EDC&I 510
History of Educational
Technology
Steve Kerr
Wednesday, 4:30-6:50 pm
215 Miller Hall
Educational Technology
What Kind of History?
EDC&I 510
28 Sept 2011
Definition?
Technology is…
• “cool gadgets and stuff”
•
Popular usage
• “…the scientific study of the practical or
industrial arts” (Here, “education” = a “practical art”?)
•
Oxford English Dictionary, sense 1.a
• “the application of scientific knowledge to
the practical aims of human life”
•
Encyclopedia Britannica
Possible Approaches-WHAT to
Consider
• Devices
– Film projector, computer, chalkboard
• Symbol systems
– Writing, number systems, musical notation
• Theoretically based methods
– Skinnerian programmed instruction, Ausubel
lecture method
• Production systems
– Textbook writing and editing
Possible Approaches-HOW to
Consider It
• Devices and their perfection over time
• Heritage of ideas
– Behaviorism
– Cognitive psychology/learning sciences
– Critical theory
• Social anthropology and contexts of use in
particular settings
• Policy development and implementation
DEVICES
Books (manuscript and printed)
• The “original
technology” for
education?
• Complexity and
expensive production
limited access
• “Discipline” of copying
as a “moral good”
•
Mediaeval scriptorium
DEVICES
The Hornbook
• Early aid to basic
literacy
• Horn layer = “studentproof technology”
• Reusable, simple
production
•
17th century hornbook
DEVICES
Early Textbooks
• New England Primer
(from mid-17th c.)
• Picture-verse
combinations aid
memory
• Common cultural
experience
•
Primer from 1784
DEVICES
Wall Charts and Maps
• Mid-19th century
(Germany,
Netherlands)
• Easy, large-class
display
• Better printing
technology allows
easier production
•
Kny’s botanical charts, ca. 1874
DEVICES
The Chalkboard
• Most successful
educational
innovation of the 19th
c.?
• (And maybe 20th?)
• Ease of use,
reusable, userfriendly
• (Except for teacherback-turned problem)
DEVICES
Clever Combinations
• Chautauqua Desk
• “Swiss Army Knife” of
educational material
• Part of larger
“movement” for selfimprovement, home
education
•
Chautauqua desk, ca. 1916
DEVICES
Overhead Projector
• Really?!? But this
thing is so simple…
• Yeah, but: It spread
around US
classrooms faster
than any other
“device”
• Why?
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
Writing systems
•
•
•
•
From 4000 BCE
Codify knowledge
Cultural continuity
Systematize thought
–
Papyrus with hieroglyphs
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
Instructional text
• The Thousand Character
Classic
• Ca. 520 CE, by Zhou
Xingsi
• Explicit “instructional
design”
• Meaning and sound
represented
•
Calligraphic version
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
Mathematical Representation
• “Symbol systems” for
representing
knowledge
• Encoding, operations,
etc.
•
Reisch, Margarita Philosophica,
1508; Arithmetica instructing an
algorist and an abacist
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
Other Representation Forms
• LABANOTATION
– Represent dance
movements, including
speed, direction, lights
source, etc.
– Cf. musical scores
– Other similar systems
for rhythm, etc.
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
Film and Video
• The Montage (from Sergei
Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin” [1925] –
the “Odessa Steps” sequence)
• All manner of
filmic/video devices –
fades, cuts, wipes,
dissolves – had to be
invented, and acquire
meaning
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
So Do They Have Cognitive Effects?
• Orality vs. Literacy
debate
• McLuhan’s theses
• Tufte on PowerPoint,
etc.
•
Walter Ong
SYMBOL SYSTEMS
Gaming
• Narrative, Metaphor,
Engagement
• Elicit extended focus
• Complex
environments, real
learning
• Action and violence
• How to harness the
potential for learning?
THEORETICALLY BASED METHODS
Skinnerian Programmed Instruction
• Skinner’s behaviorist
learning theory
• Wide popularity in late
1950s-1960s
• B o r i n g . . .
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Textbook writing, editing, revision
• From simple book to
industrial complex
• Production team
model
• Systems for regular
revision
• Competition: OER
movement (cf.
Wikibooks, WSBCTC)
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Classroom Assessment
• Student data digitized
(responses, work
samples, quizzes)
• Real-time availability
to instructors
• Linkage to other
systems (remediation
tools, etc.)
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Social Media
• Facebook, YouTube,
Wikipedia, Twitter,
etc.
• “How we
communicate and
share now”
• Multitasking and
cognitive load
• “This is how I goof off and
waste time; why would I want
to use it for my education?”
Possible Approaches-HOW to
Consider It
• Devices and their perfection over time
• Heritage of ideas
– Behaviorism
– Cognitive psychology/learning sciences
– Critical theory
• Social anthropology and contexts of use in
particular settings
• Policy development and implementation
Our Approach Here: Threefold
View from the Past
Devices 
Emergence of new symbol systems to
capitalize on what those devices make
possible 
Incorporation of those symbol systems into
educational materials, products,
experiences 
Research studies to determine if those
materials (etc.) are effective
Our Approach Here:
View from the Present
• Research studies (done in the past) 
• More contemporary studies or reviews that
address those or related themes 
• Understanding* of the contributions of past
work
– * Knowledge and appreciation
– Extension of existing lines of work
– Avoidance of pitfalls and blind alleys!
Our Approach Here:
View towards the Future I
• Changes in theory (Learning sciences focus)
– Learning = collaborative, socially embedded
– Context and prior experience matter
(“decontextualized knowledge = dead knowledge”)
– How information is represented matters
• Changes in technology
– More pervasive, less “special”
– Affecting our relationship with text?
Our Approach Here:
View towards the Future II
• Changes in education
– Heightened focus on outcomes, assessment
– Less room for “open exploration”
– More focus on teacher professionalism
• Changes in policy
– Increased “global competitiveness” pressure
– Pressures to rationalize education (esp.
higher ed)
What Else?
Comments, extensions, arguments?
(Much more to come…)
Thanks!
Steve Kerr