Educational Technology - A Brief Look into Its Past & Future
Let’s first take a look at the AECT
(2008) definition for educational technology:
“Educational
technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and
improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate
technological processes and resources.”
What should be realized about this definition is that it deviates from
a commonplace and superficial notion that educational technology refers to the hardware,
software, and devices that can be used for learning. Instead, it is a much
deeper and thought-provoking reference that is focused on the theory, process, instructional
systems, instructional design, and practice that are behind properly using
technology to facilitate learning. But alas, all too often it’s the case that educational
technology is selected and implemented along the lines of the initial rather
than the latter perspective. This common approach frequently comes with much
frustration and expense, and results in mediocre outcomes at best. But this is
an entirely different conversation that I’ll get to in a future blog post…
Ideally, learning would occur without the recipient experiencing boring
or mundane teaching practices that so often plague a classroom or learning
environment, whether in a physical space or online. As Plato (The Republic, Book VII)
once said:
“No compulsory
learning can remain in the soul…In teaching children, train them by a kind of
game, and you will be able to see more clearly the natural bent of each.”
This statement by Plato brings into consideration the early recognition
of participatory experiences for learning. This approach has been persistent
through time, although in practice it is taken on many forms. A modern example of
interactive learning that uses educational technology is serious gaming. Wideman,
Owston, Brown, Kushniruk, Ho, and Pitts (2007) assert that:
“The personally
meaningful and valued social and material worlds in which game learning takes
place may be ‘virtual’ from an outsider’s perspective; however, they have a
psychological reality for the player that directly mediates the player’s level
of immersion, persistence in the face of challenges, and intrinsic desire to
learn.” (p. 11)
There is no question that the application of technology has played an
important role in education for centuries. The study and implementation of educational
technology began rapidly evolving during the latter part of the twentieth
century when the microcomputer
became a common device. In 1979, Barette envisioned that “teachers as well as
students would be accessing huge machine readable files from their school
library media centers and from home.” In the 35 years since, the use of
computers for educational purposes went from being a novelty to now being a
necessity that has been embraced by the academic community.
 |
| Tim Berners-Lee at CERN |
Reflection Point: “The Semantic Web is not a separate Web but an
extension of the current one, in which information is given well-defined
meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation.” ~Tim
Berners-Lee
References
Association for Educational
Communications and Technology (2008). Definition. In A. Januszewski and M.
Molenda (Eds.), Educational
Technology: A definition with commentary. New York: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Barrette, P.P. (1979).
Microcomputers in education. Compute!
1(1), p. 33.
McLoughlin, C. and Lee, M. J. W.
(2007). Social software and participatory learning: pedagogical choices with
technology affordances in the web 2.0 era. Proceedings
Ascilite, Singapore 2007, pp. 664-675.
Wideman, H. H., Owston, R. D.,
Brown, C., Kushniruk, A., Ho, F., and Pitts, K. C. (2007). Unpacking the
potential of educational gaming: a new tool for gaming research. Simulation Gaming 2007, 38(10), 10-30.
