Timeline Analysis
Jason E. Amy
Jason.Amy@waldenu.edu
Ed.S. in Educational Technology
ED 7100: Evolution in Educational Technology
Walden University
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Timeline Analysis
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of technology upon events in the
1950’s, the 1990’s, and the 2000’s. How events in education, work, educational legislature,
society and culture, and Toffler’s waves affect the development of new technologies will also be
examined. The reason for choosing these decades is: (1) the 1950’s signals both the height of
Toffler’s Industrial Age and the start of Toffler’s Information Age (The third age: the
information age, 2011), (2) the 1990’s signals the height of Toffler’s Information Age (The third
age: the information age, 2011), and (3) the 2000’s signals the start of Thornburg’s
Communication Age (Thornburg, n.d.). The major technological advances that will be examined
during each are: (1) the development of the first robotic arm for manufacturing during the 1950’s
(Timeline of Robotics 2 of 2, 2008), (2) the development of the World Wide Web during the
1990’s (History of the internet and the world wide web, 2011) , and (3) the development of the
iPod by Apple Computer during the 2000’s (Bellis, 2011) .
The 1950’s
Impact of Technology on Events
The beginning of the 1950’s saw what would become the height of Toffler’s Industrial
Age (The second age: the industrial age, 2011) and the start of Toffler’s Information Age (The
third age: the information age, 2011). Many of the manufacturing jobs at the time required
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putting and taking of items. The major technological advance during this time was the
development of the robotic arm for manufacturing during 1956 (Timeline of Robotics 2 of 2,
2008). The robotic arm leads to changes in how items are manufactured. I believe this event to
be one of the signals of the end of the Industrial Age and the start of the Information Age,
because it allowed workers to be freed from working in factories so that they could focus on
other types of employment (The third age: the information age, 2011). Also during this year,
President Eisenhower creates the interstates. This allows citizens to easily move from one area
to another (TSC Staff, 1999a). With the invention of robotics in manufacturing, many workers,
once employed in factories, are forced to find other means of work. The interstates may have
allowed for these workers to more easily move and find other jobs. The use of robotic in
manufacturing also has an impact on production in other countries as well. The first Toyota sold
in the U.S. in 1957 potentially leads to Japanese companies expanding their factories and
encorporating robotics as well (TSC Staff, 1999b).
Impact of Events on Technology
The Korean War which started in 1950 definitely had an impact on the technological
development of the airplane. The Korean War saw the development and use of jet aircraft
(Korean War, 2011). The development of Skinner’s Programmed Instruction in 1950 (Vargas,
2005) pushed for the further development of the computer as did the 1954 National Defense
Education Act (The federal role in education, 2010) , Bloom’s Taxonomy of the cognitive
domain in 1956 (Huitt, 2009), the launch of Sputnik by th Soviet Union in 1957 (Garber, 2007),
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and the development of the credit card by Bank of America in 1958 (TSC Staff, 1999b).
Skinner’s Programmed Instruction called for the use of teaching machines. Technologies needed
to be developed to be used as these teaching machines (Vargas, 2005). The National Defense
Education Act called for an increase in education geared towards math and science (The federal
role of education, 2010). Math helped with the development of the calculator, while science has
helped with technologies like microscopes for biology and satellites for earth science. Bloom’s
Taxonomy was developed from the ideas of the computer and subsequent developments
probably continue to be developed as newer computer technologies are released (Huitt, 2009).
The launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union led to the great space race which created all types of
new technologies ranging from advanced rocketry to advances in communications to the robotics
used by the astronauts (Garber, 2007). The development of the credit card by Bank of America
has led to advances in both telephony and the Internet (TSC Staff, 1999b).
The 1990’s
Impact of Technology on Events
The 1990’s saw the height of Toffler’s Information Age (The third age: the information
age, 2011). The major technological development of the decade was the creation of the World
Wide Web in 1990. The development of the world wide web made the transisition from a textbased Internet to one with a visual nature (History of the internet and the world wide web,
2011). This development spurred three businesses to develop in regards to the Internet in 1995:
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(1) the release of Netscape as a browser (TSC Staff, 1999a), (2) the opening of Amazon.com as
an online store (The history of amazon.com , 2010), and (3) the way AOL charges for internet
access (TSC Staff, 1999c). The arrest of the Unabomber in 1996 may also have been made
easier due to the publication of newspapers and other events on the Web, which may have led to
more people viewing the information than they would otherwise (Chua-Eoan, 2011). The World
Wide Web as a diverse global marketplace may have also helped spur changes in education by
helping people to become more aware of the diverse multicultural environment. This could have
helped James Banks when he published his book, “Multicultural Education: Transformative
Knowledge and Action,” in 1996 (Multicultural education: goals and dimensions, 2009). I
believe these events also helped to pave the way for Dr. Thornburg’s Communication Age
(Thornburg, n.d.).
