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30,000 BCE
Cave Drawings
Cave drawing was one of the first ways of using educational technology that appeared before the history. It was first found in Asia and Europe. People drew pictures on the cave of animals or people. They mostly used ground stone, sand mixed with animal blood or animal fat to write on the rocks in painting. The exact purpose is not known but, these cave painting might have also been used to educate early humans and show them some stories about their life and what happened during their life. -
510 BCE
Pythagoras Academy
Pythagoras academy was the first school open in 510 BCE. It was founded by the philosopher Pythagoras. He taught kids in Ancient Greece. -
105
Paper
Paper and printing were among the most important Chinese inventions, and changed the world. The first paper was made from rags, but later plant materials were used, such as bark, hemp, and bamboo. The invention spread slowly across the world, reaching Europe in the 1100s. -
382
Manuscript Transcription
Manuscript transcription was developed as a writing standard in Europe so that the Latin alphabet could be easily recognized by the literate class from different regions. -
1450
Gutenberg Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which started the Printing Revolution. A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. Typically used for texts, the invention and global spread of the printing press was one of the most influential events in the second millennium. -
Public Education
Public schools are schools that wealthy and rich people provided them to help in educate poor children. In their single classroom, they were teaching hundreds of students by giving the older students a lesson and they pass it to younger learners. These schools taught the people some skills that they were need them in work placement. -
Public Education: Coming of Chalkboard Slates
Chalkboards have had a role in education for centuries, and the large blackboards that most people easily recognize today have quite a storied history. The earliest examples were individual slate or slate-like boards that students used as a less expensive substitute for pen and paper. -
Public Education: Books
The history of the book starts with the development of writing, and various other inventions such as paper and printing, and continues through to the modern day business of book printing. The earliest history of books actually predates what would conventionally be called "books" today and begins with tablets, scrolls, and sheets of papyrus. -
Audiovisual Age: Radio
The use of radio as an educational tool further augmented its informational function. Students, in traditional classroom settings (or individually via distance education) could listen to programs, or with the use of transceivers, could interact with radio programs. In this manner, students would receive educational programming that expanded on their classroom learning. -
Audiovisual Age: Film Strip Projector
The film projector remained in the classroom until the early 1980's and was used to study a particular topic or timeline of events. The projector displayed still images from a film strip accompanied by an audio recording. -
Audiovisual Age: Overhead Projector
Originally used for military purposes, the Overhead projector (or OHP) meant that teachers could now display material in large scale, practically anywhere in the classroom! -
Information Age: Television
In the 1960's the television started to be used in the classroom. Teachers used this to show the students videos and documentaries during class. -
Information Age: VCR, VHS Tape
VHS (video home system) tapes and VCRs replaced film projectors in schools in the '70s and '80s. In the '90s, televisions and VCRs often were shared resources and, much like today’s laptop carts, they had to be brought to classrooms on wheeled carts to view movies. -
Information Age: Audio Tape
Tape recordings have provided an important aid to education. And for a long time, they have been particularly effective in teaching of languages. -
Computer Age
As a tool, high-speed computers revolutionized the representation and manipulation of information. Computers became the new instruments for extending our senses and intuition. Computer models, simulations and other symbolic representations provided an environment for the vicarious learning necessary to build human intuition. -
Computer Age: Smart Board - Interactive Whiteboard
The SMARTboard was invented by David Martin and Nancy Knowlton through their company SMART Technologies in 1991. It was the first interactive whiteboard that was able to provide touch controls in the same way as a computer. The system includes an interactive whiteboard, projector and whiteboard software that accepts touch input from a “smart” pen, finger or any solid object. It is useful for note taking, brainstorming, games and using all forms of media while making classes more environmentally. -
Digital Age
In 1995, the Web enabled the development of the first learning management systems (LMSs), such as WebCT (which later became Blackboard). LMSs provide an online teaching environment, where content can be loaded and organized, as well as providing ‘spaces’ for learning objectives, student activities, assignment questions, and discussion forums. The first fully online courses (for credit) started to appear in 1995, some using LMSs, others just loading text as PDFs or slides. -
Interactive Age
At that time, much more advances were done in educational technology. Smart response LE, smart response PE, laptops, document camera and smart response XE came into use. The education was getting easier thanks to these tools!
