In this webinar, we explore technology in education with Joseph Phillips, co-author of In Focus.
For a hundred years or more, new inventions in technology raised hopes that technological innovations will transform the face of education. These hopes, however, were not fulfilled, and a teacher from a 100 years ago would easily find their way around the classrooms of today. With new digital technologies bringing us fast and cheap computers, wireless networks and cloud storage, however, the predictions of technology transforming education are likely to be realised.
Larry Cuban says that with the introduction of every new technology, there was an initial enthusiasm and a lot of speculation about potential uses for the technology. This enthusiasm is usually validated by studies, which show the benefits of the new technology. However, the new technology does not necessarily perform well in practice, and teachers don’t always readily adopt it. They are in turn blamed for not utilising the new technology fully.
Over the course of 20th century, there have been several new technologies that enjoyed various degrees of success in the classroom. Watch the webinar recording below for a fascinating historical overview of technology in education and some ways in which modern technology is finally changing the traditional classroom!
A teacher in Japan for 30 years, Joseph Phillips is a professor in the Contemporary Liberal Arts Department of Aoyama Gakuin Women’s Junior College in Tokyo, and is the coordinator of English language courses for students enrolled in the International Studies major.