Timeline: The History of Educational Technology

3200 BCE

Clay Tablets

Clay tablets are a writing material made of clay with a flat surface. The first tablet was found in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq. Writing was developed for counting and recording goods by Sumerians. Clay was easily available so it became the writing material.

3000 BCE

Papyrus

Papyrus was first manufactured in ancient Egypt. It is made from a plant named aquatic plant and is easily portable. It remained in regular use longer than any other material in the history of written documents.

150 BCE

Parchment

Parchment was invented in the Mediterranean region by Eumenes II. Parchment’s substance is a form of leather. It remained the standard writing surface for medieval European scribes in the west for a millennium and a half.

100 BCE

Paper

A government official in China named Ts'ai Lun invented paper. He made paper by mixing textile fibres from the bark of the mulberry in water, and mashing it flat. Later he pressed out the water to dry it in the sun.

1300

Slate Board

Paper was invented before slate boards, but it was an expensive material for the average person, thus, slate boards became popular for students to practice writing. The origin of the slate board is unknown but its use goes back to the 14th century.

1440

Printing Press

The printing press was invented by Johann Gutenberg in Germany. The printing press uses ink to transfer text and images to paper. This development required people in business and government to become literate and as a result it led formal education in Europe to spread.

1841

Chalkboard

Before the chalkboard was common in classes students had individual slates. The chalkboard became permanent in classes by the late 1800s.

1954

Skinner's Teaching Machine

B.F. Skinner invented the teaching machine, which is one of the first forms of computer-based learning, in 1954. Skinner’s machine made use of programmed learning and would give positive feedback to students when they provided the correct answer.

1989

The Word Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee invented the Word Wide Web in 1989 but it was formally launched in 1991. The World Wide Web is an application running on the Internet that enables users to create and link documents without transcribing everything into a computer code.