edc&i 510 history of educational technology
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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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
EDC&I 510History of Educational
Technology
Steve Kerr
Wednesday, 4:30-6:50 pm
215 Miller Hall
Educational TechnologyWhat 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
DEVICESBooks (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 = “student-proof technology”
• Reusable, simple production
• 17th century hornbook
DEVICESEarly 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
DEVICESThe Chalkboard
• Most successful educational innovation of the 19th c.?
• (And maybe 20th?)• Ease of use,
reusable, user-friendly
• (Except for teacher-back-turned problem)
DEVICES Clever Combinations
• Chautauqua Desk• “Swiss Army Knife” of
educational material• Part of larger
“movement” for self-improvement, home education
• Chautauqua desk, ca. 1916
DEVICESOverhead Projector
• Really?!? But this thing is so simple…
• Yeah, but: It spread around US classrooms faster than any other “device”
• Why?
SYMBOL SYSTEMSWriting systems
• From 4000 BCE• Codify knowledge• Cultural continuity• Systematize thought
– Papyrus with hieroglyphs
SYMBOL SYSTEMSInstructional 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 SYSTEMSFilm 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 SYSTEMSSo Do They Have Cognitive Effects?
• Orality vs. Literacy debate
• McLuhan’s theses• Tufte on PowerPoint,
etc.
• Walter Ong
SYMBOL SYSTEMSGaming
• Narrative, Metaphor, Engagement
• Elicit extended focus• Complex
environments, real learning
• Action and violence• How to harness the
potential for learning?
THEORETICALLY BASED METHODSSkinnerian Programmed Instruction
• Skinner’s behaviorist learning theory
• Wide popularity in late 1950s-1960s
• B o r i n g . . .
PRODUCTION SYSTEMSTextbook writing, editing, revision
• From simple book to industrial complex
• Production team model
• Systems for regular revision
• Competition: OER movement (cf. Wikibooks, WSBCTC)
PRODUCTION SYSTEMSClassroom Assessment
• Student data digitized (responses, work samples, quizzes)
• Real-time availability to instructors
• Linkage to other systems (remediation tools, etc.)
PRODUCTION SYSTEMSSocial 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: ThreefoldView 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