Technology Issues and Trends

History of Computers and Technology


From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future. Tom Wheeler, Brookings Institution Press, 2019


Twenty Years of EdTech, Educause Review (July 2, 2018)


From Apple II to Touchcast, the Evolution of Computers in the Classroom from The Washington Post identifies significant milestones in the development of educational technology (May 19, 2014).


The Evolution of Learning Technologies from Open Colleges traces technology from ancient hieroglyphics to 3D printers.


Top 10 Educational Technologies That Will Be Dead and Gone in the Next Decade, Campus Technology (November 2, 2016)

See Trailer for Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age, a documentary on the impact of screen technology on today's kids.


A Digital Technology Timeline

1980 to 1990

  • First portable laptop computer (1981)

  • Internet standards for sending and receiving messages (1982)

  • Macintosh computer (1984)

  • Cell phone goes on sale (1984)

  • First one-on-one computing program (1985)

  • Eudora e-mail (1988)

1990 to 2000

  • PowerPoint released (1990)

  • First digital camera (1991)

  • World Wide Web open to the public (1991)

  • First website published (1991)

  • Mosaic, first widely popular graphical web browser (1993)

  • eBay started (1995)

  • WikiWikiWeb, first wiki (1995)

  • Interactive whiteboards (1997)

  • NetLibrary provides e-books to libraries (1998)

  • Blogs (1999)

2000 to 2010

  • Microsoft tablet PC (2000)

  • Wikipedia launched (2001)

  • First generation iPod introduced (2001)

  • Skype, iTunes (2003)

  • Facebook (2004)

  • Podcasts online (2004)

  • First YouTube video uploaded (2005)

  • More text messages than telephone calls (2007)

  • iPhone, Twitter, Tumblr, Kindle e-reader (2007)

  • Android smartphone (2008)

2010 to 2020

  • iPad unveiled (2010)

  • Instagram (2010)

  • First self-driving cars on roads

  • Digital music outsells CDs for the first time (2011)

  • SIRI speaks for the first time (2011)

  • MOOCs (2012)

  • Amazon Echo (2014)

  • Game-based learning

  • Digital textbooks

  • Open Education Resources (OERs)

  • 3-D Printing and the maker movement

  • Flipped classrooms

  • Adaptive technologies

  • Digital badges

  • Wearable technologies

  • Augmented reality

  • Virtual reality

  • Mixed reality

  • Adaptive learning

  • Virtual and remote laboratories

2020 and Beyond

  • The Internet of Things (IoT)—devices talking to devices

  • Artificial intelligence (Siri, Twitter bots)

  • Robotics in the classroom

  • Voice-based applications


For more information on trends, link to "The Decade That Lost Its Way." Sunday Business, The New York Times, December 22, 2019

  • Chapter 12 for the latest on one-to-one iPad and tablet computer programs in schools and flipped classroom initiatives.

For more information on recent United States History, see


Wired Magazine. First of a 12 part series going from 1900 to the present

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 1: 1900-1910,

  • Kodak Brownie Camera (1900)

  • First Gas-Powered Mercedes Car (1901)

  • First Science Fiction Movie, A Trip to the Moon by Georges Melies (1902)

  • Einstein's Theory of Relativity (1905)

  • Vacuum Tube (1907)

  • First Over the Air Public Radio Broadcast (1910)


The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 2: 1911 - 1920

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 3: 1921 - 1930

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 4: 1931 - 1940

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 6: 1951 - 1960

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 7: 1961 - 1970

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 9: 1981- 1990

The Decade That Invented the Future, Part 10: 1991 - 2000


Technology Trends

Technology and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Connecticut Gives Every Student a Computer and Home Internet to Close the Digital Divide, EdSurge (December 15, 2020)


Uneven access to online learning. Whether measured by income, location, parental education, or race, the relationship between privilege and access to the basic tools for distance learning is strong, according to new census data.

The Homework Gap: Five Things ( data from 2018 American Community Survey shows that millions of households with children under the age of 18 lack two essential elements for online learning: (1) high-speed home internet service and (2) a computer).

