History

Just as the children of early hunting and gathering societies learned to participate in society by playing with bows and arrows, so contemporary society's children should learn by playing with information. The issue at the heart of educational technology pertains to the types of tools used in teaching and learning and how these tools interface with the types of knowledge and skills required of an educated citizenry. Connecting bows and arrows to a modern information-based economy highlights the need for a definition of terms from the onset. A challenge in discussing educational technology is the broad definition of the term "technology." One commonly accepted definition of the phrase is “applied science.” According to several scholars, this broad definition includes any procedures or processes derived by using the scientific method. All teaching techniques and methodologies could fall under this definition of technology.

Likewise, bows, arrows, spears, and the like are a type of technology that has been used in the education of children since pre-history. This is important to understand because it highlights the fact that in many ways, educational technology is nothing new. Students and teachers have always relied on tools for thinking and learning.

A more modern historical origin of educational technology could be traced to the teaching machines developed by Ohio State University educational psychology professor Sidney Pressey. In the early 1920s, Pressey developed a machine to provide practice items to students in his introductory courses. Pressey was inspired by the 1912 writings of educational psychology professor Edward Thorndike whose vision of what textbooks could be anticipated much of modern-day computer-based instruction.