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30,000 BCE
Oral communication Era
One of the earliest forms of education was oral, relying on speech. Over time, technology has been used to enhance oral communication. In ancient times, stories were transmitted orally, requiring accurate memorisation. This tradition persists in many non-industrialised societies. (Bates 2015) -
700 BCE
Written communication Era
The printing press in Europe during the 15th century made written knowledge more accessible. The mechanisation of printing led to a surge in written documents, requiring more individuals to become literate and analytical. The printing press in the 15th century made written knowledge more freely available. This led to a surge in demand for literate individuals in government and business, which in turn led to a rapid expansion of formal education across Europe.(Bates 2015) -
Broadcasting & Video Era
According to Bates (2015), educational radio programmes were broadcast by the British Broadcasting Coorporation (BBC) as early as 1920. And by the 1960s, radio and video were making their way into schools and education. -
Computer Based Learning: B.F. Skinner's teaching machines
In 1954, B.F. Skinner commenced experimentation with teaching machines that employed programmed learning, a technique based on the theory of behaviourism. Skinner's teaching machines were among the earliest forms of computer-based learning. The recent resurgence of programmed learning approaches can be attributed to the advent of MOOCs, as machine-based testing is more cost-effective than human-based assessment.(Bates 2015) -
Computer Networking
The US Arpanet was the first to use the Internet Protocol in 1982. In 1988, the Open University in the UK offered a course using CoSy. One of the first MOOCs had 1,200 students. The World Wide Web was first developed in 1991. The first web browser, Mosaic, launched in 1993. Before the Web, loading text and retrieving material from the Internet was slow. Since 1993, many search engines have been developed, with Google becoming one of the most prominent.(Bates 2015) -
Social media
At the time of writing, social media are only just being integrated into formal education. Their main educational value to date has been in non-formal education, such as fostering online communities of practice, or around the edges of classroom teaching, such as the use of 'tweets' during lectures or the rating of instructors. It will be argued that they have significant potential for facilitating learning.(Bates 2015) -
References
Bates, A. (2015, April 5). Teaching in a digital age.
https://www.academia.edu/91320271/Teaching_in_a_Digital_Age