Educational technology

Educational technology is a field of study within education. The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional technology and learning technology. While instructional technology covers technology used within the processes of learning, educational technology includes other systems used in the process of delivering education, such as registration or library systems.

Educational technology is not restricted to the education of children, nor to the use of high technology. The particular case of the meaningful use of high-technology to enhance learning in K-12 classrooms and higher education is known as technology integration.

History

One of the earliest fields of study within educational technology was instructional systems design (ISD). This was developed by the United States military during World War II, in order to train large numbers of people more effectively. In a common ISD model, the ADDIE Model, the steps involved are: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

More recently several universities have opened tracks for graduate programs in the field of Educational Technology.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Theories and practices

Three main theoretical schools or philosphical frameworks have been present in the educational technology literature. These are Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism. Each of these schools of thought are still present in todays literature but have evolved as the Psychology literature has evolved.

Behaviorism

This theoretical framework was developed in the early 20th century with the animal learning experiments of Edward Thorndike. Many Psychologists like B. F. Skinner, and Ivan Pavlov used these theories to describe and experiment with human learning. While still very useful this philosophy of learning has lost favor with many educators. But Behavior learning theory (e.g Classical Conditioning and Operant conditioning) is still very useful to explain lower level unconscious implicit memory and learning.

Cognitivism

Cognitive science has changed how educators view learning. Since the Cognitive Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, learning theory has undergone a great deal of change. Much of the empirical framework of Behaviorism was retained even though a new paradigm was begun. Cognitive theories look beyond behavior to explain brain-based learning. Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning. So for example how the natural physiological processes of encoding information into short term memory and long term memory become important to educators.

Once memory theories like the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model and Baddeley's Working memory model were established as a theoretical framework in Cognitive Psychology, new cognitive frameworks of learning began to emerge during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Today researchers are concentrating on topics like Cognitive load and Information Processing Theory. These theories of learning are very useful as they guide the design of instructional technologies.

Constructivism

Constructivism (learning theory) while not a theory, is an educational philosophy that many educators began to consider in the 1990s. One of the primary tenets of this philosophy is that learners construct their own meaning from new information, as they interact with reality or others with different perspectives.

Constructivist learning environments require students to utilize their prior knowledge and experiences to formulate new, related, and/or adaptive concepts in learning. Under this framework the role of the teacher becomes that of a facilitator, providing guidance so that learners can construct their own knowledge. Educators, from the constructivist’s perspective, must make sure that the prior learning experiences are appropriate and related to the concepts being taught.

Jonassen (1997) suggests "well-structured" learning environments are useful for novice learners and that "ill-structured" environments are only useful for more advanced learners. Educators utilizing technology when teaching with the Constructivist perspective should choose technologies that reinforce prior learning perhaps in a problem-solving environment.

Instructional technique and technologies

Problem Based Learning and Inquiry-based learning are active learning instructional techniques used to teach learners. Technology can be incorporated into project, problem, inquiry based learning as they all have a similar educational philosophy. All three are student centered, typically involving real world scenarios in which students are actively engaged in critical thinking activities. Both the process students engage in and end products of all the learning theories can be implemented with a number of technological tools.

Learners should be guided during the instructional process, but after initial instruction has taken place these more active techniques may be used. Quite often an instructor will introduce material through a lecture and then offer a think quest or web quest as reinforcement. These teaching strategies would be beneficial because they provide students with a structured presentation of the problem or project. During the first phase students begin the inquiry process, they can brainstorm using web mapping software or an interactive whiteboard to record their initial thoughts and create a plan of action. Both of these products promote student interaction and input into the developmental process.

Thinkers in this Area

Stephen Downes
Karl Fisch
Ian Jukes
Scott McLeod
Alan November
Seymour Papert
Marc Prensky
Will Richardson
Gary Stager
David Warlick

This is an area where new thinkers are coming to the forefront everyday. Many of the ideas spread from theorists, researchers, and experts through their blogs. Extensive lists of educational bloggers by area of interest are available at Will Richardson's SupportBloggers site or at the movingforward wiki started by Scott McLeod. Many of these blogs are recognized each year through the edublogger awards where these thinkers are recognized by their peers. This epistemology dates back to the early 1970's, but due to the increase in the amount of technological resources in schools it is an area of study that is growing and changing rapidly. This, combined with Web 2.0 technologies has lead to a huge increase in the amount of information available on this topic and the number of educators formally and informmally discussing it.

Other interests