The first technology

I have been working in the field of learning technologies for almost 40 years. As you can imagine, during this time I've seen quite a few developments. Have there been any surprises along the way? Plenty. In fact my specialism never ceases to amaze me, because there is always something new to learn, some new technology, app or software tool to get to grips with, or some new theory or model that is being proposed. The most important thing for me has been to find out what is coming next, so that not only am I prepared for it, I can also tell my students, colleagues and my wider academic and professional community about what I think will be the potential impacts of new ideas and technologies.

Frankly, that's why I started this blog.

One of the biggest surprises for me has happened in the last decade or so. Social media, in all its forms, is I believe, one of the greatest innovations ever to impact on the world of learning, in all sectors. It has caught on very quickly. The fact that anyone can connect with anyone else in the world, and can tap into any community of practice they are interested in, is very powerful. Knowing that you can learn from others, especially those who are knowledgeable in your field, and can sometimes obtain instant responses from them, wherever they are in the world, is very liberating.

I don't see this as a revolution in learning though. Rather, I'm inclined to agree with the argument proposed by Brian Winston (1998), that we are witnessing an evolution of tools, and that all new technologies and ideas are based upon older versions, updated, upgraded and extended. We are always building on the previous work of others, and we should never forget this. The phrase 'standing on the shoulders of giants' is always very apt in the world of learning technology.

The first technology for me has always been language. We cannot overemphasise the importance of language. All other technologies derive from it. Language was developed by various cultures and societies so we could communicate directly and clearly to each other, and it has evolved into the multiple tongues and dialects we now see being used every day around the globe. Ever since we learnt to communicate through speech, we have been devising new ways to convey our thoughts, to amplify them and to disseminate our knowledge, ideas and beliefs. From the cave paintings of the Paleolithic Age, through the early forms of distance communication such as smoke signals and flag semaphore, then the printing press and the telegraph, to the modern day versions including the telephone, radio, television and the Web, we see a gradual progression of our ability to communicate with each other. One-way communication enabled instruction. Two-way communication enabled discussion.

Inherently, we are always striving to find new ways to connect with each other to communicate our thoughts, share our knowledge, and learn from each other. That is the basis of education, and language is the principle technology upon which all learning is based.

Reference
Winston, B. (1998) Media, Technology and Society: A History: From the Telegraph to the Internet. London: Routledge.

Photo by Pexels


The first technology by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.