Significant Events in Educational Technology

Timeline created by fzzxtchr in Science and Technology

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Event Date:	Event Title:	Event Description:
03/20/1900	Tesla receives the First Radio Patent	Nikola Tesla is credited with introducing the world to wireless technology. His ideas pave the way for what become today's wirelss networks, a key piece of infrastucture in educational technology. Tesla's First Radio Patent Image
06/23/1912	Alan Turing's Birthday	Regarded as the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing is born in London, England. Turing later devlops a test to measure whether or not a computer could be considered to "think like a human." Alan Turing
02/14/1946	ENIAC Introduced	ENIAC, while not the first electronic computing device, is the first general purpose device. It is never used for anything other than military application. However, it introduces the public to the idea of machines working as tools for computation. ENIAC Image
04/29/1952	IBM releases it's first production computer to the general public	IBM's 701 is the first production computer. Like much of the early computer development and design, the 701 is used primarily in military applications. It sets IBM on a path of producing computers, later to become one of the largest producers of personal computers. Their production of the PC helps fundamentally chang the way students learn. The IBM 701
04/01/1955	IBM announces the first solid-state calculator	The IBM 608 is the first commercially available computer containing no vacuum tubes. The device is announced in April 1955, but is not released for sale until 1957. This device marks a change in direction for the company. They no longer offer vacuum-tube devices. The IBM 608
04/01/1963	Vocational Education Act (VEA)	President Lyndon Johnson signs the VEA into law, increasing funding for vocational education. This is one of the first federal funding initiatives for educational technology. The Vocational Education Act of 1963
04/11/1965	Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)	ESEA (or some form of it) is still in effect today. Title grants are a component of ESEA. Title II grants fund many computer programs in education, since it has provisions for instructional materials. Title III funds innovation; many technology-driven programs are funded from this part of ESEA. Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)
01/15/1970	Intel devlops the first Microprocessor, The 4004	A development team at Intel develops the 4004, the very first microprocessor. This chip makes today's small, personal computers possible. This microprocessor is as powerful as ENIAC (which filled an entire room) but is only 1/8th" x 1/6th" in size.
06/15/1977	Apple II becomes available	The Apple II computer series is produced from 1977 until 1993, making it one of the most popular computers ever made. Apple partners with Bell & Howell (a long standing name in education multimedia products) to produce the Apple II computer with the Bell & Howell nameplate and color scheme (black and gray) for schools. The earliest Apple II computer came with VisualCalc, the very first spreadsheet program. The Apple IIT
01/01/1981	Computer Aided Instruction begins to gain ground in schools	The early origins of e-Learning begin to catch on in the 1980's. Some courses are delivered via computer as students work through at their own pace. Students are required to take a computer class to graduate in many states by 1987. This also drives the develpment of the enormous infrastructure needed for educational technology. UC Davis CAI
06/15/1981	TI-99 relased	While the TI-99 never really finds much use in schools, it becomes the most popular computer in the US in it's time. Of the 2.8 million sold, many are used by students for home use. The TI-99
09/15/1981	TCP/IP protocols standardized	A major building block in the internet, Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol are standardized. Without these two protocols, computers connected to any network have no "address". Computers without TCP/IP are unable to communicate with one another. These protocols are standardized on ARPNET, the precursor to today's internet. An Overview of TCP/IP
01/15/1985	Toshiba releases the first mass-market laptop, the T1100	Laptops are everywhere in education. Toshiba is the first company to market a mass-produced laptop, the T1100. Today, it is unlikely to go into a school without seeing several laptops. Many schools have laptop carts, making portable computers available to large populations of students. The T1100
09/15/1991	Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web	Working as a physics contractor at CERN, Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web as a way to share documents between collaborators. The language of the web will be HyperText Markup Language. 13 of 20 of the original elements from the first version of the language still exist. A History of HTML
03/25/1995	Ward Cunningham invents the Wiki	Arguably one of the best collaborative tools in education, wikis are a series of editable, linked pages created using a WYSIWYG language. Wikis get a mixed reception in education, due in large part to the demonization of Wikipedia. Wikis are used extensively in secondary education as a collaborative tool on free sites, such as Wikispaces. Ward Cunningham article @ OregonLive.com
03/15/1996	Palm Pilot PDA introduced	Palm Pilots are the first personal devices to move into education. These tiny devices are small enough to be truly portable, but powerful enough to run science probeware and do data analysis. They are still found in schools in science labs, 15 years after their introduction. A Brief History of the Palm Pilot
03/15/1996	Larry Page & Sergey Brin launch Backrub, an early version of Google	Google is so much more than a Search Engine. Teachers have access to searches, scholarly documents, collaborative tools, an email service, a video service, a blogging service, and image searches, just to name a few. It could be considered the most valuable tool in a classroom. Google's History
03/15/2006	Google acquires Writely, aka GoogleDocs	Google Docs allows students to share files, live edit documents, presentations, & spreadsheets, and even chat as part of the editing process. Google Docs also keeps a revision histroy, allowing teachers to see which students did work on a document. Google Docs connects an email address to a document instead of the other way around. It simplifies collaboration between students and teachers. Google's History
01/15/2012	Apple releases the iPhone 2G	The iPhone is one of many smartphones driving the BYOD movement in education today. More and more school districts are installing infrstructure to support students' use of personal devices. Using devices like the iPhone, Android phone, and tablet, technology continues to become more and more pervasive in education. These devices continue to get smarter and cheaper. Debunking the Myths of BYOD
Timespan Dates:	Timespan Title:	Timespan Description:
01/01/1900 to 12/31/1999	1900's
01/01/2000 to 12/31/2012	2000's