Every generation has its classy technology in education, usually meant to change the education system of the time. Going by reviews by online review sites like studymoose, it is clear that technology has always taken the education by a storm. The following are only a few examples of the unique education technologies that the world has seen.
Electrified Books in the 20th Century
Villemard, a French artist, imagined what the world would look like in the year 2000 with learning machines that could translate books into audio. Students would sit in classrooms, tuck audio devices into their ears and listen to books as read by a running audio machine. This would completely change how students handle book reviews as well as reducing the time taken in such studies. Well, it is now happening all over.
Motion pictures of the 1920s
The people of 1920 imagined that children of the future would not just read about history, but would be able to see it projected on screens. The march 18, 1920 Cedar Rapid Gazette included this prediction for the school children of tomorrow. The children of 1995 would then be able to see history as it was, not merely “history book ghosts”. The use of motion pictures transformed learning into something more enjoyable through images depicting actual events and activities. Imagine if essay writers were to go photographs today! That would be fun; but again, it may not adequately convey certain types of information.
The radio book of 1924
It was in the 1920s that radio began to make its shift from a nerd’s toy to a mainstreaming darling. It immediately became apparent that soon, the radio would be everywhere, even in books. The introduction of radio into the classroom saw children begin to love doing their homework. Unlike textbooks, which they have to look into, listening to assignments from the comfort of their beds made learning more fun.
Blackboards Delivered through TV in 1933
Universities first saw the potential of TV technology in delivering lessons to children in the 1930s. Attending lessons became more comfortable than ever. Where this was adopted, it allowed students to learn at the comfort of their homes. It beat the limits set by radio broadcasts by successfully delivering practical lectures, especially those which require the use of pictures.
Long-playing records in the 1930s and 40s
We may understand long-playing records as hipster’s music medium today, but back in the 1930s and 1940s, it was used almost exclusively for education. The long-playing record was excellent in spoken word. The American Foundation for the Blind, in 1934, struck a deal with National Association of book publishers to transform books into audio for the visually impaired. Even the blind would be able to “read” essays and textbooks like everyone else. It was, however, illegal for anyone to use the LP record player unless the person is visually impaired. The prohibition was to protect the book writers as well as their intellectual property.
Robot teachers of the 1950s and 60s
Discussions around the robot teacher sparked a lot of reactions around the 1950s and 1960s. Expect for the legal tussles around the technology, robot teachers would entirely replace human teachers and deliver lessons to students inside classrooms. However, this technology was always going to hit a snag due to the implications on employment.
The current world of “virtuals”
If the education enthusiasts of old thought they saw something, they should come back and see what happens today. Today a student lives in Africa, study in Europe, and hires an online writing service company from the US to help with his essays, all at the same time. What a wonder! That is just a hint of what the 21st century “computer-aided education systems” can do!
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