History of
Educational
Technology
“Hi Harvey, Whatʼs new?”
“Schwier, you donʼt know whatʼs old.”
- Professor Harvey Frye
Indiana University, 1977

Go ahead...

Why bother?
• because Alec and Rob say so
• rich tradition
• Canadian edtech vs. USA edtech
• enjoy knowing where you fit - river of life
• past provides understanding of the future

Why me?
• because Alec & Rob say so
• old guy syndrome
• know a lot of old dudes
• actually studied with some old dudes
• started out in the USA
• came to Canada early enough to witness
much of its growth and transformation

It’s Greek to me
Elder Sophists and
Future Shop salespeople

Greek Philosophy
Four questions of cause:
material
formal
efficient
functional

Greek Philosophy
4 questions of cause:
material, formal, efficient, functional

seven cardinal virtues
& seven deadly sins
• chastity • lust
• temperance • gluttony
• charity • greed
• diligence • sloth
• patience • wrath
• kindness • envy
• humility • pride

Question 1:
• What is your earliest memory of an
educational technology?

Question 2:
• Who is the most influential non-Canadian
scholar in educational technology you can
name?

Question 3
• Who is the most influential CANADIAN
scholar in educational technology you can
name?

List of “thinkers” in
ECT according to
Wikipedia: Rick:
Karl Fisch Comenius
Ian Jukes James Finn
Jamie McKenzie Robert Gagné
Scott McLeod Albert Bandura
Alan November Seymour Papert
Seymour Papert Marshall McLuhan
Will Richardson Allan Paivio
Gary Stager Nicholas Negroponte
John Sweller M. David Merrill
Joyce Kazman Valenza Brent Wilson
David Warlick David Jonassen
David Marcovitz Charles Reigeluth
Andy Gibbons
Etienne Wenger
Denys Hlynka

Posse cup quiz
• How many of these people can you name?

And how about these?

and these?

What is CNIE?

Canadian Network for Innovation in
Education - 2007
AMTEC - 1971 CADE - 1980s
EMAC-1968 ETRAC - 1968
CAVA - 1961
DAVI - 1958

Journals as moving targets
AMTEC
• CAVA News - 1958
• Educational Media - 1969 - 1971
• Media Message - 1973 -
• Canadian Journal of Educational
Communication 1983 - 2001
• Canadian Journal of Learning & Technology
2001 - ??

Journals as moving targets
AECT
• AVCR - 1952-1977
• Educational Communication and
Technology (ECTJ) - 1978 - 1992
• Journal of Instructional Development
1978-1992
• Educational Technology Research &
Development 1992 - ??

Panaceas for schools
• Film - 1940s
• Television - 1950s
• Programmed instruction - 1960s
• Systematic instructional design - 1970s
• Computers - 1980s
• The Internet - 1990s
• Social networks & Web 2.0 - 2000s

MPATI

A Turning Point:
Social responsibility
• One Laptop Per Child (August, 2006 Ted
Talk, Nicholas Negroponte)
• http://tinyurl.com/2gbo5p

Movement
-not technology but epistemology
• Objectivism
• Cognitivism Individuals
• Constructivism
• Collective constructionism Groups
- Social learning

Shifts in ET
from Teemu Arina

Shifts in ET
Objectivism
Cognitivism
Constructivism
Social Learning

Shifts in ET
Group growth
Individual growth
Objectivism
Cognitivism
Constructivism
Social Learning

Distinctly Canadian

Common mis-speakings
• ET is a new discipline
• Media comparison studies
• Data = knowledge
• Knowledge - understanding
• Models of complex systems are true
• Computers can replace teachers
• ET = computers + internet + schools

The Future