The Histories of Education Technology

History Books

Sat, 07 Apr 2018 14:10:00 +0000

I asked over on Hack Education for folks to help me think of books about the history of education. I got a lot of suggestions, although almost none of them were works of history. I did not realize it was such a confusing genre. (It's not like I asked something weird like "books on the anthropology of education technology." But hey.)

I have created a page here that lists some of the titles. It does not include works of sociology or guides on instructional design. It also does not include "books from history," that is books written by notable historical figures in the field.

New Year's Updates

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 10:10:00 +0000

I’ve made some changes to this site, most obviously updating the header image. Thanks to Bryan Mathers. (Why a pigeon? You can read more here.)

Those who look closely will also note that I have also changed the copyright information. No longer is there a Creative Commons license on Hack Education material. This really doesn’t change much, I promise. It just means you have to ask my permission before republishing my work. If you do wish to reprint my writing, please contact me directly.

The History of the Gates Foundation (Updated)

Mon, 25 Dec 2017 11:50:00 +0000

I have updated “The History of the Gates Foundation” timeline to reflect this year’s statements from Bill Gates about how the organization’s education efforts are “evolving.” I’ve also updated the totals for the grant money it distributed this year: $235 million. You can see the list of these grants at funding.hackeducation.com.

The History of Pearson (Updated)

Sun, 24 Dec 2017 17:50:00 +0000

I have updated my “History of Pearson” timeline with the events from 2017. None of these seem to bode particularly well for the education giant. Indeed, I’m not sure how much longer the phrase “world’s biggest education company” will be applicable to Pearson. (Although as I type that, I’m not sure who would become “the biggest” in Pearson’s stead.)

I talk a little bit about Pearson’s future in my end-of-year article on “the power of platforms.” One of Pearson’s problems, I’d argue, is that it’s not a platform. It’s a content company. And it doesn’t seem to be doing that great in convincing folks that its new digital content is worth keeping the company afloat at its historical levels. (Those historic levels were enabled by Pearson the conglomerate. And as Pearson refocuses on digital education, it really has very few assets left to sell off.)

The History of the Gates Foundation

Tue, 18 Jul 2017 07:40:00 +0000

I’ve made another timeline, this one documenting “The History of the Gates Foundation.” At first, I’d planned to just outline some of the major events that underscored the Gates’ efforts to reshape education policy in the United States, but the project has grown a bit larger than that.

Although the Gates Foundation is required to post its financials annually, the contents of its annual reports has changed over time – no surprise, they contain much less information than when the Foundation first launched. (These days, they focus on revenue and expenditures rather than funding ideology. The latter is now part of Bill and Melinda Gates’ “Annual Letter.”)

So as I went through each year’s financials, I found myself learning less and less about what the Gates Foundation was funding. As a result, I felt compelled to pull a list – to the best of my ability at least – of the foundation’s education grants.

Note: This timeline is incomplete. I know I am missing important personnel changes, for starters. And it only looks at the foundation’s influence in US education (not its work in global health).

What I think this timeline (and the rest of my research on this project) demonstrates nonetheless: how much this organization has shaped education policy over the last decade. Common Core. Measurement of Effective Teaching. MOOCs. Redesigning high school. Personalized Learning.

New Project

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 15:00:00 +0000

I've created a new subdomain in order to store the timelines I'm building for the history of various education technology companies and organizations.