Abstract:
Throughout the history of American education, technological innovations have
also had their effects on education in the United States. This paper provides a historical
review on educational technology and the visions proposed by educational technology to
transform education. A definition of educational technology is given and then followed
by a brief history and visions in educational technology. The issues of economic interest
in innovative educational and digital divide have also been addressed.
Rationale:
In this artifact, I chose to illustrate a historical view on educational visions brought by
technology. It is worthy-noting that I did not mean to present rosy predictions about
making teachers’ jobs easier for the use of technology in the classroom. Instead, it seeks
to provide an overview of how cultural, historical, social, and economic contexts
influence educational technology.
Reflection on Historical Review
This paper is the final project for the course HPC 588, “History of American Education”.
Given my background in Educational Technology or Instructional Technology, some
might argue, I planned on my final project in educational technology related topic in the
history of American education. It was not an easy task given that fact that, as an
international student, I studied the history of educational technology in American context.
However, I have to say that some issues in educational technology in American society
have shared a lot of commonality in Taiwan. In addition, I felt that by working on this
historical review on educational technology, I could easily transfer what happened in the
U.S to those similar scenarios in Taiwan where educational technology in most cases is
still often addressed in the respect of hardware and software accessibility. I think this
project enables me to observe, analyze, and criticize phenomenon associated with the use
of technology in educational settings. In other words, I have been empowered in some
ways to formulate answers to respond to the challenge raised by the emergence of
technology in the classroom given a solid background of educational technology’s past
and its visions to the future.
Further work is needed in illustrating how technology can facilitate and support student’s
learning advanced skills and the revitalization of classrooms and schools.