1. Technology and Me
A personal timeline
of educational technology
by Will Dressler

2. My name is Will Dressler
I started school in 1980 in Irvine, CA
I graduated from high school in 1993 in Irvine
I first went to college at UC Berkeley in 1997
I am the teaching and learning coordinator at
Kauai Community College

3. Educational technology is…
a process of identifying needs,
creating a plan to address those
needs, and using the appropriate
tools to achieve the desired
outcome.

4. Web sites on ed tech history
Educational Technology Timeline
History of Educational Technology
Computers in Education: A brief history

5. Kindergarten technology
Honestly, I don’t
remember much
about kindergarten,
but I think there were
lots of crayons
involved. And naps.
I miss the naps.

6. High school technology
In high school I used
a word processor on a
PC to write papers.
This was a huge step
up from the typewriter
I had used in junior
high. Yes, I used an
old school typewriter.

7. College technology
In college I got my first
email address. I had
absolutely no idea what to
do with it.
In college was the first
time I used a computer
to find books at the
library rather than a
card catalogue.

8. A vivid technology
learning experience
While living in Osaka
I learned how to
check train schedules
from my cell phone.
This really opened
my eyes to the
possibilities of mobile
information

9. A technology I want to use in
my classroom
I would love to see the use of course management
systems like Laulima to offer more self-paced
classes in higher education.
I don’t think it’s a very good idea to expect all
students to learn at the same pace and meet the
same deadlines.

10. My vision of the classroom
of the future
• In the future I see
the expansion of
distance learning
• Technology means
that distance (like
living on Kauai!) is
no long a barrier to
learning

11. A challenge for teaching
Teachers are experts
in their field- which is
usually not technology
Technology must be
easy to use for
teachers to effectively
integrate it into their
teaching

12. Words of wisdom
Basically, you learn two kinds
of things in college:
1. Things you will need to
know in later life (two hours).
2. Things you will not need to
know in later life (1,998
hours).
- Dave Barry