Nida Balcı History of EdTech timeline

  • 100,000 BCE

    Oral communications era

    Oral communications era
    According to Bates. (2015) oral communication was one of the first forms of formal education. People of past relied heavily on oral communication to maintain and transmit forms of knowledge such as news, folklores, stories and history. This made exact memorization a crucial skill.
  • 500 BCE

    Written communications era

    Written communications era
    Bates (2015) states that, written records were widely available in ancient Greece by the fifth century B.C. In the Bible Moses, most likely in the seventh century BC, wrote down the Ten Commandments using a carved stone. Then, the printing press, which was invented in Europe during the 15th century, was a disruptive innovation that made it easier to access written information. This resulted a requirement for literacy which then resulted formal educations expension along Europe.
  • 1100

    Slate boards

    Slate boards
    By 12th century AD slate boards were being used in India. (Bates 2015)
  • Blackboards/chalkboards

    Blackboards/chalkboards
    Schools started using blackboards/chalkboards.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Reliable postal system

    Reliable postal system
    By 19th century transportation started improving and it resulted in cheap and reliable postal system.
    (Bates 2015)
  • External degree program

    External degree program
    Thanks to the new postal system University of London offered an external degree program.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Broadcasting and video era

    Broadcasting and video era
    Bates (2015) note that in 1920, educational radio programs were getting aired by British Broadcasting Coorperation (BBC). And by 1960s broadcasting and video made its way to the schools and in education.
  • Educational radio programs

    Educational radio programs
    The broadcasting of educational radio programs for schools was initiated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
    (Bates 2015)
  • Overhead projectors

    Overhead projectors
    Overhead projectors started to get used by U.S army for training. This tool became common for lecturing.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Computer based learning era

    Computer based learning era
    Lastly, Bates (2015) states the latest and current era, computer based learning era. With the technology evolving, people started using more technologically advanced devices.
  • B.F. Skinner's teaching machines

    B.F. Skinner's teaching machines
    B.F. Skinner using behaviorism made experiments on teaching machines. This machines were using programmed learning.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Televisions first usage on education

    Televisions first usage on education
    The first time people used television for schools and for adult education.
  • Open University

    Open University
    The British government established the Open University (OU) in partnership with the BBC to develop university programs open to all, using specially designed printed materials by OU staff, and integrated with BBC-produced television and radio programs.
  • The use of television for education

    The use of television for education
    By 1970, to be an effective solution for education in underdeveloped nations ,educational televisions usage increased. However lack of electricity, costetc prevented this.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Printed course units

    Printed course units
    Using specially designed heavily illustrated printed course materials, the Open University transformed print usage.
    (Bates 2015)
  • PLATO

    PLATO
    The PLATO system was initially created at the University of Illinois as a general computer-assisted instruction system. PLATO had achieved a great success, managing to last for 40 years. Concepts like
    online testing, e-mail, message boards, chat rooms and much more were integrated on PLATO.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Video-conferencing

    Video-conferencing
    Video conferencing has been utilized since the 1980s, making use of dedicated cable systems and dedicated conferencing rooms.
    (Bates 2015)
  • CoSy software

    CoSy software
    CoSY is a software that was made by University of Guelph in Canada, that can do online threaded group discussion forums.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) attempts

    Artificial intelligence (AI) attempts
    Just like video conferencing, ın the middle of the 1980s, efforts were made to use artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic the teaching process. There have been significant investment in previous 30 years to integrate AI research for teaching, but the outcomes have mostly been underwhelming.
    (Bates 2015)
  • India launches its own satellite INSAT

    India launches its own satellite INSAT
    In the 1980s, satellite broadcasting began to be available with similar aspirations as television. This failed by the same reasons but India decided to launch their own satelite INSAT. They started using this to broadcast educational tv shows through the whole country.
    (Bates 2015)
  • DT200 course

    DT200 course
    DT200 course was a course held by Open University in the United Kingdom. This course used both traditional education as well as CoSy.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Electronic projectors and presentational softwares

    Electronic projectors and presentational softwares
    Electronic projectors took place of overhead projectors. Powerpoint and such presentation softwares started coming out.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Digital compression, high-speed Internet access

    Digital compression, high-speed Internet access
    Thanks to internet getting faster and digital compression the price of making and posting videos decreased. This decrease made it possible to develop lecture capture systems.
    (Bates 2015)
  • First learning management systems (LMSs)

    First learning management systems (LMSs)
    The early learning management systems (LMSs), like WebCT, were made possible via the Web. Thanks to LMSs people had anonline environment where they can learn.
    (Bates 2015)
  • The first fully online courses

    The first fully online courses
    Fully online courses that uses LMSs, Pdf and slides came around by 1995
    (Bates 2015)
  • OpenCourseWare project

    OpenCourseWare project
    OpenCourseWare project got offered by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that recorded its lectures and shared it with the public.
    (Bates 2015)
  • first ‘connectivist’ Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

    first ‘connectivist’ Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
    In 2008, George Siemens, Stephen Downes, and Dave Cormier in Canada created the first 'connectivist' Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) using web technology. The course had over 2,000 enrollments, and it was open to anyone with no formal assessment.
    (Bates 2015)
  • Online learning with lecture capture systems

    Online learning with lecture capture systems
    By 2008 online learning started to get implemented by lecture capture systems
    (Bates 2015)
  • References

    Bates, A. (2015, April 5). Teaching in a digital age. Pressbooks. https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ "Death Socrates Jacques Louis David" by The Metropolitan Museum of Art
    Image by Jay_T from Pixabay
    Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
    Image by Eliens from Pixabay
    Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
    Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay
    Image by Detmold from Pixabay
    Image by Pexels from Pixabay
    Image by geralt from Pixabay
    Skinner_teaching_machine_01.jpg. (2008).
  • References

    Image by Wikilmages from Pixabay
    Image by Alexey_Marcov from
    Image by OleksandrPidvalnyi from Pixabay
    Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
    Image by jarmoluk from Pixabay
    Image by Lucent_Desings_dinoson20 from Pixabay
    Image by geralt from Pixabay
    Image by SCY from Pixabay
    Image by LeeJeongSoo from Pixabay
    Image by tellmeyourgoal from Pixabay