Educators have been continually faced with change driven by new technology. This paper addresses the issue of technology changes and how they have impacted educators past and present. The details of the technology are much different, yet with all the difference the changes may best be described as evolutionary. The evolution became quite visible during the American industrial revolution in the late 19th century. We can see changes that are the result of new discoveries and inventions that have led to products and ideas that continue to evolve today. Change is truly on going, and we can expect it to continue and accelerate as we move into the future. We will continue to be challenged to deal with change just as all educators have throughout the industrial age and into the information age.
Perhaps the best way to start is to look back at the history with a concentration on the changes taking place during the exciting period of invention and discovery following the Civil War and into the early 20th century. Here we will see the foundations of technology and change that are the basis for technology today. Several areas of discovery led to inventions that supported the new industrial age. These key areas include the development of effective steam power, the development of applications and distribution systems for electricity, discovery of new materials, the rapid growth in communications technology from the telephone to wireless, and technology that produced new forms of graphic images.
A wonderful book from the National Geographic Society provides an interesting look at some of the inventions and discoveries that came to power the industrial revolution and drive change to the colleges and universities. Steam continued to be a prime power source on the farm, rivers and rails of the United States through the early 1900s. “At the turn of the century, a new engine, the steam turbine, sparked the age of the ocean liner.” In 1897, for example, the ship Turbinia was powered by a turbo-charged engine putting out 2,000 horsepower and producing a top speed of 35 knots. In the fall of 1879, Edison discovered that a charred cotton thread could become the filament in an electric lamp that could glow for over 13 hours. It took several more years to perfect the basic electrical service needed to open the age of electricity. In 1900 over 24 million electric lights were in use. Nikola Tesla made long distance transmission of electric power possible with his invention of a system for producing and distributing alternating current. Tesla, not Edison opened the age of electric light. “In 1898 he exhibited radio-controlled model boats and torpedoes. His experiments also anticipated radar, X-rays, solar power and the atom smasher.” Alexander Graham Bell won the most lucrative patent ever for the telephone in March of 1876. Henry Ford completed his first car in June of 1896. The Model T was born in 1908 and by 1927 the 15 Millionth “T” rolled off the assembly line. [National Geographic, 1988]
The growth of laboratory based instruction: The leading scientists believed that the only adequate way to teach science was through laboratory work. Science educators convinced the universities of the importance of providing adequate laboratory facilities. Johns Hopkins, for example, became noted for its investment in research facilities for its faculty and students. Reuben cites botanist John Coulter as stating, "The laboratory method means that the old recitation, which was the retailing of second-hand information as to facts, and second-hand opinions concerning them, has given place to the direct observation of facts and the expression of individual opinion concerning their significance. As a result, students are sought to be made thinking rather than memorizing machines, with the intuitive power developed rather than the imitative." After the Civil War… the leading universities all adopted laboratory methods. Angell of Michigan noted in 1888 that "the method of scientific instruction has been entirely revolutionized. In the last half of the century, no more important step in education has been taken than in the universal introduction of the laboratory methods in the sciences." [Reuben, 1996]
The computer-based technology revolution is having a significant impact on the way we teach and the way students learn. The effect of the computer can be seen in the tools are used in classes and the way computers are used to help teach. The changes have been dramatic and continue to develop at a rapid pace. The recent literature offers many examples of the use of new computer-based tools. Undergraduate engineering students often find a course “…divided into a lecture portion and a laboratory portion. The lectures address specific behaviors of the system elements and the related assumptions and mathematical techniques used to evaluate the behaviors. The laboratory portion of the course was intended to enable students to run the necessary software packages and interpret the results.” [Navaz, Henderson, and Mukkilmarudhur, 1998] This pattern is seen in many current course designs.
There are numerous examples of new industrial technology coming into the curriculum. A good example is the growth in computer-aided design (CAD) and systems supporting concurrent design. In the past ten years a significant move away from drafting and manual drawings has brought campuses across the nation into the computer age with the introduction of powerful and reasonably priced CAD systems emerging for personal computers. Now the technology is jumping ahead once again with the development of processes and tools for rapid prototyping, one of the most widely used is stereo lithography. “Users of CAD systems have always desired a means to produce three-dimensional hardcopies of their CAD models. Manufacturers of rapid prototyping equipment have finally provided this capability. Students are able to quickly build mock ups of their designs, in order to evaluate their fit, functionality and in some cases use as patterns in the school’s foundry.” [Zecher, 1998] Teaching methods and the tools used will change, but the intent of helping students learn and prepare to be contributors in the future remains the same.
The use of the Internet and the development of courses for distance learning requires careful attention. The following comments from a confirmed “Internet curmudgeon” confirm that care must be exercised when using this new technology. The curmudgeon identifies several significant concerns that beg for attention as faculty members consider the great new electronic frontier known as the information superhighway. "The Internet is less a highway than a diabolical maze. This road is incessantly interrupted by intersections, is cluttered with ambiguous detours, lacks even a rudimentary road map, harbors villains uncounted, is pockmarked with advertising, and is very expensive to ride." A recent report (1997) shows a high level of dissatisfaction with cyberspace. People are not able to find what they are looking for, and are unsatisfied with reliability. Faculty are “…being asked to lurch into the future with very little assessment. "Look before you leap" and be prepared to face not only the triumphs, but also the trials of the net.” [Morgovsky, 1997] "If the course is well designed and carefully implemented, online instruction can provide and effective educational environment and can be an enjoyable experience for both students and the instructor - particularly if the students are motivated and self-disciplined and the instructor maintains continuous interaction with them." [Cooper, 1999] Good teaching, whether in a traditional classroom or using the technology of distance education and the Internet, requires careful attention to detail. The design of the course should never be left to chance or allowed to develop without a plan.
We must continue to manage change with respect to our educational objectives just as our predecessors in education did at the turn of the century, and again at the start of the computer revolution, and now as we continue deeper into the information age. The tools and systems we use to teach and prepare our graduates for entry into the “real world” will continually change and develop and become even more powerful. We can only hope that the powerful computers and systems that speed up the pace of change and open up new possibilities for educators will also provide assistance in the management of change and help us stay in control.
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