EdTech Timeline 1

  • Period: 500 BCE to 400 BCE

    Sophist Method

    The systematic analysis of content through mass instruction, expository lecture and group discussion
  • Period: 450 BCE to 400 BCE

    Socratic Method

    Inquiry in the form of back-and-forth questioning and conversation
  • Period: 1100 to 1300

    Scholasticism

    The systematic and rational examination and judgment of views and their counterarguments in order to understand, verify or qualify them
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    Comenius

    Established a massive set of instructional principles that included inductive learning, learning with natural objects and the study of practical content; also proposed the idea that education should start at kindergarten, go through university and be open to all
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    The "Psychologization" of Instruction (J. H. Pestalozzi)

    The idea that instruction should be based on the phases of natural human development and should consider the learner as a whole as well as individual differences among learners; methods include experiential learning and the individual articulation of ideas
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    Herbartian Method (J. F. Herbart)

    A systematic four-step method that was rooted in psychology and emphasized the connection of new information to prior knowledge in order to create new learning
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    Froebel's Mystical Philosophy of Education

    The incorporation of autonomous activity, creativity, social participation, and motor expression into learning; included methods such as the use of objects and construction
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    Lancasterian Monitorial Instruction (J. Lancaster)

    A systematic approach to mass instruction that relied on "monitors" (similar to tutors); paid careful attention to and controlled details such as the physical learning environment, learning materials, tutor training, and learner assessment
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    The Nature Study Movement (H. H. Straight)

    Part of the Object Method with special focus on the study and analysis of natural specimens
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    The Object Method (E. A. Sheldon)

    The incorporation of objects, such as pictures and natural materials, into instruction
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    Visual Instruction Movement

    The use of visual materials, such as photographs, film and charts, to supplement the instruction provided by the teacher and the book; supported by school museums, which provided museum materials
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    The Audiovisual (AV) Instruction Movement

    An expansion of the visual instruction movement with the incorporation of sound into visual media; includes instructional radio and TV; training films, slide projectors, simulators and other audiovisual (AV) training devices used extensively in military and industry training during WWII
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    Instructional Design Movement

    Instructional design as a field originated in the development of training materials for the military and attempts to assess the impact of the materials; training seen as a system that could be analyzed, designed and assessed
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    Research Movement into Effective Instructional Uses of AV

    Several research programs looked into the features of AV-based instructional strategies that best facilitated learning; included a concentrated examination of the learning principles that best align with the use of this educational technology
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    Interest in Communication Processes

    Interest in communication processes emerged from the AV Instructional Movement; looked at the interaction of the sender of the message, the receiver of the message, and the medium through which it was being transmitted
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    Programmed Instruction Movement

    The presentation of instruction as a process that learners could move through at their own pace to achieve behavioral objectives; a series of small learning steps, followed by frequent questions that required clear responses and came with prompt feedback
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    The Criterion-Referenced Testing Movement

    A shift in thinking about how to assess learning from norm-referenced testing (in comparison to other learners) to criterion-referenced testing (in comparison to a set of behaviors)
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    A Systematic Approach to Designing Learning Materials

    The emergence and coalescence of many new ways of thinking about instructional design, including Gagne's five domains of learning outcomes, "events of instruction," and learning task analysis, Scriven's formative assessment of learning materials, and numerous instructional design models
  • Shift in Terminology

    AV terminology replaced by terms like "educational technology' and "instructional technology" to describe the use of media for teaching and learning
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    Computer-Assisted Instruction

    Increasing interest in the use of computers to aid in instruction; computers became more and more present in schools
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    The Application of Cognitive Psychology to Instructional Design

    Increased interest in the application of cognitive psychology, including constructivism, to instructional design
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    Performance Technology Movement

    Emphasis on workplace performance, business results, and "noninstructional solutions to performance problems" (Reiser, 2001, p. 62)
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    Internet-Based Learning

    Increasing interest in and use of the Internet to support learning in business and industry, the military and higher education (distance learning); while present in K12 schools, access to the Internet is limited