ED.

TECH 1
MODULE 2
“Evolution of Educational
Technology”
Pre-Mechanical Age:
3000 B.C.-1450 A.D.
The key issues facing
humans during this period were
‘How to physically present
concepts like language and
numbers and how to store and
display information’ so that it
could remain precise,
unambiguous and permanent.
 The solutions to these issues
were writing and numbering
systems aided by the
technologies of the time ---tools
like paper, pens, and the
abacus.
The Mechanical Age:
1450-1840
The telegraph, the first major
invention to use electricity for
transmitting information over
great distances with greater
speed.
The First Generation of Computers
1944
- Mechanical switches that
opened and closed by electric
current were developed.

-ENIAC was used by the military.

The Second Generation of Computers
Between 1959-1964

The transistor technology

was introduced. Computers
were smaller and were
relatively expensive.
The Third Generation of Computers
Between 1964 until 1975
Integrated circuits were
developed. The production
process begins when tubes of
silicon are sliced into wafer-thin
disks that are chemically pure
and cannot hold electrical
charges.
The Fourth Generation of Computers
Mid 1970s
Large-scale integration (LSI)
was developed. Computers also
began featuring several
applications such as the pocket
calculator and the digital watch
and the computer-on-a-chip.
Micro Computer Era
1977
-First microcomputers entered
schools.
-Focus shifted from mainframes
to desktop systems transforming
the computer’s role in
education.
-Classroom teachers began to
determine computer usage.
-Administrative applications
turned to school-based
computers.
-School-based management
became more feasible with
microcomputers.
Internet Era
1994
-There was ready access to
information and to people.
Sending and receiving multimedia
displays and the presence of
realistic simulation of ‘being there’
became possible.
-The Information Super Highway
became an expressway for
education.
The Future Generations of
Computers
2000 and beyond
-Satellite radio began airing.
-Multimedia use in the web
emerged.
-Online life extended through the
internet to include “live” audio and
video leading to instruction
anywhere and anytime.
-Distance learning became
common at all levels of education.
-Web-based videoconferencing
and other forms of
communication, CAI, and Virtual
Reality (VR) became acceptable
options in education. The focus
became more on using computers
as tools which assist in the
development of cognitive skills.
-The multimedia nature of
modern computing appealed to
prevailing understanding about
how people learn Multiple
Intelligences.
-Multiprocessing, and
simultaneous running of several
programs by one computer
(VLSI) circuitry became reality.
-The trend of miniaturization
concentrated computer capacity in
smaller spaces.
-The Grid. Using distributed computing
technology, the Grid made it possible
to dynamically pool and share
computer resources, making
unprecedented computing power
available to everyone on the GRID.
-Mobile Devices. Cell phones,
hybrids, PDAs and tablet PCs
joined with wireless networking
to make mobile computing
commonplace everywhere,
including the classroom. Touch
screens, Skype, Digital Liquid
Projector are some applications
of technology.