History of Educational Technology

Stone Age
The stone age technology could be shown by the ignition of fire by rubbing two stones,
handmade weapon, manufacturing, utensils making using stones and the use of clothing
from animal skin and fur. Furthermore, the stone age people also developed canoe-ship
technology which enabled then to travel across the ocean. They learned informally about
ocean currents, weather conditions, sailing techniques, astro navigation and star maps.
Further technology was shown by producing polished stone tools using hard rocks which
became a prelude to the mining industry.

Bronze age
The bronze age period showed the development of agricultural technology, finishing
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.
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

Paul Saettler (2004), traced the development of educational technology during the ancient
civilization when the tribal priests introduced bodies of knowledge and ancient culture,
and introduced sign writing or pictographs to record or transmit information. In
pictographs, the people draw their ideas like house, fruits, vegetables, events, and other
thoughts and ideas. Instructional technique was found in every stage of human civilization
based on the number of investigations and evidences. Technology of instruction was
found to be more complex in highly advanced cultures, and social behavior. Likewise,
diverse significant shift in educational values, goals, or objectives led to diverse
technologies of instruction.
The greatest advance in technology and engineering came with the rise of ancient
civilizations which stimulated and educated people and societies in the world ftp adopt
new ways of living and governance. An important example of ancient language
development was shown by the Harappan people whose writing was described as
pictographic script. The script contained 400 basic signs with variations. The writing
technology, done from right to left was found on seals used in trade and official and
administrative activities. More so, the Harappan people expanded their craft through
technology in making measuring tools of length, mass, and time, they pioneered the
development of uniform weights and measures (P.N. Rao et al, 2009).
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.
Another language-related technology was the ancient Egyptian language which was one
of the longest surviving and used languages in the world. The script was made of pictures
of the real things like birds, animals, different tools, etc. these pictures are popularly called
hieroglyph. Their language was made of above 500 hieroglyphs which are knows as
hieroglyphics. The stone monuments or tombs which were discovered are rescued later
on provides the evidence of existence of many forms of artistic hieroglyphics in ancient
Egypt.

Educational Technology During Medieval and Modern Period

Paper and pulp papermaking process which was developed in China during the early 2 nd
century AD was carried to Middle East and was spread to the Mediterranean by 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 when Lynn White added the spinning wheel with
increasing supply of rags, this led to the production of cheap paper, which was prime fact
in the development of printing technology.
The invention of the printing press took place in approximately 1450 AD, by Johannes
Gutenburg, a German inventory. 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.
During the pre-industrial phases, when industry was at the handwork or artisan level the
instructional processes utilized gadgets like the slate, the horn book, the blackboard and
chalk. During this time, only textbooks was used with a few illustrations. Educational
technology during those times was associated with simple aids like charts and pictures.
In 1873, educational technology paved its way to be 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
the proper sequencing of subject matter for each individual learner.
This effort marked the beginning of the dynamic educational technology. Modern
educational technology flourished as an extension of Montessori’s idea of prepared child
centered environment.
Earlier than Montessori’s innovation, Charles Babbage’s design of a general purpose
computing device laid the foundation of the modern computer in 1883.
The art of teaching recommended for the application of knowledge derived from
behavioral psychology to classroom procedures along with the use of automated teaching
devices.
In 1929, the first practical use of regular television broadcasts 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 1943, the first computing machine was designed by Babbage. In 1966, O.K. Moore
developed talking type of tutorial Computer Assisted Instruction (CIA). Since 1974,
computers are interestingly used in schools, colleges, and universities. In the beginning
of the 19th century, there were noteworthy changes in the field of education. British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), right from its start of school broadcasts in 1920 by 1952,
20 states had the provision for educational broadcasting. Parallel to this time about 98%
of the schools in United Kingdom were equipped with radios and there were regularly
daily programs.
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom from USA introduced taxonomy of educational objectives
through his publication, “The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of
Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain.
Educational technology begun from America and Russia and now, it has reached
England, Europe and India.
In 1961, Micro teaching technique was first adopted by Dwight W. Allen and his co-
workers at Stanford University in USA.
Electronics is the main technology being developed in the beginning of the 21 st century.
Broadband Internet access became popular and occupied almost all the important offices
and educational places and even in common places in developed countries with the
advantage of connecting home computers with music libraries and mobile phones.
Today’s classroom is more likely to be a technology lab, a room with rows of students
using the internet connected or WI-FI enabled laptops, palmtops, notepads or perhaps,
students are attending a video conferencing or virtual classroom or many have been
listening to podcast or taking in a video lecture. Rapid technological changes also
motivated the teachers to access a variety of information on a global scale via the Internet,
to enhance their lessons as well as to make them competent professionals in their area
of concern. All the same time, students can utilize vast resources of the Internet to enrich
their learning experiences to cope with the changing trends of society. Nowadays,
students as well as teachers are attending seminars, conferences, workshops at national
and international level by using the multimedia techno-resources like PowerPoint and
they even pursue a variety of important courses of their choice in distance mode via online
learning. Online learning facility has opened an infinite number of doors of opportunities
for today’s learner to make their life happier than ever before.
Educational technology is a multifaceted and integrated process which are applied and
used by people, procedure, ideas, devices, and organization. It utilized varied
technologies derived from different fields of science. The technology use is based on
specific needs and requirements of education to address education-related problems to
facilitate the implementation, evaluation, of program about human learning. Educational
technology development went through five stages.

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. 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 the 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 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 teaching common subjects.
Stage 5
The latest concept of educational technology is influenced by the concept of system
engineering or 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.