History of Education

In the Beginning

100 BCE

Families were hunters and gatherers and children educated themselves through self-directed play and exploration.

Invention of Agriculture

1000

With the invention of agriculture children became forced laborers. Play and exploration were suppressed and children were forced into submission to work

Middle Ages

1450

Boys as young as seven were chosen to be slaves. They were beaten by their masters to suppress any defiance of carrying out the orders of the master. The boys would carry out a large number of chores throughout the day and sleep in the loft about the dogs at night to attend to their needs. Long gone was learning through play and experience.

Compulsory Public Education

1800

Industry became somewhat automated and the need for children workers declined somewhat. The idea of compulsory public Education began in Europe. Employers saw this as a way to create better workers. The lessons pertained to punctuality, following directions, tolerance of long hours of tedious work with minimal ability to read and write. The same inhumane methods of forcing students to work in the fields and factories were used in schools as well.

19th and 20th Century Schools

1950

Public schools were transforming to the schools we see today. The methods are less harsh but it is still children's work but still something that is forced upon children. Discipline is more humane. The curriculum taught expanded as knowledge expanded. The number of hours, days, and years continued to increase. The school replaced working in the fields, the factory, or homestead chores. Education is seen as something that will not happen naturally through self-chosen activities.

Kids Can't Wait

1983

Apple Computer Inc. announced the start of the program Kids Can't Wait and the idea was to donate a computer to every classroom in America. "I thought if there was just one computer in every school, some of the kids would find it. It will change their lives." Steve Jobs (founder of Apple) said this in an interview in 1995.

Apple Classroom of Tomorrow

1985

Apple conducted a student that was prompted from the Kids Can't Wait program. They wanted the computers that they donated to help teachers and students transform teaching and learning. This study lasted for 10 years and they studied how the everyday use of technology might impact learning. The research concluded that technology significantly increased the potential for learning to support collaboration, information access, and representation of student knowledge.

Apple Classroom of Tomorrow-Today

1995

With the rise of the internet and affordable mobile devices Apple wanted to update their research and launched Apple Classroom of Tomorrow-Today. The study was focusing on creating a plan that would ensure the digital generation of students would receive the education they needed to learn. They learned that hands-on activities were important and teachers needed to create classrooms that reflected such.