There’s no written evidence which can tell us exactly who has coined the phrase educational technology. Different educationists, scientists and philosophers at different time intervals have put forwarded different definitions of Educational Technology. Educational technology is a complex and integrated process involving people, procedure, ideas, devices, and organization, where technology from different fields of science is borrowed as per the requirement and requirement of education for implementing, evaluating, and managing methods to those problems involved with all aspects of human learning.
Educational technology, broadly speaking, has passed through five stages.
The initial stage of educational technology is along with the utilization of aids like charts, maps, symbols, models, specimens and concrete materials. The word educational technology was used as synonyms to audio-visual aids.
The next stage of educational technology is related to the ‘electronic revolution’ with the introduction and establishment of sophisticated hardware and software. Usage of various audio-visual aids like projector, magic lanterns, tape-recorder, radio and television brought a revolutionary change in the educational scenario. Accordingly, educational technology concept was taken in terms of these sophisticated instruments and equipments for effective presentation of instructional materials.
The 3rd stage of educational technology is connected with the development of mass media which resulted in ‘communication revolution’ for instructional purposes. Computer-assisted Instruction (CAI) used for education since 1950s also became popular in this era.
The fourth stage of educational technology is discernible by the individualized process of instruction. The invention of programmed learning and programmed instruction provided a fresh dimension to educational technology. A system of self-learning based on self-instructional materials and teaching machines emerged.
The latest idea of educational technology is influenced by the thought of system engineering or system approach which targets language laboratories, teaching machines, programmed instruction, multimedia technologies and the utilization of the computer in instruction. Based on it, educational technology is an organized method of designing, carrying out and evaluating the sum total process of teaching and learning in terms of specific objectives based on research.
Educational technology through the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age
Educational technology, despite the uncertainty of the origin of the term, may be traced back to the time of the three-age system periodization of human prehistory; namely the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.
Duringthe Stone Age, ignition of fire by rubbing stones, manufacture of various handmade weapon and utensils from stones and clothing practice were some of the simple technological developments of utmost importance. A portion of Stone Age people developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoe ship technology to migrate in one place to another over the Ocean, by which they developed their first informal education of familiarity with the ocean currents, weather conditions, sailing practice, astronavigation, and star maps. During the later Stone Age period (Neolithic period),for agricultural practice, polished stone tools were created from a variety of hard rocks largely by digging underground tunnels, which can be considered as the very first steps in mining technology. The polished axes were so effective that despite appearance of bronze and iron; people tried it for clearing forest and the establishment of crop farming.
Although Stone Age cultures left no written records, but archaeological evidences proved their shift from nomadic life to agricultural settlement. Ancient tools conserved in numerous museums, cave paintings like Altamira Cave in Spain, and other prehistoric art, such as the Venus of Willendorf, Mother Goddess from Laussel, France etc. are some of the evidences in favour of their cultures.
Neolithic Revolution of Stone Age resulted into the looks of Bronze Age with development of agriculture, animal domestication, and the adoption of permanent settlements. For these practices Bronze Age people further developed metal smelting, with copper and later bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, being the materials of their choice.
The Iron Age people replaced bronze and developed the information of iron smelting technology to reduce the price of living since iron utensils were stronger and cheaper than bronze equivalents. In many Eurasian cultures, the Iron Age was the final period before the development of written scripts.
Educational technology during the period of Ancient civilizations
Based on Paul Saettler, 2004, Educational technology may be traced back to the time when tribal priests systematized bodies of knowledge and ancient cultures invented pictographs or sign writing to record and transmit information. In every stage of human civilization, it’s possible to find an instructional technique or set of procedures meant to implement a certain culture of also supported by amount of investigations and evidences. The more advanced the culture, the more technical became the technology of instruction made to reflect particular ways of individual and social behaviour meant to run an informed society. Over centuries, each significant shift in educational values, goals or objectives resulted in diverse technologies of instruction.
The maximum advances in technology and engineering included the rise of the ancient civilizations. These advances stimulated and educated other societies on the planet to adopt new ways of living and governance.
The Indus Valley Civilization was an early Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian Subcontinent. The civilization was primarily flourished across the Indus River basin of the Indus and the Punjab region, extending upto the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, (most of the part is under today’s Pakistan and the western states of modern-day India in addition to some part of the civilization extending upto southeastern Afghanistan, and the easternmost part of Balochistan, Iran).
There’s a long term controversy to be certain in regards to the language that the Harappan people spoke. It’s assumed that their writing was at the least is apparently or even a pictographic script. The script seems to have had about 400 basic signs, with lots of variations. People write their script with the direction generally from to left. The majority of the writing was available on seals and sealings of probably used in trade and official & administrative work.
