Societies are classified according to their development and use of technology. For most of human history, people lived in preindustrial societies characterized by limited technology and low production of goods. After the Industrial Revolution, many societies based their economies around mechanized labour, leading to greater profits and a trend toward greater social mobility. At the turn of the new millennium, a new type of society emerged. This post-industrial, or information, society is built on digital technology and nonmaterial goods. Educational and instructional supervision occur in a variety of societies; thus the need to explore the various typologies of societies that provide the context for the instructional supervision process.