A Historical Perspective

While reading the article, The Computer Delusion, by Todd Oppenheimer, I was amazed at the Instructional Technology trends that have come and gone in the past 100 years.  Motion pictures, radio, television, and filmstrips all seem like relics of a bygone era in the age of interactive technology.   Even today, technology is growing and evolving at a rapid pace.  With so many options available, it seems to me that it would be difficult for an educator to find technology to fit the needs of their classroom.

Because of the ever-evolving technology, it’s no wonder that some educators would be skeptical as new technology tools are introduced.  Throughout educational history, it seems that every time a new medium was introduced, it was touted as the solution to all educational problems only to be abandoned later for the newest fad. 

Instructional Television is one example of instructional technology that has become obsolete.  I have chosen television because my hometown (Hagerstown, Maryland) was one of the pioneers of instructional television in the 1950's.  In fact, my high school was the first in the country constructed and wired for closed-circuit television.

I happen to own the book by Larry Cuban (Teachers and Machines:  The Classroom Use of Technology since 1920) mentioned in the article.  The book explains why the Washington County school system chose to use television in instruction and gives brief details on how the instructional television plan was implemented.  According to Cuban (1986), the school population was growing and there weren’t enough teachers to handle the growth. 

There are many documents in the Hagerstown library explaining the details of instructional television in Washington County.  I hope to read them someday.  It would be fascinating to review some of the statistical data on this plan.

Instructional television in Washington County was still strong when I was a student (1980’s), but at some point, it seems to have fizzled out.  Miller and Cruce (2002) explain that this project”…emphasized television as a source of primary instruction rather than a mere supplement.” (paragraph 1).  Perhaps this is the reason that instructional television isn’t used as extensively in schools today.  Learning from television is a more passive type of instruction and doesn’t really engage students in learning.

  Perhaps the internet and educational media will find a lasting niche in instruction because these tools are more interactive in nature.  Alessi and Trollip (2000) believe that, “…interaction not only maintains attention, but helps create and store new knowledge and skills, and facilitates comprehension.” (p.24).  Hopefully, through these methods of instruction, students will take responsibility for their own learning and be inspired to become lifelong learners.

Check out these sites!! 

The first link is to a PDF document about North Hagerstown High School (my alma mater) and gives details on its construction to suit the needs of closed-circuit instructional television.

Construction of North Hagerstown High and its Relation to Instructional Television

This next site was created by Mary Miller and Teresa Cruce and it tells a little bit of history behind educational television in Washington County, Maryland.

Background On Educational Television in Washington County

Resources

Alessi, S., & Trollip, S.  (2001). Multimedia for Learning:  Methods and Development.    

     (3^rd Ed). Needham Heights, MA:  Allyn & Bacon. 

Cuban, L., (1986).  Teachers and Machines:  The Classroom Use of Technology Since 1920.  New 

      York,  New York:  Teacher’s College Press.

Miller, M.& Cruce, T. (2002).  The Washington County Closed Circuit Television Project. 

     http://mlmiller.myweb.uga.edu/timeline/hagerstown.html (accessed January 15, 2012).

Oppenheimer, T. (1997, July). The computer delusion. Atlantic Monthly, archived at

      http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97jul/computer.html.