School of Information Technology in Education has a long history and solid strength. In 1975, the Research Centre for Modern Educational Technology was formally established. In 1983, Department of Electronic Education was set up. In 2002, it was developed into School of Information Technology in Education.
Educational Technology was set up in 1983. It has been the first undergraduate major related to educational technology since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 2007, it was designated as the premier characteristic major of educational technology in higher education by the Ministry of Education, and in 2019, it was selected as a national-level first-class undergraduate major development site. In 1996, Educational Technology became one of the key disciplines listed in the national “211 Project”. It was authorized to grant the doctoral degree in 1998 and listed in national key disciplines in 2002. In 2003, the postdoctoral scientific research mobile station for educational technology was built. Then a complete system for fostering talents from bachelor's, master's, doctoral degrees to postdoctoral mobile stations has formed.
The history of journalism and communication discipline can be traced back to the 1980s. In 1982, Schramm, an American scholar and "authority on mass communications" who was the American master of communication studies, chose South China Normal University as his first stop to give lectures when he firstly visited mainland China. In 1983, film and television education was added in electronic education which was firstly set up by SCNU after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 2001, our school established China's first undergraduate major of communication studies. In 2002, the first undergraduate major of photography was set up in Guangdong. In 2008, the undergraduate major of journalism was built. It became one of the national "first-class undergraduate major" construction site. Our school was authorized to grant the master's degree in communication studies in 2005 and in journalism and communication in 2013. In 2019, it was approved to grant the master's degree of a first-level discipline for journalism and communication studies, and in 2022, master's degree of the editing and publishing was entitled to our school.