- Wednesday, 11 August 2021
9:00 am - 10:30 am - Zoom – further details provided upon registration
Event recording
Where did personalised learning begin?
Contrary to popular belief, ed tech did not begin with videos on the internet. The idea of technology that would allow students to “go at their own pace” did not originate in Silicon Valley.
In Teaching Machines, education writer Audrey Watters offers a lively history of pre-digital educational technology, from Sidney Pressey’s mechanized positive-reinforcement provider to B. F. Skinner’s behaviourist bell-ringing box.
Audrey shows that these machines and the pedagogy that accompanied them sprang from ideas—bite-sized content, individualized instruction—that had legs and were later picked up by textbook publishers and early advocates for computerized learning.
On the 11th of August at 9am, Audrey will come to the LX.lab to talk about her new book and answer questions from you.
Please use our Question Form to submit your questions ahead of time.
Teaching Machines is available for pre-order via the MIT Press website (and anywhere books are sold)
Book website: Teaching Machines: The History of Personalized Learning website
Zoom link
You will receive the link to access this workshop via Zoom in your registration email.