Impact of Events on Technology
The events during the 1990’s that had the largest impact on technology were: (1) the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA in 1990 (A guide to disability rights, 2006),
(2) the start of the Gulf War in 1991 (Persian gulf wars, 2007) , (3) the Brooks’ book, “In Search
of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms in 1993 (Constructivism, 2008), and
(4) The Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994 (Goals 2000 legislation and related items,
2005). Each of these events were strong influences in the development of the personal computer
and its possibilities. IDEA was developed in regards to helping students with disabilities earn
an education (A guide to disability rights, 2006). Many of the assistive technologies were
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developed to help these students to learn better by allowing students to interact more easily with
a computer. The Gulf War was the start of another conflict that enabled better developments in
both weapons and communications as well as a host of other new technologies (Persian gulf
wars, 2007). Goals 2000 seems to have its roots within constructivism. Goals 2000 is about
trying to standardize the classroom and the technologies available (Goals 2000 legislation and
related items, 2005).
The 2000’s
Impact of Technology on Events
The start of 2000 was the beginning of Dr. Thornburg’s Communication Age (Thornburg,
n.d.). I believe this age started from the advancing development of the Internet in the 1990’s
which has continued to grow through the 2000’s. The major technological event of the 2000’s
was the creation of the iPod by Apple Computers. It has a profound effect on how information is
shared and the copyright laws (Bellis, 2011). I believe this heightened examination of the
copyright laws may have had an impact on the corporate reform bill signed by President Bush in
2002, as it focuses on penalties for corporate fraud and how accounting is practiced (Corporate
reform bill ok’d, 2011).
Impact of Events on Technology
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The number of events in the 2000’s that impacted technology are much higher than in the
other decades examined. The terror attacks on the World Trade Towers in 2001 have one of the
greatest impacts on this decade (The attack on the world trade center towers, 2009). The attack
caused major changes in securities of developing technologies. For example, the launches of
Facebook in 2004, and Youtube in 2005 required that information be much more closely guarded
than before 2001. The start of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002 also had a large impact on
technology development in the 2000’s. The war continued with increasing securities and
advancements in weaponry that had started in the 1990’s (Timeline war in Afghanistan, 2010).
Educational legislature such as No Child Left Behind in 2002 (No child left behind: a parent’s
guide, 2005), the Common Core State Standards Initiative in 2009 (About the standards, 2010),
and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, had an impact on standardization in
education as well as in the technological realm of computers (The recovery act, 2010). These
acts, similar to Goals 2000, have helped to ensure that one classroom has much the same
technologies available as any other classroom. Another event with an impact was the Hurricane
Katrina disaster in 2005 (Hurricane Katrina, 2011). This disaster may have helped to build
communications through the web about new ways of forming recovery efforts. Finally, I believe
the development of the iPod by Apple has led to further developments in miniaturization of other
technologies. The personal computer has evolved into the laptop which has evolved further into
the netbook.
Conclusion
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This paper has examined the major technological impacts of the 1950’s, 1990’s, and
2000’s. We started with robotic arm in the 1950’s and its potential impacts on manufacturing,
production, and travel (Timeline of Robotics 2 of 2, 2008). I also believe that this is a major
event in the transition between the Industrial Age and Information Age (The third age: the
information age, 2011). Other events in the 1950’s helped to spur developments in weaponry,
computers, and scientific instruments. Next the development of the World Wide Web and its
potential impacts on new applications, communications, and multiculturism were examined
(History of the internet and the world wide web, 2011). The eventual full development of the
World Wide Web and its communication abilities leads to what I believe is the start of Dr.
Thornburg’s Communication Age (Thornburg, n.d.) Other events in the 1990’s helped
developments in securities, weaponry, standardizations of technology, and communications.
Finally the development of the iPod in the 2000’s and its potential impacts on laws governing
people and other businesses were discussed (Bellis, 2011). I believe these laws have direct
impacts on communications within Dr. Thornburg’s Communication Age (Thornburg, n.d.)
Other events in the 2000’s helped to continue many of the same developments in technology that
were started in the 1990’s. It has been shown that technology can be both the reason for events
occurring as well as the possible effect from an event occurring.
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