Monsters. Dragons. Beasts. Robots. Pigeons. We're doomed. A collection of talks and tales from education technology's "Cassandra," this book contains the lectures written and delivered by Audrey Watters over the course of 2014. They offer a glimpse into ed-tech's hidden histories, horrors, ideologies, and mythologies. What are the powerful stories we tell ourselves about ed-tech? What happens when the technologies that we build, purportedly to enhance teaching and learning become monstrous?

In this digital age, technology has become a very vital factor of development in all disciplines. Every day new software, devices and other technologies are being developed to improve lives in one way or another. Technology in its broadest terms could include the collection of tools, machinery, devices, modifications, arrangements and procedures used by humans. However, in the context of Educational Technology as presented in this book, it is understood as technologies that have arrived with the Information Revolution i.e. those associated with computers and Information Communication Technology. Examples of such technologies are electronics devices, computer, video, collaborative writing tools, social networking and the Internet. Innovative applications of technology in the classroom mean more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in the class. It must happen across the disciplines and curriculum in ways that teaching and learning processes can be enhanced. It must also support active engagement, group participation, local and global collaboration, and interaction. This book presents innovative applications of educational technology tools in teaching and learning across various disciplines.

How ed tech was born: Twentieth-century teaching machines--from Sidney Pressey's mechanized test-giver to B. F. Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box. Contrary to popular belief, ed tech did not begin with videos on the internet. The idea of technology that would allow students to "go at their own pace" did not originate in Silicon Valley. In Teaching Machines, education writer Audrey Watters offers a lively history of predigital educational technology, from Sidney Pressey's mechanized positive-reinforcement provider to B. F. Skinner's behaviorist bell-ringing box. Watters shows that these machines and the pedagogy that accompanied them sprang from ideas--bite-sized content, individualized instruction--that had legs and were later picked up by textbook publishers and early advocates for computerized learning. Watters pays particular attention to the role of the media--newspapers, magazines, television, and film--in shaping people's perceptions of teaching machines as well as the psychological theories underpinning them. She considers these machines in the context of education reform, the political reverberations of Sputnik, and the rise of the testing and textbook industries. She chronicles Skinner's attempts to bring his teaching machines to market, culminating in the famous behaviorist's efforts to launch Didak 101, the "pre-verbal" machine that taught spelling. (Alternate names proposed by Skinner include "Autodidak," "Instructomat," and "Autostructor.") Telling these somewhat cautionary tales, Watters challenges what she calls "the teleology of ed tech"--the idea that not only is computerized education inevitable, but technological progress is the sole driver of events.

A critical look at the success of film, video, television, and the Internet in education. Since the days of Thomas Edison, technology has held the promise of lowering the cost of education. The fantasy of leveraging a fixed production cost to reach an unlimited number of consumers is an enticing economic proposition, one that has been repeatedly attempted with each new media format, from radio and television to MOOCs, where star academics make online video lectures available to millions of students at little cost. In Sage on the Screen, Bill Ferster explores the historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives of using broadcast media to teach by examining a century of efforts to use it at home and in the classroom. Along the way, he shares stories from teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, and innovators who promoted the use of cutting-edge technology—while critically evaluating their motives for doing so. Taking a close look at the origins of various media forms, their interrelatedness, and their impact on education thus far, Ferster asks why broadcast media has been so much more successful at entertaining people than it has been at educating them. Accessibly written and full of explanatory art, Sage on the Screen offers fresh insight into the current and future uses of instructional technology, from K12 through non-institutionally-based learning.

How, long before the advent of computers and the internet, educators used technology to help students become media-literate, future-ready, and world-minded citizens. Today, educators, technology leaders, and policy makers promote the importance of “global,” “wired,” and “multimodal” learning; efforts to teach young people to become engaged global citizens and skilled users of media often go hand in hand. But the use of technology to bring students into closer contact with the outside world did not begin with the first computer in a classroom. In this book, Katie Day Good traces the roots of the digital era's “connected learning” and “global classrooms” to the first half of the twentieth century, when educators adopted a range of media and materials—including lantern slides, bulletin boards, radios, and film projectors—as what she terms “technologies of global citizenship.” Good describes how progressive reformers in the early twentieth century made a case for deploying diverse media technologies in the classroom to promote cosmopolitanism and civic-minded learning. To “bring the world to the child,” these reformers praised not only new mechanical media—including stereoscopes, photography, and educational films—but also humbler forms of media, created by teachers and children, including scrapbooks, peace pageants, and pen pal correspondence. The goal was a “mediated cosmopolitanism,” teaching children to look outward onto a fast-changing world—and inward, at their own national greatness. Good argues that the public school system became a fraught site of global media reception, production, and exchange in American life, teaching children to engage with cultural differences while reinforcing hegemonic ideas about race, citizenship, and US-world relations.

What if we could unlock the potential in every child? As it turns out, we can. Apple's iconic cofounder Steve Jobs had a powerful vision for education: employing technology to make an enormous impact on the lives of millions of students. To realize this vision, Jobs tapped John D. Couch, a trusted engineer and executive with a passion for education. Couch believed the real purpose of education was to help children discover their unique potential and empower them to reach beyond their perceived limitations. Today, technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, rewiring our homes, our jobs, and even our brains. Most important, it presents an opportunity to rewire education to enrich and strengthen our schools, children, and society In Rewiring Education, Couch shares the professional lessons he's learned during his 50-plus years in education and technology. He takes us behind Apple's major research study, Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), and its follow-up (ACOT 2), highlighting the powerful effects of the Challenge-Based Learning framework. Going beyond Apple's walls, he also introduces us to some of the most extraordinary parents, educators, and entrepreneurs from around the world who have ignored the failed promises of memorization and, instead, utilize new science-backed methods and technologies that benefit all children, from those who struggle to honor students. Rewiring Education presents a bold vision for the future of education, looking at promising emerging technologies and how we—as parents, teachers, and voters—can ensure children are provided with opportunities and access to the relevant, creative, collaborative, and challenging learning environments they need to succeed.

A collection of keynotes from 2015