2.3 Evolution of Technology in Education
Gilbert and Green (1995) stated in their book ‘Information
Technology: A Road to the Future’ that technology has
evolved from a slide rule to networked computers to communicate instantly with the world. The technology has deep
roots and impacts in the educational field. About 2500 years
ago, memorization was the way to retain knowledge and
skills, whereas communication was generally oral. Technology has been used in teaching and learning for many
years and has a positive influence on learning and teaching
(Wong, 2016). The use of technology such as computers to
support educationalists started in the late 1950s and still, it is
evolving (Tamim, Bernard, Borokhovski, Abrami, & Schmid, 2011). Mainframe computers entered into the educational sector in the 1950s. Computers at that time were slow,
not flexible. Computer-aided instruction was started in the
1960s, but it was still linear and was not flexible (VanDusen,
1997). The microprocessor was a key evolution and it
became the heart of all innovations (Stark & Lattuca, 1997).
In the 1970s, the IBM personal computer and Apple-II were
introduced to the market, and the desktop computer eventually turned out to be very popular (Norman, 1998). The
development of personal computers (PC) placed control in
the hands of consumers and brought a digital revolution in
computing, business, gaming, and education. The early
1990s desktop computers became affordable and during the
latter part of the 1990s, the Internet and the facsimile
machine became popular among the people (Stark & Lattuca, 1997). Laptop computers and smartphones with Wi-Fi
technologies provided connectivity to local wireless networks. The further advance in technology is the connectivity
of smart devices, where users are connected using a built-in
broadband card which keeps them connected to Internet
service providers’ networks. Mobile communication technology through smart mobile phones is the new frontier for
educational experts for its potential of enhancing the teaching and learning process anywhere and everywhere (Lan,
Tsai, Yang, & Hung, 2012). The Internet was one of the
major steps in the development of the digital age that had a
significant influence on the economy, society, business,
education, and global communications. The development of
the World Wide Web (WWW) expedited the exponential
growth of the information revolution and modernized the
transfer of information by making it available to everyone,
anytime, and everywhere (De Freitas & Levene, 2003).
Today, the entire world has become one global village
reachable to everyone from anywhere, where shopping,
communications, and information are just a mouse click
away. This incredibly fast evolution of the Internet from
1995 to the present time is depicted in Table 2.1.
Internet technology continues to grow day-by-day making a global village a reality (Miniwatts Marketing Group,
2016). Table 2.1 shows the extraordinary growth of the
Internet from 1995 until 2019. It is clear from the table that
the worldwide number of Internet users was 16 million in
December 1995 (0.4% of the world population). The number
of Internet users was 1971 million in 2010 (28.8% of the
world population), 3366 million in December 2015 (46.4%
of the world population), 4156 million in 2017 (54.4% the
Table 2.1 History of the internet
from December 1995 to June
2019 and the number of users
Date
Number of users % World
population
Date
Number of users
% World
population
December 1995
16 millions
0.40
December 2008
1574 millions
23.50
December 1996
36 millions
0.90
December 2009
1802 millions
26.60
December 1997
70 millions
1.70
September 2010
1971 millions
28.80
December 1998
147 millions
3.60
December 2011
2267 millions
32.70
December 1999
248 millions
4.10
December 2012
2497 millions
35.70
December 2000
361 millions
5.80
December 2013
2802 millions
39.00
August 2001
513 millions
8.60
December 2014
3079 millions
42.40
September 2002
587 millions
9.40
December 2015
3366 millions
46.40
December 2003
719 millions
11.10
December 2016
3696 millions
49.50
December 2004
817 millions
12.70
December 2017
4156 millions
54.40
December 2005
1018 millions
15.70
December 2018
4313 millions
55.60
December 2006
1093 millions
16.70
June 2019
4422 millions
57.30
December 2007
1319 millions
20.00
January 2020
4574 millions
58.7
Source https://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
8
2 Technology Adoption
Gilbert and Green (1995) stated in their book ‘Information
Technology: A Road to the Future’ that technology has
evolved from a slide rule to networked computers to communicate instantly with the world. The technology has deep
roots and impacts in the educational field. About 2500 years
ago, memorization was the way to retain knowledge and
skills, whereas communication was generally oral. Technology has been used in teaching and learning for many
years and has a positive influence on learning and teaching
(Wong, 2016). The use of technology such as computers to
support educationalists started in the late 1950s and still, it is
evolving (Tamim, Bernard, Borokhovski, Abrami, & Schmid, 2011). Mainframe computers entered into the educational sector in the 1950s. Computers at that time were slow,
not flexible. Computer-aided instruction was started in the
1960s, but it was still linear and was not flexible (VanDusen,
1997). The microprocessor was a key evolution and it
became the heart of all innovations (Stark & Lattuca, 1997).