  • 16.9 million children  lack the high-speed home internet access necessary to support online learning

  • 7.3 million children do not have a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer 

  • One in three  Black, Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native families do not have high-speed home internet

  • One in three families who earn less than $50,000 annually do not have high-speed home internet

  • Two in five families in rural areas do not have high-speed home internet

Virtual charter schools. The impact on student achievement when attending a virtual charter school is uniformly and profoundly negative, new research finds. Brian Fitzpatrick, Mark Berends, Joseph Ferrare, and R. Joseph Waddington say that parents and school administrators should be extremely wary of virtual charters' attempts to expand during the coronavirus crisis

Blended Learning

Defined as integrating "online learning with brick-and-mortar instruction to rethink time, space and staffing"

Writing in EdSurge, Thomas Arnett frames the key question surrounding face-to-face versus virtual instruction: "What can students learn independently, especially when aided by digital technologies (para. 3).


Reports and Demographics

Digital Chasm - 18 million Americans without broadband access.


Social Media Demographics for Marketers in 2020


Digital Learning: Peril or Promise for Our K-12 Students. Project Tomorrow (2019)

      • Through virtual labs, animations and simulations, educators can provide students with opportunities to explore and understand abstract concepts that are difficult to understand without experimentation.

      • However, only one in five middle school students have access to these resources as part of their regular school activities

      • When teachers use technology in their classrooms, they are more likely to "mirror or replicate traditional learning modalities such as using a mobile device to take class notes or take a poll,"


Emerging Technologies and New Learning Models That Engage Students, Southern Regional Education Board (February, 2018)


US Teachers See Digital Devices as Net Plus for Education, Gallup (April 6, 2018)


The Tech Edvocate's 2018 List of 116 of the best Teaching and Learning Apps

  • Categories include: Virtual Reality, Math, Assorted Teaching and Learning, Teacher Communication , Movie Making, Study Skills, Science, Social Studies, Grammar and Study Skills, Writing skills, and Creativity


Record Shares of Americans Now Own Smartphones, Have Home Broadband. Pew Research Center, January 12, 2017


NMC/CoSN Horizon Report; 2017 K-12 Edition

  • Short-Term Trends (1 to 2 years)

    • Coding as a Literacy

    • STEAM learning

  • Mid-Term Trends (3 to 5 years)

    • Measuring Learning

    • Redesigning Learning Spaces

  • Long-Term Trends (5 years or more)

    • Cultures of Innovation

    • Deeper Learning

5 Tech Trends on the Way Out in 2017

Opportunity for All? Technology and Learning in Lower-Income Families, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, February 2016

Broadband Adoption Rates and Gaps in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Brookings (December 7, 2015)


One-Third of U.S. Students Use School-Issued Devices (April 8, 2014)

  • For more, see The New Digital Learning Playbook from Project Tomorrow (April 2014).

  • 89 percent of high school students (grades 9–12) and 73 percent of middle school students (grades 6–8) have access to smart phones. Another 66 percent in both groups have access to laptops.

  • Sixty-one percent of middle schoolers and 50 percent of high schoolers have access to tablets.

  • 48 percent of middle schoolers and 39 percent of high schoolers have access to digital readers.

  • Click here for an digital learning infographic


Digital Life in 2025 from Pew Research Center (March 11, 2014).


The Web at 25 in the U.S. from the Pew Research Internet Project (February 27, 2014)

For an overview of historical trends, see the video, Kevin Kelly Tells Technology's Epic Story at TEDX, Amsterdam, February 2010


History, the History of Computers, and the History of Computers in Education is a timeline from Professor Everett Murdock, California State University, Long Beach.


See Social Media Counts, an app that records real-time use of different media including Facebook, Twitter and other sites.

Technology and Students


Teens Are Spending Nearly Half of Their Waking Hours on Screens, MarketWatch (October 2019)

        • Children 8 to 12 spend 5 hours a day on screens—in addition to school and homework

        • Teenagers spend 7.5 hours, again in addition to time spent in school and for homework


45% of Teens Say They're Online Almost Constantly, Pew Research Center: Internet & Technology (2018)

        • In 2014-15, that percentage was 24%

        • 89% said they were online "almost constantly" or "several times a day."

