EDUCATIONAL

TECHNOLOGY
Kurt M. Guirnela, MSCS
EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY
Definitions and Domains

Kurt M. Guirnela, MSCS

 THE COURSE
• We will touch a variety of areas and fields in educational
technology and none of them we will be discussed in as much
detail as we would like.
• The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the basic
concepts, issues, ideas, and topics in Ed tech.
 DEFINITION OF
EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY (AECT, 1996)
• It is a complex, integrated process involving people, procedures,
ideas, devices, and organization, for analyzing problems and
devising, implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to
those problems, involved in all aspects of human learning.
AECT WEBSITE
• The solutions to problems take the form of all the learning
resources which are identified as: messages, people, materials,
devices, techniques, and settings.
 LEARNING RESOURCES
• Message: information to be transmitted by the other components;
takes the form of ideas, facts, meanings, data (e.g. any subject
matter).
• People: e.g. teacher, student, speaker.
• Material: traditionally called media/software (e.g. pictures, books)
• Device: traditionally called hardware (e.g. radio).
• Technique: routine procedures for using materials, devices,
settings, and people to transmit message (e.g. field trip).
• Setting: the environment in which the messages are received (e.g.
physical and environmental).
 EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY OR
TECHNOLOGY IN
EDUCATION?
• Not the same!
• Technology in education is the application of
technology to any of those processes involved in
operating the institutions which house the
educational enterprise. It includes the application of
technology to food, health, finance, scheduling,
grade reporting, and other processes which support
education within institutions.
 DEFINITION OF THE FIELD
(IN A MORE CONCISE FORM)
• Educational technology is the theory and practice of
design, development, utilization, management, and
evaluation of processes and resources for learning.
• It is a discipline devoted to techniques or ways to
make learning more efficient based on theory but
theory in its broadest sense, not just scientific
theory.
 FIELD DEFINITIONS (2)
• Theory consists of concepts, constructs, principles,
and propositions that serve as the body of
knowledge.
• Practice is the application of that knowledge to solve
problems. Practice can also contribute to the
knowledge base through information gained from
experience.
 FIELD DEFINITIONS (3)
• Design, development, utilization, management, and
evaluation refer to both areas (e.g. theory & practice) of the
knowledge base and to functions performed by professional
in the field.
• Processes are a series of operations or activities directed
towards a particular result.
• Resources are sources of support for learning, including
support systems and instructional materials and
environments.
• The purpose of instruction technology is to affect and effect
learning.
 TRAINING &
CERTIFICATION
• Educational technology has guidelines for training and
certification. There is a competency-based framework for
training people who perform tasks in educational technology.
• groups of specialties: 1) instructional program development,
2) media product development, 3) media management
• levels of performance within the specialty: aide, technician,
specialist.
 EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY
• Educational technology operates within the total field of education.
In its relationship to other professions also involved in the field it
advocates a coequal & collaborative relationship among these
professions.
DOMAIN OF THE FIELD
 DOMAIN DEFINITION

• Design refers to the process of specifying

conditions for learning
• Development refers to the process of
translating the design specifications into
physical form
• Utilization refers to the use of processes and
resources for learning
 DOMAIN DEFINITION (2)

• Management refers to processes for

controlling instructional technology
• Evaluation is the process for
determining the adequacy of
instruction.
 ROOTS OF THE FIELD
• It’s a 20th century movement with the major
developments occurring during and after World War
II.
• It began with an emphasis on audiovisual
communications media.
• Gradually it became focused on the systematic
development of teaching and learning procedures
which were based in behavioral psychology.
 CONTRIBUTING FIELDS TO
EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY
• Major contributing fields are cognitive psychology, social
psychology, psychometrics, perception psychology, and
management.
 WHAT DO EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGISTS DO?
• Most carry out one or a few of the functions performed in the field.
• E.g. some design instruction, some produce instructional materials,
and others manage instructional computing services or learning
resources collections.
 MAJOR PROFESSIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• Association for Educational Communications & Technology
(AECT)
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
• International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)
• Association for Media & Technology in Education in Canada
(AMTEC)
• American Society for Training & Development (ASTD)
 MAJOR JOURNALS
• British Journal of Educational Technology.
• Learning and Leading with Technology (ISTE)
• Innovations in Education and Training International.
• Educational Technology
• Educational Technology Research & Development (AECT)
• Journal of Research on Technology in Education (ISTE)
• TechTrends (AECT)
 WHERE ARE THEY
EMPLOYED?

• Most educational technologists are employed in schools and

colleges as directors of resource centers and developers of
curriculum materials.
• Increasing numbers are being employed by training agencies
in business, industry, government, the military, and the
health professions. Colleges and universities employ them to
be involved in instructional improvement programs that use
various technologies.
 WHAT IS EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY?
• The official term coined by the AECT is the
theory and practice of design, development,
utilization, management, and evaluation of
processes and resources for learning.
WHY DO WE STUDY EDUCATIONAL
TECHNOLOGY?

• Educational technology
allows the teacher to
determine how to best
integrate technology with
the various learning styles
that would be effective in
teaching every student in the
class
 BEHAVIORISTS
• Believe that learning is a passive process
• Students learn based on responses to their environment
• Learning is not a mental activity
 COGNITIVISTS
• Focus on learning as a mental operation
• Behavior is viewed as an indicator of cognitive
processes rather than just an outcome
• Explain learning in terms of how one thinks.
CONSTRUCTIVIST
• Knowledge is a
constructed element
resulting from the
learning process
• Knowledge is based on
one’s experiences
 THE TEACHER
• Teaching requires an
understanding of how
each individual student
learns
• Teachers must be able
to mesh their life
experiences with the
curriculum
 WHERE TECHNOLOGY
FITS IN
• Teachers should try to find • Technology is the bridge
avenues that would allow between the teacher and the
them to help all students students. Its utilization in
master the intended class is an indicator of what
curriculum education will be like for
future generations.
 EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY:
THE PAST

• Audiovisual movement
• Books being replaced by movie projectors
• Television
 EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY:
A MODERN VIEW
• Programmed instruction
• Computer-assisted
instruction