Timeline: History of Educational Technology

30,000 BCE

Cave Drawings

In the past, adults would try to transmit their skills through oral communication and imitation to train the little ones. While some say these drawings are for communication, others say they are for religious beliefs. An exact cause is unknown.

510 BCE

Pythagoras Academy

Pythagoras Academy was the first formal teaching school. Education proceeded with oral communication. Stories, folklore, histories, and news relayed information orally.

105

Paper Made in China

The creation of paper has provided to meet the needs such as accessibility, diffusion, and knowledge transfer. This has aided in the education of future generations. It also made the information permanent.

382

Manuscript Transcription

After the invention of paper, manuscripts made a great contribution to education. Because, with calligraphy and writing, lessons are no longer taught only orally.

1450

Gutenberg Printing Press

With the invention of the printing press, access to newspapers became easier and this enabled many people to access information.

1600

Public Education

In this period, blackboard and chalkboard slates started to enter education life in the 1700s. Books were included in the 1800s. Berry (n.d.) stated that "While individual slates were used in classrooms during the early 1800s, it was not until 1841 that the classroom chalkboard was first introduced".

1910

Audiovisual Age

The Audiovisual Age is the era when radios were introduced in 1920, film strip projectors in 1930, and overhead projectors in 1940. It is the first period in which technology contributed to classroom environments. Pahdi (2021) found that "Audio visual aids are important in education system. Audio visual aids are those devices which are used in classrooms to encourage teaching learning process and make it easier and interesting." (p. 242).

1960

Information Age

According to Bates (2015), in the 1960s, television was first used in education, both in schools and for general adult learning. The use of television for educational purposes swiftly expanded around the world, notably among international organizations such as the World Bank and UNESCO. While VCRs and VHS tapes were included in education in the 1970s, audio tapes began to be used in the 1980s.

1990

Computer Age

The Computer Age is a period when electronic projectors and presentational software started to be used, but these generally functioned in military and business fields, not in education. In 1991, the first smart interactive whiteboard started to support education.

1995

Digital Age

According to Edtechwiki (n.d.), during the 1980s and 1990s, a range of schools emerged that may be classified as computer-based learning (CBL). These environments, which were frequently based on constructivist and cognitivist learning theories, focused on teaching both abstract and domain-specific problem-solving.

2000

Interactive Age

Bates (2015) established that the standard telephone system was never a significant teaching instrument. Nevertheless, the technological tools that contributed to education in this period were laptops, document cameras, smart response le, smart response pe, smart responses xe. We can see that the most technological contribution in the field of education is in this period.

2021