WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.819 Welcome to the deep dive. You're here because 00:00:02.819 --> 00:00:05.320 you want to get up to speed fast, right? Exactly. 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:08.220 And today we're tackling something pretty interesting. 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:10.880 Yeah, we're digging into this piece. Is hashtag 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.500 EdTech speeding back to the 1960s? It asks if 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:16.539 educational technology is really all that new. 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:19.780 Uh -huh. And for you, listener wanting to connect 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:22.640 the dots, this deep dive is kind of a shortcut. 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:25.300 We're looking at some, well, surprising links 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:28.579 between way back then and now. Seriously surprising. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.679 Who knew ideas from the 60s about tech and schools 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.100 might actually, you know, resonate today? It's 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:35.780 definitely thought -provoking. So our mission 00:00:35.780 --> 00:00:39.200 today, unpack those early visions. See what they 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:41.460 tell us about EdTech right now. Okay, so the 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:44.219 article kicks off in the early 1960s. What was 00:00:44.219 --> 00:00:46.020 happening with computers then? Well, the big 00:00:46.020 --> 00:00:48.240 thing was mainframes. Their prices, they were 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.520 starting to drop. Not cheap, mind you, but enough 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:52.719 that schools could begin to think about them. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:55.320 Mainframes, though. Huge machines, right? Filling 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:57.420 rooms? Oh, absolutely. Nothing like a laptop. 00:00:57.579 --> 00:01:00.119 They needed special rooms, technicians. It was 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:02.000 a whole different world. But yeah, that price 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.599 drop was key. Okay. And the article touches on 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.040 this. Like, were computers adapted for education, 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:12.480 or was education seen as a new market for computers? 00:01:12.829 --> 00:01:15.549 A bit cynical, maybe? It's a fair question, actually. 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:18.329 New tech often comes with a push to sell it. 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:20.250 Economic drivers are always part of the story. 00:01:20.629 --> 00:01:23.569 So the idea that maybe applications were dreamed 00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:27.049 up, partly to create that market, it's plausible. 00:01:27.390 --> 00:01:29.969 Right. Which brings us to this figure, Don Bushnell, 00:01:30.370 --> 00:01:34.430 1963. He had some big ideas. He did. Published 00:01:34.430 --> 00:01:37.069 in 64, his prediction was pretty bold. He basically 00:01:37.069 --> 00:01:40.510 saw computers and all the related tech peripherals 00:01:40.510 --> 00:01:42.750 supporting almost all the subsystems in what 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:45.170 he called the total school complex. The total 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:47.769 school complex. Wow. OK, so what did that look 00:01:47.769 --> 00:01:50.370 like in his vision, like in the classroom? Well, 00:01:50.370 --> 00:01:52.829 it sounds quite standardized. The idea was delivering 00:01:52.829 --> 00:01:55.109 curriculum through computer terminals. Standardized 00:01:55.109 --> 00:01:57.109 curriculum, OK. Yeah, and measuring learning 00:01:57.109 --> 00:01:59.409 by whether students got the right answers compared 00:01:59.409 --> 00:02:02.650 to like stored answers in the computer. So very 00:02:02.650 --> 00:02:05.180 focused on correct answers. Exactly. It was framed 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:07.200 as being super efficient, you know, like how 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:08.900 other industries were starting to use computers 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.460 for efficiency gains back then. That same kind 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:14.439 of thinking. But the tech itself was so primitive 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:16.979 compared to now. I mean, you said technicians 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:21.039 programming by rewiring circuits were decades 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:24.680 away from a mouse or a graphical interface. Precisely. 00:02:24.860 --> 00:02:28.539 That's crucial context. Bushnell's vision. It 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:31.460 wasn't about students and teachers directly poking 00:02:31.460 --> 00:02:34.370 at the machine like we do. No, no, they'd interact 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:37.150 with the information via terminals, probably, 00:02:37.750 --> 00:02:40.370 but the actual computer, likely humming away 00:02:40.370 --> 00:02:42.969 in a dedicated room managed by specialists. The 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:45.050 interaction was mediated. OK, here's where it 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:47.229 clicked for me, reading this. Bushnell's vision. 00:02:48.030 --> 00:02:49.930 It sounds a lot like some things we see today, 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:52.289 you know, kids spending ages on cloud -based 00:02:52.289 --> 00:02:55.250 test prep sites or just drill and practice stuff. 00:02:55.550 --> 00:02:57.729 That's the connection the offer makes and it 00:02:57.729 --> 00:03:00.129 is quite striking. Is that really technology 00:03:00.129 --> 00:03:03.069 integration? Just using computers as well answer 00:03:03.069 --> 00:03:05.729 dispensing machines It feels limited compared 00:03:05.729 --> 00:03:09.090 to say using tech for creation or collaboration 00:03:09.090 --> 00:03:11.770 or balancing screen time with other activities, 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:14.729 right? And that's the core concern raised. Are 00:03:14.729 --> 00:03:18.250 educators, are leaders maybe accepting this more 00:03:18.250 --> 00:03:21.789 basic answer focused IT too readily? Does it 00:03:21.789 --> 00:03:24.569 reflect maybe a need for a deeper look at what 00:03:24.569 --> 00:03:26.650 kind of education students really need today? 00:03:26.909 --> 00:03:28.870 Instead of just, you know, automating old methods 00:03:28.870 --> 00:03:31.310 with new tools. Exactly. Are we really using 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:34.169 the potential of the technology? So wrapping 00:03:34.169 --> 00:03:37.069 this up, the big takeaway seems to be that this 00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:40.509 Early vision, born in the 60s, standardized, 00:03:40.849 --> 00:03:44.509 computer -delivered, efficiency -driven it hasn't 00:03:44.509 --> 00:03:47.509 entirely gone away. No, echoes of it are definitely 00:03:47.509 --> 00:03:50.310 there in some current practices. It really makes 00:03:50.310 --> 00:03:53.270 you question how far we've truly come in rethinking 00:03:53.270 --> 00:03:55.710 education with technology. It's a good question. 00:03:55.830 --> 00:03:57.550 It prompts you to think, well, critically about 00:03:57.550 --> 00:03:59.490 what we're actually aiming for with EdTech. Is 00:03:59.490 --> 00:04:01.750 it just efficiency or something deeper? Something 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:03.770 richer, perhaps. OK, so here's something for 00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:05.849 you, our listener, to chew on. Take a look around. 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:08.490 How do you see technology being used in education 00:04:08.490 --> 00:04:11.210 today? Does it line up with Bushnell's 60 -year 00:04:11.210 --> 00:04:14.789 -old vision or does it diverge? And maybe more 00:04:14.789 --> 00:04:16.470 importantly, what does that tell you about where 00:04:16.470 --> 00:04:18.670 we might be heading? Great question to ponder. 00:04:19.069 --> 00:04:21.110 Thanks for taking the deep dive with us today.