The History, Present and Future of Educational Technology: Web 2.0 and Beyond:

The Masters of Educational Technology course, Text Technology: The Changing Spaces of Reading and Writing, introduced me to the debate that is concerned with the role that technology has played to modify both reading and writing processes. I began the course with a simplified definition of text, something that is written, and technology, a tool that aids production. Thirteen short weeks later, after reading “Orality and Literacy” and, “Writing space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print”, among others, I would argue that text is no longer something that is written. Text is technology, it is a thought process, it is a picture, a video, a podcast, and is represented everywhere in everything.

Technology is another ambiguous term, it has been defined as  “an application of … knowledge for practical ends” (Dictionary.com, technology). Educational technology is a conglomerate term that suggests an updated teaching pedagogy, a transition to a student centered classroom and a combination of tools that are meant to facilitate learning. I have considered how educational technology has influenced the written word. I might argue that the walls of our future classrooms are coming down and in their place a global collective intelligence will surmount.

Have you ever considered what the future of educational technology will become?

I was onced asked, what do you think the role of educational technology will be five years from today?

To answer this, you must begin with the past.

Please follow this path to view a timeline documenting the history, present and future of educational technology.

All references used in the creation of this timeline are located in the final entry of the timeline.

References

Avenia, T. (Artist). (2012). Text Word Art [Image file].

Avenia, T. (2012, Nov. 25). The history, present, and future of educational technology: Web 2.0 and beyond [web timeline]. Retrieved March  from http://www.tiki-toki.com/previewembed/entry/75467/0908883653/900/480/

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. [2nd Ed.]. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Ong, W. J. (2002). Orality and Literacy [2nd Ed.]. New York: Routledge.

technology. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2015, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/technology