Tuesday, October 20, 2009

ICT in Education

There was a technological revolution during the 1980's which opened the way for many developments with a potential impact in the field of education in general. In its 2006 report on higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean area (a book which I translated from Spanish into English) by UNESCO, it is said that digital technology is the fifth major stage in the technological development of education. The first technology employed in education was oral language. It was followed by the development of written language, which allowed the transcription of knowledge (from the heads of those who possessed it to the written medium) and the possibility of storing it. The third major development was printing, which caused a major revolution in education, expanding immensely the reproduction of knowledge. It also marked the end of Scholasticism and paved the way for the modern universities and a freer way of teaching/learning.

The fourth major development was the appearance of the now-called analogical media, i. e. film, radio, TV, and the like. Their impact was so great that traditional educators viewed them as competitors, as enemies of education. While these media were still being debated, a fifth wave came down strongly, with the development of digital media. (Facundo, 2006).

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