It is the World Education Technology Day
23rd September is World Education Technology Day! Learn more about the history of education technology and what benefits it brings to the learning process.
With the help of technology, teachers will be the leaders in the transformation of education around the world.
– Craig R. Barrett, Intel CEO (1998-2009) –
Years ago, technology was considered a special extra in our life that was not widely accessible. Today technology is an integral part of our daily activities and routine. Its coverage extends far beyond the typical tech, business, and work fields. One of the spheres revolutionized by technology was education.
Teachers believe that their students should have good skills in using technology for educational purposes as the future of education is connected to technical solutions. It is not a surprise then that we have a special day to celebrate all the benefits that technology brings to the world of education – the 23rd of September is Education Technology Day.
History of Educational Technology
Technology helps the education process to be more effective, engaging, and accessible. Probably the first time when a machine was used to help students learn more accurate, faster, and easier is when copy machines like Gestetner stencil devices and mimeograph, were introduced to the schools and university administrations. These forerunners of the modern copier were designed to create short copy runs – 10 to 50 copies, that were very handy in the classroom and for home use.
Since then, the number and the variety of tools and tech solutions implemented and integrated into the classroom have risen significantly. The slide projectors were used by educational institutions since the 50s of the 20th century.
In the mid-60s, the first real technical revolution started by introducing computers to schools, colleges, and universities.
They were used to teach children spelling and arithmetic in elementary schools with the help of specially developed software programs.
The University of Illinois could be named a pioneer of online education since 1960. Back then, it allowed its students to access their curriculum through linked computer terminals, as the Internet did not exist at the time. Two decades later, in 1986, the first online course was offered thanks to Commodore and DOS 64 computers interconnected via the Electronic University Network.
One of the predecessors of the educational technologies that transformed the learning process was video conferencing. It was initially used in museum education and later applied in various other fields of study. Another milestone of education technology was reached in 1994 when the first online high school was founded.
Nowadays, we witness the full integration between advanced technology systems and the educational process.
Moreover, we cannot imagine schools and universities today without the possibilities that technologies give them today. 80% of the students in the US colleges earn two-thirds of their Bachelor’s degrees thanks to the online courses offered there.
Today millions of students and pupils have adopted distance learning as a natural way of studying. Thanks to the rapid expansion of communications and collaboration technology, teachers and students can use applications such as Google Classroom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and others to create virtual classrooms where they interact with each other most naturally.
Benefits of educational technology
Hardly anyone can deny the advantages that technology brings to the classroom. Below we have listed some of the top reasons why technology helps education evolve and transforms it to match the needs of modern society.
• In our digital world, tech skills have become life skills. Working with different technical solutions for educational purposes from a rather young age helps you feel more confident about understanding the new applications that emerge daily.
• Implementing technology into the classroom, allows students to have access to new information, the moment it is available online. That can speed up the learning process and enrich your learning experience.
• Thanks to the technical programs, both students and teachers can automate many monotonous tasks for school or college.
• The knowledge base that is available online is enormous. Students and teachers can choose between various online resources to make the learning process more effective, engaging, and enhanced.
• Using technology in the classroom gives more flexibility to the whole team of students and teachers. The first can receive immediate feedback on their performance, while the former can experiment more freely.
• Modern teamwork solutions integrated into the classroom like Google Classroom, Google Meet, MS Teams, Zoom allow students to learn from anywhere. After all, thanks to education technology, the learning process never stopped, even when whole countries were locked down last year.
There are different ways for you to embrace and celebrate World Education Technology Day. You can enroll in an online course, you can offer an online workshop to share your knowledge and experience, or you can participate in an educational online game.
Technology has shaped our lives in a way we could not imagine several decades ago. It brought many benefits, and we started implementing it in different spheres and activities, including the educational process. With the help of advanced technological solutions, we managed to overcome serious challenges in the education we faced last year during the global pandemic. Technology broadens our horizons, opens new windows, and enables teachers to be more innovative and inspiring in their teaching practices.
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