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6 BCE
Oral Communication Era
Oral communication was the main method of instruction in the past, and oratory was very important in ancient Greece. Homer's and other works were repeated and memorized. -
5 BCE
Written Communication Era
Writing has been important in education for a long time. Around the 7th century B.C., Moses used stone tablets for the Ten Commandments. Although Socrates didn’t like writing, it helps make ideas clearer and allows for detailed thinking. The printing press, invented in the 15th century, made written knowledge easier to access, which increased literacy and formal education in Europe. -
Broadcasting and Video
The BBC began educational radio broadcasts in the 1920s, with its first adult education program in 1924. In the 1960s, television was introduced for educational purposes.
In the 1970s, television was viewed as a potential solution for education in developing countries, but practical challenges limited its success.
The 1980s saw the introduction of satellite broadcasting, with countries like India effectively using it for educational content in local languages -
Computer Technologies Era
One of the earliest examples of computer-based learning was behaviorism, which B.F. Skinner tested in 1954 with teaching computers. Additionally, PLATO, an early computer-assisted instruction system created at the University of Illinois, was very successful from the late 1970s until the early 2010s. -
Social Media Era
A subset of computer technology, social media encompasses a number of platforms. Although millennials and young people in post-secondary education are the primary users of social media, formal education's adoption of this platform is still in its infancy.