LECTURE OUTLINE: EDUCATIONAL MILESTONES AND STANDARDS
Definitions of Educational Technology
No consensus exists on the definition of educational technology.
Educational technology has been defined variously as any media the teacher can use for classroom instruction; any technology that supports learning; use of a computer or device for teaching and learning.
According to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), "Educational technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning." This definition encompasses the full range of technology devices and delivery methods.
Advantages of Using Educational Technology
Papers can be easily stored, revised, and shared.
The Internet can be a valuable library and research resource.
Differentiated instruction for various learning styles can be provided.
Multimedia presentations that include art and music can be created.
Software programs can be used to assist students or create newsletters and other documents.
Web sites and software can assist with teacher and administrator planning.
Computers can help with institutional organization and inventory.
Brief History of Computers in Education
The first use of computers in education was primarily in science, mathematics, and engineering.
With the demise of the slide rule, students used computers to solve problems.
Several educational techniques were forerunners to learning with a microcomputer.
The oldest technique for learning with a computer was programmed instruction, a forerunner of the tutorial, based on the work of B.F. Skinner (1950). Information is broken down into small bites, and students learn sequentially at their own rate, with immediate feedback on assessments.
The first documented instructional use of the computer occurred at MIT in 1950, with teachers using a flight simulator to train pilots.
An IBM computer was used in 1959 to teach binary arithmetic to elementary students in New York.
In the 1960s, programmers designed languages such as BASIC, because academicians were looking for a way to make computers accessible to students. A scarcity of educational software meant teachers focused on computer programming.
Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) blended the best of two programming languages, FORTRAN and ALGOL, and was introduced to students at Dartmouth College in 1964 with the READY> prompt. With the advent of BASIC, users could write and quickly execute simple programs.
Federally funded projects in the 1950s for research on mainframe computers and a growing interest in computer-assisted instruction (CAI) occurred.
In 1963, Patrick Suppes and Richard Atkinson of Stanford produced math drill and practice software on mainframe computers, with self-paced instructional programs.
In 1969, the Department of Defense created ARPAnet, later known as the Internet or Net, a large network of computers with links to smaller computer networks.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the educational computing field expanded by several companies. Stanford University was the first to use an IBM computer system to instruct with a programming language called Coursewriter and the first multimedia station. Don Bitzer and a team of specialists developed an instructional system called PLATO, or Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations, used for tutorial lessons and complete courses.
The Time of the Microcomputer
In 1977, the microcomputer came into the schools, shifting the focus from mainframes to desktop microcomputer systems.
In 1979, the largest computer conference in the United States was held at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC).
A new software market based on the microcomputer emerged to meet the needs of classroom teachers. The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) transferred much of the mainframe educational software to microcomputers and became a major influence in the educational software field.
Authoring Systems
Software developers responded to teachers' request for authoring systems by producing authoring systems such as PILOT and SuperPILOT, which proved too time-consuming and complex for practitioners.
Teachers began to purchase more commercially developed software.
Learning Theories and Technology Integration
Theories such as behaviorism, cognitive theory, constructivism, and situated cognition have been used to investigate the effects of computers on learning and teaching, with no clear agreement on which approach is best.
Interest has centered on the teacher-directed approach and the constructivist approach.
The teacher-directed approach is based on the ideas of B.F. Skinner, Edward Thorndike, Richard Atkinson, David Ausubel, Robert Gagne, and Lee Cronbach.
In the teacher-directed approach, the teacher is the manipulator of the classroom environment, and the student is the receptacle.
Skinner favored programmed instruction, in which lessons and drill are planned in small, incremental steps to lessen the chances of incorrect responses by students.
In a highly structured environment, the teacher builds from lower-level to higher-level teaching skills, with clearly stated objectives, individual work, traditional testing and assessment methods, and lecture and worksheets.
Behavioral theories were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, when computers first appeared in classrooms, with software such as High School Advantage and Math Blaster based on programmed instruction.
