pulp paper, which was first developed in China at the beginning of the 2nd century AD was introduced across The Middle East and was spread throughout the Mediterranean through the Muslim conquers.
Evidence suggests the idea that a mill for paper was also built in Sicily during around the year 1213. The discovery of the spinning wheel increased the efficiency of the process of making thread in a significant way and, when Lynn White added the spinning wheel, along with an increasing amount of rags available, this resulted in the creation of paper that was cheap that was a key element in the evolution of printing technology.
Technology Development
The development of printing machines around 1450 AD in the 1450 AD of Johannes Gutenburg, a German inventor. The invention of the printing press was a major development element in the development of education technology, allowing the information according to the needs of a complex and technologically advanced society.
In the early industrial era in which industry was just the handwork performed by artisans instruction processes heavily based on the use of simple tools like the slate, Horn book, the blackboard and chalk. It was restricted to one text book that contained illustrations. The term “educational technology” was equated with simple tools like diagrams and images.
The year 1873 can be considered to be a milestone in the beginning of audio-visual education. A fair took place in Vienna on a global scale during which an American school was praised by of teachers for its presentation of maps, charts textbooks, and other tools.
Internationally Recognized
Maria Montessori (1870-1952), an internationally recognized child educator and creator of the Montessori Method exerted a dynamic influence on the field of education through her invention of graded materials created to facilitate an appropriate sequence of content to each learner. Technology in education today suggests a number of ways to expand Montessori’s notion of a the child-centered environment.
In the year 1833, Charles Babbage’s idea of a general-purpose computer laid the foundation of the modern computer . And it was in 1943 that the first computer machine designed by hi was developed by the International Business Machines Corporation in USA. It was the Computer Assisted instruction (CAI) where the computer acts mostly as a tutor, and also a Talking Type writer was developed by O.K. Moore in 1966. In 1974 computers have been being used to teach in schools, colleges and universities.
At the start of the 1900s, there was a significant developments in the field of education. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) since the beginning of broadcasts for schools in 1920, was able to keep up its rapid pace in providing a significant contributions towards formal schooling. In the USA in 1952, twenty states had provision for broadcasting educational. In the meantime, around 98% of schools in the United Kingdom were equipped with radios. There were also regularly scheduled daily programs.
Sidney L. Pressey, psychologist from Ohio state university, developed an automated teaching device called “Drum Tutor” in the year 1920. Professor Skinner nevertheless, with his well-known article ‘Science of Learning and the art of Teaching’ published in 1945, advocated the application of the information that was derived from the field of behavioral psychology to teaching methods and recommended the use of automated teaching tools as a method for achieving this.
Broadcasts and Television
The first usage of Regular broadcasts on television was during the time of Germany in 1929, and in 1936, when the Olympic Games in Berlin were broadcast by television stations in Berlin and Open Circuit Television was introduced for entertainment programming in the year 1950. From 1960 onwards, the television has been employed to teach.
It was in 1950 that Brynmor In 1950, Brynmor England made use of educational technological methods in the very first instance. It is important to remember that in the year 1960 due to the industrial revolutions that took place in America and Russia other nations also began making progress in the field of education technology. In this manner, the first steps towards advancing technology in education was observed in the year 1960, from America as well as Russia and it has now been able to reach England, Europe and India.
Around the 1950s, the new technology was putting its attention on education when there was a huge teacher shortage in America and a pressing necessity for technology in education was felt. In the 1950s, Dr. Alvin C. Eurich and his colleague Dr. Alexander J. Stoddard developed mass production technology in America.
Team teaching was first introduced in America at the end of the 1950’s. It first began in 1955 at Harvard University as a part of an internship plan.
In 1956 Benjamin Bloom from USA introduced the taxonomy for educational goals in his book “The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain”.
In the year 1961, the Micro teaching technique was first implemented in 1961 by Dwight W. Allen and his colleagues from Stanford University in USA.
Electronics is the primary technology that was developed at the early 21st century. Broadband Internet access gained popularity and was a staple in all major offices and educational spaces and even common areas in advanced countries, with the added benefit of connecting computers at home to mobile phones and music libraries.
The classroom of today is increasingly a technological lab, or a space filled with students who are using Wi-Fi or internet-connected notebooks, laptops, and palmtops or maybe students are in a video conferencing or virtual classroom , or be taking a listen to podcasts or participating part in a video lecture.
Technology Teaching
Rapid technological advances that have impacted the world of education are bringing new methods to teach and learn. Technology has also prompted teachers to have access to a wide range of information from all over the world through the Internet and to improve their teaching and to become competent professionals in their areas of interest.
In addition students have access to the vast sources on the Internet to improve their education and keep with the changing trends of society.
Today, teachers and students attend conferences, seminars and workshops at the both international and national level making use of the multimedia tech-resources such as PowerPoint and also they are pursuing many crucial courses of their own choice through distance-based methods of learning.
The online learning platform has opened a wide range of possibilities for students of today to enjoy their lives more like never.
