Blog Assignment 1: History of Technology's Use in Education

History Repeating Itself?

The history and development of technology’s use within education has followed an all to familiar path inevitably succumbing to the same fate as many practices and philosophies within education. Unfortunately in many ways practices of technology in education have developed and fizzled similarly as things like phonics vs. whole language, New Math, Roberts English, Homogeneous grouping, and cooperative learning. Placing many of technologies past approaches and developments into a category referred to as educational trends. The overwhelming pattern in education of creating educational trends stems from the basic fact, learning communities (teachers, students, parents, administrators and government officials) are desperate to find the end all be all answer to educational success. This inevitably leads to a path of adoption of new philosophies and models and an even quicker withdraw of support for their use within education once desired outcomes are not produced or a new idea comes along.

This pattern of support and withdraw is evident within the history of technology’s use in education and can be observed from as early as its initial conception in the early 20th century (Reiser, 2001). During the early 20th century learning community believed that each sequential technological advance of the time period would revolutionize the way we taught and took great efforts to promote the current hot button trend integrating school museums, visual instruction and audio instruction. Unfortunately for the people of the early to mid 20th century none of these practices fulfilled their expectation and were slowly written off or pushed aside to be used only as supplemental materials. This common theme within technology’s use in education has continued even into the later 20th century with the adoption and withdraw of television as a instructional media and has continued with the leaps and bounds growth of computer technology (i.e. CAI, PLATO, desk top publishing software, Internet). A great revolution in the integration of instructional technology into education came during the mid 20th century when research programs begin to analyze the uses of audio visual media in education and knowledge of the principles of learning were integrated into the design of materials. Marking a shift in the emphasis on using technology materials for learning rather than teaching (AECT, 2004).

Can technology in education ever be truly integrated?
I feel that the problem with integrating technology into education is all based on are expectation. We have learned from experience that no one thing will revolutionize education, its just does not work that way. We must remove are focus on the next big thing to hit education but instead use all of our resources as tools to help meet the needs of diverse learners.



References:

Association of Educational Communications and Technology. (2004, October).
The Definition of Educational Technology: An analysis and explanation of the
concept. Chapter 1.

Reiser, R.A. (2001). A history of instructional design and technology: Part I: A
history of instructional media. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 49(1),53-65.

Ely, Donald P. (1997). The Field of Educational Technology: Update 1997.
A dozen Frequently Asked Questions. ERIC Digest. Syracuse, NY: ERIC
Clearinghouse on Information and Technology. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED413889)