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School Museum
These were some of the first examples of museums that stored resources and media that schools were able to use. These instances evolved into the school museums we see today. Currently, school museums have educational technology and digital resources that serve to deepen student learning -
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is the idea that learning happens as a result of the learner's interaction with their environment through a process called conditioning. The key theorists were Skinner (operant conditioning) and Waston (classical conditioning). Since its inception, behaviorism has influenced the successive learning theories as well as served as an umbrella for more specific behavior-like theories. -
Instructional Radio
Educational radio never really took off in the way that it was planned. That said, radio programs were designed specifically for schools began in the 1920s. A connection that could be made to today is the increased use of educational podcasts. Photo Credit: Bettmann / Contributor -
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Training films and filmstrips
Increase use of audiovisual training materials. In the early 1940s, the US military relied on video and film resources to help training their soldiers. This practice of using audiovisual materials is still used today as educational technology in almost all employment sectors. -
Turing Test
This test was notable for its exploration of whether computers could think like humans. This paved the way for how humans view the intelligence of computers and machines. This concept is one that still has large misconceptions today. -
Cognitivism
In the 1950s, there was a shift form observable learning to mental processing. Cognitivism focuses on how information is acquired, stored, and retrieved when necessary. It serves as one of the key learning theories as researchers explore the role of educational technology in learning. -
Increase in Instructional Television
Television gained an instructional presence in schools. The national investment was one of the largest spent on educational technology at the time. Federal Communications Commission dedicated 200+ channels for educational reasons. This programming evolved into PBS and other educational programming used for children. -
McCarthy defined AI
McCarthy is a computer scientist who was the first to coin the term artificial intelligence. It as defined as "a computer with the capability to perform a variety of human cognitive tasks, such as communicating, reasoning, learning, and/or problem-solving" (Guan et al., 2020). Lately, there has been a resurgence of AI in K-12 education. -
ELIZA (1st AI chatbot)
ELIZA is significant since it is one of the first AI chatbot. Chatbots are widely used today within industries and K-12 coding classes. -
Educator use of Computers
The early 1980s was a time where the utilizations of computers in K-12 began to increase. Although there are digital divides today, many districts nationwide are 1:1 developing multiple skills for students. "By January 1983, computers were used for instructional purposes in more than 40% of all elementary schools and more than 75% of all secondary schools in the United States (Center for Social Organization of Schools, 1983)." -
AI Definition 1
AI was re-visited and a newer definition was established. It is as follows: "AI techniques can permit the intelligent tutoring systems itself to solve the problems which it sets for the user, in a human-like and appropriate way, and then reason about the solution process and make comments on it." -
Instructional Internet
This began the time when many students began learning through e-learning platforms, specifically in higher education. Recently, almost all institutes of higher education opted to use instructional internet and e-learning platforms to continue their class through virtual means. -
Intelligent Tutoring Systems
An intelligent tutoring system is an instructional system that appropriately reacts using AI methodologies. These systems are becoming more advances and are able to "read" the learning and adjust the trajectory of their learning to best match their needs. -
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Increase in Learner Oriented Approaches
The early 2000s was a time when instruction shifted to more student centered approaches. With regards to educational technology, this lately has been an increased use of VR technology to go on virtual field trips and have student immerse themselves in new environments. -
Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources (OER) are instructional materials that are available at no cost to learners. This may look like textbooks or whole classes. Today, professors may offer students the opportunity to use resources like openstax.org to reduce financial burdens on students. -
AI Definition 2
The next AI iteration of the definition of AI was established in 2003. Of significance, this definition included intelligent tutoring systems. The definition continued to be adapted to what we use today. -
Widely Distributed Videos
In 2005, educational organizations and companies, like Khan Academy and aspects of YouTube, were created and gained in popularity. Their infrastructure allowed their educational content to reach a wide audience. Both of these resources are still widely in use today. -
Social Media
Social Media platform are still very much growing in popularity. Facebook and other social media platforms allows groups to come together and form communities of practice. Today, I have seen teachers and tutors break down complex instructional concepts into brief videos on social media (Instagram/TikTok). -
AI Definition 3
The definition of AI continued to evolve further. In 2009, the definition was adjusted to clarify the skills that AI intelligent tutoring systems have and specifically what they are able to do. -
Boom in AI
Although AI was not new at the time, there was a resurgence of the attention and focus on AI in 2010. There is still an emphasis on AI from data on your laundry usage to supporting sociocultural learning in K-12 classrooms. -
MOOCs
MOOC stands for massive open online courses and are important because of their availability for learnings all over to participate in learning opportunities. MOOCs are offered by Coursera (where I took a project management course for certification), edX, Udacity, and more. They have courses on a variety of topics. -
AI Definition 4
AI was further defined and this definition included even more human like abilities that machines would be able to accomplish. The definition was: "AI is defined as computing systems that are able to engage in human-like processes such as learning, adapting, synthesizing, self-correction and use of data for complex processing tasks." -
AI Definition 5
Although experts to this day do not have one concrete definition of AI, Reiser (2001) shares that "AI is defined as computing systems capable of engaging in human-like processes such as adapting, learning, synthesizing, correcting and using of various data required for processing complex tasks."