Drill-and-practice and tutorial software applications are based on the teacher-directed approach, generating class performance information for teacher use and performing time-consuming tasks.
Opponents of teacher-directed or programmed instruction software criticize its lack of flexibility and presence of predefined curricula, using only one kind of educational technology.
The constructivist model of cognitive learning theory has evolved from developmental theorists such as Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Seymour Papert, and Howard Gardner.
The constructivist model proposes that learning occurs when the learners control their own knowledge.
The constructivist model focuses on problem solving, discovery learning, and exploration.
The constructivist model uses assessment from student portfolios, performance checklists, and tests with open-ended questions and narratives.
The constructivist model emphasizes cooperative group learning over individual learning.
Howard Gardner, a leading educational developmental psychologist, is the only constructivist that proposes a theory of multiple intelligences, a family of seven intelligences (originally, now nine) that encompassed the range of learning styles and abilities. Multiple intelligences theory assumes intelligence is not a fixed number but is fluid and multifaceted.
The constructivist model is exemplified in instructional technology by annotated movies, hypertext, and simulations that can be traced to the war games of the 17th century and were introduced in business training in the 1950s.
The constructivist model can be found in software simulations such as Lemonade Stand of the 1970s and today's Roller Coaster and the Sims series, created to teach the concepts of supply and demand with players making crucial decisions and choices, and virtual reality programs such as Myst Masterpiece Edition.
The constructivist model advocatesassert that the user of simulation programs should address real-life problems and address them through interactive situations and active rather than passive play activities.
Both the teacher-directed approach and constructivism attempt to identify learning conditions and are based on work done by respected psychologists and learning theorists. See p. 27 for a comparison chart on the two models.
Programming and Literacy
During the early 1980s, a movement existed to teach programming and languages such as BASIC and Logo. Because BASIC was free, teachers taught it to their students.
Philosophy and Psychology of Logo
Logo was developed by Seymour Papert and his colleagues at MIT and Bolt, Beranek, & Newman, Inc., in 1970.
Logo was developed because Papert believed computers are best used to aid in the thinking process, not as a piece of hardware that dispenses information.
Papert's 1980 book Mindstorms presents his constructivist theories on using computers with children.
Papert believes that children should use computers to promote critical and creative thinking skills.
Integrated Learning Systems (ILS)
In the 1980s and 1990s, a trend toward networking computers developed. That is, connecting a group of computers and peripherals to a communication system.
School districts realized a central server provided instruction more efficiently and at a lower cost than stand-alone machines. Technical specialists were hired to maintain network systems.
Literacy Movement
In the mid-1980s, interest in programming languages declined. Teachers wanted to use computers as tutors.
In 1986, the National Science Foundation (NSF) created a special network of five supercomputers called NSFNet, which was devoted to research and education and became the backbone of the Internet.
An interest in computer literacy grew by the 1990s, and many states required computer literacy courses for prospective teachers.
National Standards
Leading professional groups have developed educational technology standards for teachers, students, programs, and schools.
Accreditation standards for teacher education institutions discuss expectations for teacher competency in teacher preparation programs.
In 1988, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), through a National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) project, published a document describing what teachers should know and be able to do with technology. See the back of the inside cover of the textbook for a list of standards and performance indicators.
The World Wide Web Begins
The World Wide Web was developed by Swiss researchers in 1993, under the guidance of Tim Berners-Lee.
The World Wide Web was made up of Internet servers that supported documents formatted in a script called HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which allows users to link to other documents, audio, video files, and graphics.
Marc Andreesen developed Mosaic, a software breakthrough and navigator tool that allows the user to travel online through any desired path, at the University of Illinois' National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Distance Learning and Videoconferencing
Distance learning has increased rapidly since 2000, with more people receiving educational training from a remote teaching site via a computer.
People can attend classes and conferences in the privacy of their own homes.
