Check out this vintage footage regarding the "birth of the Internet"!!
The wide spread use of Computer Mediated Technology in education is a relatively recent development. Even though there is a “history” of CMC development that occurred last century, that timeline is only about forty years long.
Computers came into the realm of education in the mid eighties. Previous to that they were huge expensive machines reserved for Government and military applications. These interconnected computers were located at various universities and the network developed and grew throughout the Eighties. In 1991 The National Science Foundation gave permission for this “net” to be used Commercially. In 1995 it became its own entity of sorts (PBS).
During this pre-millennia development of computers, the Internet, and the various forms of CMC technology facilitated the reality of digital education as well. To get an idea of the thoughts and trends regarding this newly emerging phenomenon I reviewed a sample of scholarly journals from the eighties and nineties. The concerns and predictions contained in scholarly articles written during CMC’s early stages helps to put our current and future technological development in perspective.
In 1982 The School Library Journal reported That Computer technology was limited and slow to take hold in 16,000 high school districts. The statistics included in the article show the limited amount of technology available for CMC at the time. Within these districts there were only 52,000 computers. That is only about 3 computers per school. At the time educators were worried about choosing the wrong systems, programs, and hardware. The computers were priced at about one thousand dollars apiece and the software was half that (SLJ). This article seemed to convey a sense of apprehension and confusion regarding the potential of Computers and the benefits of CMC in the classroom.
In The European Journal of Education Carla Fasano wrote a very interesting and almost prophetic article in 1985. The observations that were made in the article regarding CMC in education were similar to the observations being made by every one at the time. CMC was slow to develop in the eighties it seems. When the article expanded to include the author’s assumptions about the future it was spot on. The author acknowledges that the state of “education and information technology” was too “primitive” at the time to be an effective combination. Fasano observed that once the hurdles of expense and lack of technical know-how were overcome CMC would be a wide spread reality that would forever change education and society (Fasano).
It seems that after the eighties and early nineties the Internet and computer mediated communication began to take hold on the educational system. By 1994 it was a common acknowledgement that integration of education and emerging technologies was essential for the good of everyone (Schure). It was also being predicted at that time that interconnected information networks would make traditional schools and colleges obsolete by the year 2000 (Schure). This obviously did not happen. But the landscape of education was altered. The article in T H E Journal by Alexander Schure explores this idea and other predictions regarding “new” televisions that would be able to record shows digitally. If only he patented the idea! These suppositions lead into the real purpose of the article, which was to discuss the development of on-line universities and education (Schure). Even though CMC took a decade to catch on by the mid nineties steps were being taken that would usher in a new age in education allowing people to participate in distance education and earn degrees on machines that didn’t exist thirty years prior.
Researching the development of CMC in education pre-2000 shows that there seems to have been a fast evolution of technology, ideas, and systems once things got going. If the growth of CMC in education continues at the rate it grew in the nineties there is no telling what innovations we will see.
References
PBS. (1999). Birth of the Internet. P. 1-2.
http://www.pbs.org/transistor/background1/events/arpanet.html
School Library Journal. (1982). Vol. 28. Issue 7. Page 80. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=8&hid=116&sid=bd544fc6-3cae-4efb-
Schure. A. (1994). Towards a New “Distance Learning” University. T H E Journal. Vol. 21 Issue 8. P. 32.
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=116&sid=bd544fc6-3cae-
Fasano. C. (1985). Beyond Computers-Education. European Journal of Education. Vol. 20. Nos 2-3.
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=116&sid=bd544fc6-3cae-
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