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First School Museum
The first school museum opened in 1905 in St. Louis, Missouri. During this school museum movement, local museums distributed portable museum exhibitions, slides, and print materials. Schools primary used material from school museum as supplemental material (Reiser, 2001). -
First Film Catalog
The first instructional film catalog was published. That same year, the Rochester, New York school system incorporated films into classroom instruction, becoming the first school system to do so (Reiser, 2001). The visual instruction movement continued to grow during the next decade. -
The Association for the Educational Communication and Technology
The Association for the Educational Communication and Technology (AECT) was founded. Originally known as the National Education Association’s Department of Visual Art, the AECT became a premiere organization in the field of instructional design and Technology (Reiser, 2001). Today’s standards of practice and scholarship are instituted by the organization. -
The Radio Movement
During the instructional radio movement, Benjamin H. Darrow, the head of the children’s program at WLS radio, pioneered a show known as The Little Red School House of Air. The show taught lesson concentrated on art, music appreciation, and geography. His radio show impacted school children in Chicago and the surrounding area (Ferster, 2014). -
The Advent of Teaching Machines
Sidney Pressey patented his first automated teaching machine (Ferster, 2014). The device, which looked like a large adding machine, was designed as an automated testing tool to alleviate teachers from grading multiple choice exams. He called titled the device “Machine for Intelligence Tests.” -
Visualizing the Curriculum
Visualizing the Curriculum, written by Charles Hobson and two colleagues, was published. The authors created a hierarchy for media and focused on the audiovisual material in its relation to realism. This was a foundation work for field (Reiser and Dempsey, 2010). -
World War II and Instructional Media
From 1943-1945, industrial media aided the American war effort. As the Americans fought WWII on two fronts, the military used more than four million training films to prepare its personnel for service (Reiser, 2001). At the end of the war, German Chief of General Staff stated: “We had everything calculated perfectly except the speed with which America was able to train its people. Our major miscalculation was in underestimating their quick and complete mastery of film education” (p. 57). -
Educational Television in the 1950s
As the educational television movement began, the Federal Communication Commission reserved 242 channels for educational purposes. By 1960, there were 50 television stations that focused on instructional programs. Many anticipated educational television, like the radio, would revolutionize education (Reiser, 2001). -
B. F. Skinner Article and Teaching Machine
B. F. Skinner published his article, “The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching” in which he explained the requirements for improving learning and expelled upon the characteristics of effective learning materials (Reiser and Dempsey, 2010). That same year, Skinner created one of his first teaching machines after watching students wait for feedback in math class (Ferster, 2014). -
Gordon Pask's SAKI
Gordon Pask received a patent for self-adaptive keyboard instructor, or SAKI, designed to teach people how to use a Hollerith key punch (Pask, 1982). He argued that learning materials should “present instruction in small steps, require active responses to frequent questions, provide feedback, and allow for learner self-pacing” (p. 13). The methods were grounded in the idea of positively reinforcing students. -
Bloom's Taxonomy
Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues published Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, introducing the world of education to what would become known as Bloom’s Taxonomy (Reiser and Dempsey, 2010). In the work, the researchers discussed the types of learning objectives with cognitive domain. Tests, according the researchers, should be designed to types of outcomes with the taxonomy. -
Successful Teaching Machines
Allen Calvin, a psychologist at Hollins College, conducted a research study in Roanoke, Virginia, public school system in which he used mechanical teaching machines to teach math. The students were only instructed through the teaching machines. After a yearlong algebra course, the results of the study indicated that the students performed just as well as students who were taught algebra in the traditional format (Ferster, 2014). -
Emergence of PLATO
The Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations (PLATO), started at the University of Illinois, became the first successful computer education program. Students typed their answers on keyboards and the answers immediately appeared on the screen. The problem of delayed feedback had been resolved (Ferster, 2014). -
Preparing Objectives for Programmed Instruction
Robert Mager’s book, Preparing Objectives for Programmed Instruction, was published. This groundbreaking work taught teachers how to construct learning objectives. The book includes details about learner behaviors, conditions under which the behaviors are best suited, and standards for which the behaviors are evaluated. Today, the book is in its second editions with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide. -
Criterion-Referenced Testing
Robert Glaser coined the term criterion-referenced measures. Prior to the emergence of criterion-referenced testing, most tests were norm-referenced. In contrast, criterion-referenced tests measured how well an individual performed a task regardless of how other students scored (Reiser and Dempsey, 2012). -
The Conditions of Learning
Robert Gagne released the first edition of The Conditions of Learning, a work in which he detailed five domains of learning outcome: verbal learning, intellectual skills, psychomotor skills, attitudes, and cognitive strategies (Reiser and Dempsey, 2012). He also detailed the nine events of instruction that are paramount to reaching a learning outcome. -
Computers
By this time, approximately 40% of elementary schools and 75% of secondary schools used computers for educational purposes. Although computers had been used for education and research since the 1950s, major interests in the devices occurred in the 1980s. With the advent of the internet, many thought the computer would revolutionize education (Reiser, 2001). -
Great Courses
Thomas M. Rollins founded the Teaching Company, which became Great Courses. Designed to provide high quality audio and video lectures, the company offers 45-minutes lectures on a myriad of subjects. Today, Great Courses is primarily used to educate adult learners who want more information on topics (Ferster, 2014). -
MIT's OpenCourseWare
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) started OpenCourseWare initiative in which they made available lectures, exams, and other course content free to the public. With the help of the Mellon Foundation, the initiative has provided over 2,150 free courses throughout the world (Ferster, 2014). -
Khan Academy
Salman Khan founded Khan Academy, a free online program that teaches an array of subjects. The site has over 5,000 short video that have been watched over 300 times. Learning also have the opportunity to take assessments (Ferster, 2014).