        • 95% have access to a smartphone

        • YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat are used regularly by large majorities of teens

        • Girls (50%) are online "almost constantly" as compared to 39% of boys


Social Media Has Not Destroyed a Generation, Scientific American (November 1, 2019)

      • Most young texters and Instagrammers are fine.

      • Heavy use can lead to problems, but many early studies and news headlines have overstated dangers and omitted context


Children Need Digital Mentorship, not World Health Organization's Restrictions on Screen Time, Brookings (April 26, 2019)


Everything in Moderation: Moderate Use of Screens Unassociated with Child Behavior Problems, Psychiatric Quarterly (February 2017)


Infographic: California Speaks Up! Results from Speak Up 2016 at CUE 2017


Student Engagement/Disengagement with School

Bored Out of Their Minds, Harvard Ed Magazine (Winter 2017)

Boredom caused by:

        • An escalating emphasis on standardized tests

        • The novelty of school itself fades with each grade

        • Lack of motivation

        • The transition from the tactile and creative to the cerebral and regimented (the shift from child-centered to subject-centered learning)

Paradoxically, Emory professor Mark Bauerlein writes in “The Paradox of Classroom Boredom” in Education Week, making school engaging may inadvertently “stunt students in preparation” for college, where pushing through tedious work — like memorizing equations for organic chemistry — is required to advance. “In telling [students], ‘You think the material is pointless and musty, but we’ll find ways to stimulate you,’ high school educators fail to teach them the essential skill of exerting oneself even when bored.”


Busteed, B. (2013, January 7). The school cliff: Student engagement drops with each school year. Gallup. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/170525/school-cliff-student-engagement-drops-school-year.aspx


Student Engagement Nosedives in High School, from U.S. News & World Report, January 2013.


Digital Divides and Participation Gaps

Opportunity for All? Technology and Learning in Lower-Income Families. (February 2016)

Use of Digital Tools Rises, But STEM Gender Gap Persists, Survey Finds (April 2014)

The New Digital Learning Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students' Activities and Aspirations from Project Tomorrow (2014)

10 Things to Know About How Teens Use Technology from Pew Internet & American Life Project (July 2013).

Generation Z: A Look at the Technology and Media Habits of Today's Teens (March 18, 2013). Generation Z commonly refers to the group of youngsters born after 2000.

Younger Americans' Library Habits and Expectations, June, 25 2013 from the Pew Research Center concludes that those ages 16-29 have "wide-ranging media and technology behaviors that straddle the traditional paper-based world of books and digital access to information"

From Chalkboard to Tablets: The Emergence of the K-12 Digital Learner from Project Tomorrow (June 2013).

  • 73 percent of high school seniors saying they have a laptop, while only 18 percent of the Class of 2013 say they are allowed to use their personal laptop at school


Teens and Technology, 2013 presents the latest trends from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

  • 95% of teens use the Internet

  • 78% have a cell phone

  • 23% have a tablet computer

  • 93% have computer access at home


Do Schools Challenge Our Students? What Student Surveys Tell Us About the State of Education in the United States from the Center for American Progress, July 2012.

  • Many schools are not challenging students and large percentages of students report that their school work is "too easy."

  • Many students are not engaged in rigorous learning activities.

  • Students do not have access to key science and technology learning opportunities.

  • Too many students do not understand their teacher's questions and report they are not learning during class.

  • Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to have access to more rigorous learning opportunities.


Revisualizing Composition: Mapping the Writing Lives of First-Year College Students, September 2010.


5 Things Students Say They Want from Education, eSchoolNews, July 28, 2011

  • Interactive Technology

  • Teacher Mentors

  • Innovation

  • Choice

  • Real-world application and relevancy

Click here for a lesson plan on establishing your Digital DNA (or Digital Footprint)

Technology and Young Children

Media Census: Zero to Age 8 (2017)


Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young Children, Technology and Early Education from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (August 2013).

  • On any given day, 64% of babies between 1 and 2 watch TV and videos for an average of slightly over 2 hours.

