History of ICT in Education
The field of computers in education is, of course, part of the overall field of education. Because computer use now permeates education, every teacher should have some knowledge of the field of computers in education. The purpose of this document is to provide a relatively short overview of this history along with some links to resources that may be useful to people who want to study this history in more detail.
The history of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education can be traced back many thousands of years before the first development of reading and writing. We have cave wall paintings and we have notches carved onto bones and that are long lasting artifacts.
Long before the earliest written records, there are drawings that do indicate knowledge of mathematics and of measurement of time based on the stars. For example, paleontologists have discovered ochre rocks in a cave in South Africa adorned with scratched geometric patterns dating back to c. 70,000 BC.[2] Also prehistoric artifacts discovered in Africa and France, dated between 35,000 BC and 20,000 BC,[3] indicate early attempts to quantify time.[4]
Throughout their history, humans have faced the need to measure and communicate about time, quantity, and distance.
: At one end of the Ishango Bone is a piece of quartz for writing, and the bone has a series of notches carved in groups. It was first thought these notches were some kind of tally marks as found to record counts all over the world. However, the Ishango bone appears to be much more than a simple tally. The markings on rows (a) and (b) each add to 60. Row (b) contains the prime numbers between 10 and 20. Row (a) is quite consistent with a numeration system based on 10, since the notches are grouped as 20 + 1, 20 - 1, 10 + 1, and 10 - 1. Finally, row (c) seems to illustrate for the method of duplication (multiplication by 2) used more recently in Egyptian multiplication. Recent studies with microscopes illustrate more markings and it is now understood the bone is also a lunar phase counter. Who but a woman keeping track of her cycles would need a lunar calendar? Were women our first mathematicians?
The picture given below shows Sumerian clay tokens whose use began about 11,000 years ago. Such clay tokens were a predecessor to reading, writing, and mathematics.
A written language can be thought of as a type of computer. It provides for the input, storage, and output for information. And, it is an aid to the manipulation of information. Compare this with a commonly used definition that a computer is a machine for the input, storage, manipulation, and output of information.
Note that written languages provide include both for the representation of both words and numbers. The first electronic digital computers were specifically designed to deal with numbers. However, it soon became evident that they could also deal with alphabetic symbols. Computers made possible the automation of many numerical and alphabetic manipulation processes.
A comprehensive history of ICT in education thus begins more than 70,000 years ago and continues on into modern times. Before the development of written languages, ICT education was informal. The development of reading and writing quickly led to the development of formal schools in which students come together in a classroom setting and receive instruction from a teacher.
Think about the abacus that was developed more than 4,500 years ago. Its roots lie in marks drawn in dirt or sand, and a collection of pebbles that is in one to one correspondence with a herd of animals.
Beads on strings in a frame provide a compact device to aid in counting and doing arithmetic. Probably from the very beginning of use of this type of abacus, there was the issue of learning its use with very little understanding versus learning with deeper understanding. That issue still exists today in paper and pencil arithmetic, use of electronic calculators, and use of computers.
In brief summary we know that:
Humans have innate capabilities to learn oral communication. Humans also developed aids to oral communication more than 70,000 years ago. Reading and writing are very powerful aids to oral language. Machines have been developed that are powerful aids to the use of written language.
We now have electronic digital computers. During their brief history they have made very rapid progress in gaining increasing power as an aid to the input, storage, automated manipulation, and output of data, information, and knowledge.
It is possible to use these computer capabilities with relatively little understanding. However, a deeper level of understanding on the part of the user considerably increases the usefulness of computers. Thus, ICT is now a very important area of or component of both informal and formal education.
ICT learning
Using ICT can help pupils to access, select and interpret information, recognize patterns, test reliability and accuracy, review and modify their work to improve the quality, communicate with others and present information, evaluate their work, improve efficiency, be creative and gain confidence.
ICT helps pupils learning in history by providing quick and effective access to large quantities of information. It can help them to investigate, organize, edit and present information in many different ways. ICT therefore supports and enhances many of the processes in the development of pupils' historical knowledge, skills and understanding.
Submitted by:
Rhea Baisac-Armecin – MAED. ECE
Info. Tech. 12:00-3:00 pm
No comments:
Post a Comment