Harappan people had the information of the measuring tools of length, mass, and time. They were the very first on the planet to develop something of uniform weights and measures.
In a study carried out by P. N. Rao et al. in 2009, published in Science, computer scientists unearthed that the Indus script’s pattern is closer compared to that of spoken words, which supported the proposed hypothesis that it codes for an as-yet-unknown language.
According to the Chinese Civilization, some of the major techno-offerings from China include paper, early seismological detectors, toilet paper, matches, iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the suspension bridge, the wheelbarrow, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic compass, the raised-relief map, the blast furnace, the propeller, the crossbow, the South Pointing Chariot, and gun powder. With the invent of paper they have given their first step towards developments of educational technology by further culturing different handmade products of paper as method of visual aids.
Ancient Egyptian language was at one time one of the longest surviving and used languages in the world. Their script was composed of pictures of the real such things as birds, animals, different tools, etc. These pictures are popularly called hieroglyph. Their language was composed of above 500 hieroglyphs which are referred to as hieroglyphics. On the stone monuments or tombs of discovered and rescued latter on supplies the evidence of existence of several kinds of artistic hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt.
Educational technology during Medieval and Modern Period
Paper and the pulp papermaking process that was developed in China during the first 2nd century AD, was carried to the Middle East and was spread to Mediterranean by the Muslim conquests. Evidences support that the 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 good extent and when Lynn White added the spinning wheel with increasing way to obtain rags, this resulted in the production of cheap paper, that was a prime element in the development of printing technology.
The invention of the printing press was taken place in approximately 1450 AD, by Johannes Gutenburg, a German inventor. The invention of printing press was a prime developmental element in the annals of educational technology to convey the instruction as per the requirement of the complex and advanced-technology cultured society.
In the pre-industrial phases, while industry was simply the handwork at artisan level, the instructional processes were relied heavily upon simple such things as the slate, the horn book, the blackboard, and chalk. It was restricted to an individual text book with several illustrations. Educational technology was considered synonymous to simple aids like charts and pictures.
The year 1873 may certainly be a landmark in the first history of technology of education or audio-visual education. An exhibition was held in Vienna at international level in which an American school won the admiration of the educators for the exhibition of maps, charts, textbooks and other equipments.
Maria Montessori (1870-1952), internationally renowned child educator and the originator of Montessori Method exerted a vibrant effect on educational technology through her development of graded materials designed to supply for the proper sequencing of material for every individual learner. Modern educational technology suggests many extension of Montessori’s notion of prepared child centered environment.
In1833, Charles Babbage’s design of an over-all purpose computing device laid the foundation of the present day computer and in 1943, barcode scanner machine the very first computing machine as per hi design was constructed by International Business Machines Corporation in USA. The Computer Assisted instruction (CAI) in which the computer functions essentially as a tutor in addition to the Talking Type writer was produced by O.K. Moore in 1966. Since 1974, computers are interestingly used in education in schools, colleges and universities.
Initially of the 19th century, there have been noteworthy changes in the field of education. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), from its start of school broadcasts in 1920 had maintained rapid pace for making sound contribution to formal education. In the USA, by 1952, 20 states had the provision for educational broadcasting. Parallel to this time around about 98% of the schools in United Kingdom were designed with radios and there have been regular daily programmes.
Sidney L. Pressey, a psychologist of Ohio state university developed a self-teaching machine called ‘Drum Tutor’ in 1920. Professor Skinner, however, in his famous article ‘Science of Learning and art of Teaching’ published in 1945 pleaded for the application form of the information based on behavioral psychology to classroom procedures and suggested automated teaching devices as means of doing so.
Although the very first practical usage of Regular television broadcasts was in Germany in 1929 and in 1936 the Olympic Games in Berlin were broadcasted through television stations in Berlin, Open circuit television begun to be properly used primarily for broadcasting programmes for entertainment in 1950. Since 1960, television is used for educational purposes.
In 1950, Brynmor, in England, used educational technological steps for the very first time. It will be cared that in 1960, as a result of industrial revolution in America and Russia, other countries also started progressing in the filed of educational technology. This way, the start of educational technology took place in 1960 from America and Russia and now it’s reached England, Europe and India.
In the period of around 1950s, new technocracy was turning it attraction to educations when there was a steep shortage of teachers in America and therefore an urgent need of educational technology was felt. Dr. Alvin C. Eurich and only a little later his associate, Dr. Alexander J. Stoddard introduced mass production technology in America.