  • Preschoolers spend on average with screen media range from at least 2.2 hours to as much as 4.6 hours per day.

  • No research showing the benefits of introducing children to new technologies in the first years of life.

The Complete Visual Guide to Technology for Children, Edudemic, October 2013.


NAEYC recommends allowing "children to explore digital materials in the context of human interactions, with an adult as mediator and co-player."

Technology and Teachers


The Common Sense Census: Inside the 21st Century Classroom, Common Sense Media (2019)

      • Link here for Infographic

              • 95% of teachers are using technology, led by elementary and middle school

              • 80% have computing devices in their classroom

                  • 58% video streaming tools

                  • 54% productivity and presentation tools (Microsoft Office and G Suite)

                  • 29% assistive technologies

                  • 25% tools for well-being and health

                  • 25% digital creation tools

                  • 13% social media


Districts Moving Away from Desktop Technology in Favor of Mobile, Report Finds. Education Week Blog (May 16, 2017)

Most U.S. K-12 Teachers Would Not Give Themselves an A in Ed Tech Skills, THE Journal (September 8, 2016)

Debunked: 5 Myths about Classroom Technology

Chromebooks or Smartphones? 1-to-1 or BYOD? Why Not Both? THE Journal (November 2017)

  • 30% of schools assign devices to students for their use at school

  • 27% of teachers can check out devices to use in class as needed

  • 23% of students do not regularly have access to mobile devices in class

  • 18% of students use their own devices (school provides devices to students without personal access)

  • 17% School assigns devices to students to use at school and at home

Are Teachers of Tomorrow Prepared to Use Innovative Tech?

Students, Computers and Learning: Making the Connection, a report from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) (September 2015)

  • This OECD worldwide study finds students who use computers frequently in school do worse in learning

    • Same study finds students who use computers moderately do somewhat better in learning

      • Importance of task-oriented browsing as a learning strategy

        • Need for intensive teacher/student interactions to build deep conceptual thinking

          • Cannot use 21st century technologies with 20th century traditional teaching practices

The World in 2013: ICT Facts and Figures from the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations-sponsored organization.

Learn Now, Lecture Later, a 2012 report from CDW-Government found that nearly half (47%) of more than 1000 college and high school teachers are replacing lecture-only instructional methods with more student-centered approaches, particularly those involving technology. Very satisfied students reported that they listen to fewer lectures and use more technology in their classes.

Report: District Use of Social Networks Up 44 Percent Over 2 Yearsaccording to a Digital School Districts Survey from the National School Boards Association (April 2013).

  • Nearly all respondents, at 94 percent, reported that their district allows teachers to use Web 2.0 tools, up from 82 percent two years ago.

Learning in the 21st Century: Digital Experiences and Expectations of Tomorrow's Teachers, from Project Tomorrow (February 2013).

50 Education Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About from Edudemic (2012).

In Schools of the Future, Students Learn Best by Doing, Vigorously and Digitally.by Jonathan Martin, Connected Principals Blog, September 2, 2010.

Youth, Privacy and Reputation, a literature review on youth practices online from the Digital Natives Blog of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Finding the Education in Educational Technology with Early Learners. Lilla Dale-McManis & Susan B. Gunnewig. Young Children, 67(3), 14-24. May 2012. The authors believe that educational technology does produce positive learning impacts for children when three conditions are met:

  • it is developmentally appropriate

  • there are tools to help teachers use the technology successfully

  • technology is integrated into the classroom and curriculum

7 Things You Should Know About . . . Learning Technology Topics from Educause provides a link to several years of briefs about the latest digital tools.

Infographic: California Speaks Up! Results from Speak Up 2016 at CUE 2017

▪ While 1/3 of students in middle schools and high schools in California admit that they are bored at school, 75% are regularly sourcing and watching online videos outside of school, on their own, to learn about things that interest them.

▪ Just 8% of teachers say that they assign digital homework daily or almost daily. 18% of teachers say that they assign digital homework at least weekly.

▪ 40% of California middle school students say they are using the Internet daily to complete homework

▪ Students are using the Internet to support school-based learning at almost 4 times the rate in which teachers say they are assigning those types of activities.