What educational technology means to me

I must confess that when I first saw the term, educational technology, I thought it was an educational field, in which technological tools were used to enhance teaching and learning.

 While reading about the history of the definition of educational technology presented by Januszewski & Persichitte, (2008), to be honest, it was a laborious exercise. I ended up more confused about the definition for educational definition. Probably, this is reminiscent of the whole process of defining educational technology.

 With technology advancing and evolving as quickly as it does, I believe it is critical that we trace this historical definition of Educational Technology so we can know where we are going. I’m not sure whether we will ever be satisfied with a definition of Educational Technology because of the continuous updating and invention of technology and its impact on society as a whole.

I believe, however, like ‘technology’, the definition of educational technology will continue to evolve. It’s definition will always apply to the status of technology in the moment. According to the AECT, educational technology is defined as: “the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (Januszewski & Molenda, 2008, p,1). Stemming from this definition, I would modify this definition as follows:

 “Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, managing and evaluating appropriate technological processes and resources.”

 I believe that to ensure that “appropriate technological processes and resources” are created, used and managed effectively, there needs to be some form of evaluation of how these processes and resources are created, used and managed to facilitate learning and improve performance. According to the definition, it is assumed that the “technological processes and resources are “appropriate” to facilitate learning and improve performance. However, how will we know unless measures are put in place to find out?  Any thoughts?

 Or I would modify the definition as follows:

 “Educational technology is an evolving practice in which technological processes and resources are created, used, managed and evaluated to facilitate learning and improve performance.”

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.