In the 1970s, the IBM personal computer and Apple-II were
introduced to the market, and the desktop computer eventually turned out to be very popular (Norman, 1998). The
development of personal computers (PC) placed control in
the hands of consumers and brought a digital revolution in
computing, business, gaming, and education. The early
1990s desktop computers became affordable and during the
latter part of the 1990s, the Internet and the facsimile
machine became popular among the people (Stark & Lattuca, 1997). Laptop computers and smartphones with Wi-Fi
technologies provided connectivity to local wireless networks. The further advance in technology is the connectivity
of smart devices, where users are connected using a built-in
broadband card which keeps them connected to Internet
service providers’ networks. Mobile communication technology through smart mobile phones is the new frontier for
educational experts for its potential of enhancing the teaching and learning process anywhere and everywhere (Lan,
Tsai, Yang, & Hung, 2012). The Internet was one of the
major steps in the development of the digital age that had a
significant influence on the economy, society, business,
education, and global communications. The development of
the World Wide Web (WWW) expedited the exponential
growth of the information revolution and modernized the
transfer of information by making it available to everyone,
anytime, and everywhere (De Freitas & Levene, 2003).
Today, the entire world has become one global village
reachable to everyone from anywhere, where shopping,
communications, and information are just a mouse click
away. This incredibly fast evolution of the Internet from
1995 to the present time is depicted in Table 2.1.
Internet technology continues to grow day-by-day making a global village a reality (Miniwatts Marketing Group,
2016). Table 2.1 shows the extraordinary growth of the
Internet from 1995 until 2019. It is clear from the table that
the worldwide number of Internet users was 16 million in
December 1995 (0.4% of the world population). The number
of Internet users was 1971 million in 2010 (28.8% of the
world population), 3366 million in December 2015 (46.4%
of the world population), 4156 million in 2017 (54.4% the
Table 2.1 History of the internet
from December 1995 to June
2019 and the number of users
Date
Number of users % World
population
Date
Number of users
% World
population
December 1995
16 millions
0.40
December 2008
1574 millions
23.50
December 1996
36 millions
0.90
December 2009
1802 millions
26.60
December 1997
70 millions
1.70
September 2010
1971 millions
28.80
December 1998
147 millions
3.60
December 2011
2267 millions
32.70
December 1999
248 millions
4.10
December 2012
2497 millions
35.70
December 2000
361 millions
5.80
December 2013
2802 millions
39.00
August 2001
513 millions
8.60
December 2014
3079 millions
42.40
September 2002
587 millions
9.40
December 2015
3366 millions
46.40
December 2003
719 millions
11.10
December 2016
3696 millions
49.50
December 2004
817 millions
12.70
December 2017
4156 millions
54.40
December 2005
1018 millions
15.70
December 2018
4313 millions
55.60
December 2006
1093 millions
16.70
June 2019
4422 millions
57.30
December 2007
1319 millions
20.00
January 2020
4574 millions
58.7
Source https://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm
8
2 Technology Adoption