Educational technology (often abbreviated as edtech) encompasses computer hardware, software, along with educational theories and practices, used to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to by its abbreviation, "EdTech," it often denotes the industry of companies that develop educational technology.
In addition to practical educational experience, educational technology draws on theoretical knowledge from various disciplines such as communication, education, psychology, sociology, artificial intelligence, and computer science. It encompasses several domains, including learning theory, computer-based training, online learning, and mobile learning (m-learning).
Definition The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) has defined educational technology as "the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources". It denotes instructional technology as "the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning". As such, Educational technology refers to various valid and reliable applications of educational science, such as equipment, as well as processes and procedures that are derived from scientific research, and in a given context may refer to theoretical, algorithmic or heuristic processes: it does not necessarily refer only to physical technology. Educational technology is the process of integrating technology into education in a positive manner that promotes a more diverse and inclusive learning environment, enabling students to develop both technological literacy and subject-specific knowledge alongside their regular academic assignments.
Accordingly, there are several discrete aspects to describing the intellectual and technical development of educational technology: Educational technology as the theory and practice of educational approaches to learning. Educational technology as technological tools and media, for instance massive online courses, that assist in the communication of knowledge, and its development and exchange. This is usually what people are referring to when they use the term "edtech". Educational technology for learning management systems (LMSs), such as tools for student and curriculum management, and education management information systems (EMIS). Educational technology as back-office management, such as training management systems for logistics and budget management, and Learning Record Store (LRS) for learning data storage and analysis. Educational technology itself as an educational subject; such courses may be called "computer studies" or "information and communications technology (ICT)".Report by Tech.Ed.Gov (2017). NETP17.
Related terms
Educational technology is an inclusive term that refers to both the tools and processes used to support learning and teaching, as well as the theoretical foundations behind them. It is not limited to modern digital systems; instead, it encompasses any resource or method that improves instructional delivery, whether through blended learning, traditional face-to-face teaching, or online environments.
Professionals trained in this field are known as educational technologists, responsible for analysing, designing, developing and evaluating learning systems and tools to enhance educational outcomes.Seels, B. B., & Richey, R. C. (1994). Instructional technology: The definition and domains of the field. Washington, DC: AECT. The term learning technologist is commonly used in the United Kingdom, while Canada and several other regions use the term interchangeably. Educational technology encompasses e-learning, instructional technology, information and communication technology (ICT) in education, edtech, learning technology, multimedia learning, technology-enhanced learning (TEL), computer-based instruction (CBI), computer managed instruction, computer-based training (CBT), computer-assisted instruction or computer-aided instruction (CAI), internet-based training (IBT), flexible learning, web-based training (WBT), online education, digital educational collaboration, distributed learning, computer-mediated communication, cyber-learning, and multi-modal instruction, virtual education, personal learning environments, networked learning, virtual learning environments (VLE) (which are also called learning platforms), m-learning, and digital education.
Each of these numerous terms has had its advocates, who point up potential distinctive features. However, many terms and concepts in educational technology have been defined nebulously. For example, Singh and Thurman cite over 45 definitions for online learning. Moreover, Moore saw these terminologies as emphasizing particular features such as digitization approaches, components, or delivery methods rather than being fundamentally dissimilar in concept or principle. For example, m-learning emphasizes mobility, which allows for altered timing, location, accessibility, and context of learning; nevertheless, its purpose and conceptual principles are those of educational technology.
In practice, as technology has advanced, the particular "narrowly defined" terminological aspect that was initially emphasized by name has blended into the general field of educational technology. Initially, "virtual learning" as narrowly defined in a semantic sense implied entering an environmental simulation within a virtual world, for example, in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In practice, a "virtual education course" refers to any instructional course in which all, or at least a significant portion, is delivered by the Internet. "Virtual" is used in that broader way to describe a course that is not taught in a classroom face-to-face but "virtually" with people not having to go to the physical classroom to learn. Accordingly, virtual education refers to a form of distance learning in which course content is delivered using various methods such as course management applications, multimedia resources, and videoconferencing. Virtual education and simulated learning such as games or dissections, inspire students to connect classroom content to authentic situations.
Educational content, pervasively embedded in objects, is all around the learner, who may not even be conscious of the learning process. The combination of adaptive learning, using an individualized interface and materials, which accommodate to an individual, who thus receives personally differentiated instruction, with ubiquitous access to digital resources and learning opportunities in a range of places and at various times, has been termed smart learning.Hwang, G. J. (2014). Definition, framework, and research issues of smart learning environments-a context-aware ubiquitous learning perspective. Smart Learning Environments, 1(1), 1–14. Smart learning is a component of the smart city concept.
History
Helping people and children learn in ways that are easier, faster, more accurate, or less expensive can be traced back to the emergence of very early tools, such as paintings on cave walls.Molenda, M. (2008). "Historical foundations". In M. J. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Merrienboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (Third., pp. 3–20). New York, NY: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.Nye, D. (2007). Technology Matters: Questions to Live With. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. Various types of abacus have been used. Writing slates and blackboards have been used for at least a millennium. Since their introduction, books and pamphlets have played a prominent role in education. From the early twentieth century, duplicating machines such as the mimeograph and Gestetner stencil devices were used to produce short copy runs (typically 10–50 copies) for classroom or home use. The use of media for instructional purposes is generally traced back to the first decade of the 20th centurySaettler, P. (1990). The Evolution of American Educational Technology. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited. with the introduction of educational films (the 1900s) and Sidney Pressey's mechanical teaching machines (1920s).
In the mid-1960s, Stanford University psychology professors, Patrick Suppes and Richard C. Atkinson, experimented with using computers to teach arithmetic and spelling via Teletypes to elementary school students in the Palo Alto Unified School District in California.
Online education originated from the University of Illinois in 1960. Although the internet would not be created for another decade, students were able to access class information with linked computer terminals. Online learning emerged in 1982 when the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in La Jolla, California, opened its School of Management and Strategic Studies. The school employed computer conferencing through the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) to deliver a distance education program to business executives.See Rowan, Roy (1983). Executive Ed. at Computer U. Fortune, 7 March 1983; Feenberg, Andrew (1993). "Building a Global Network: The WBSI Experience", in L. Harasim, ed., Global Networks: Computerizing the International Community, MIT Press, pp. 185–197. Starting in 1985, Connected Education offered the first totally online master's degree in media studies, through The New School in New York City, also via the EIES computer conferencing system. Subsequent courses were offered in 1986 by the Electronic University Network for DOS and Commodore 64 computers. In 2002, MIT began providing online classes free of charge. , approximately 5.5 million students were taking at least one class online.Currently, one out of three college students takes at least one online course while in college. At DeVry University, out of all students that are earning a bachelor's degree, 80% earn two-thirds of their requirements online. Also, in 2014, 2.85 million students out of 5.8 million students that took courses online, took all of their courses online. From this information, it can be concluded that the number of students taking classes online is on a steady increase.
In 1971, Ivan Illich published a hugely influential book, Deschooling Society, in which he envisioned "learning webs" as a model for people to network the learning they needed. The 1970s and 1980s saw notable contributions in computer-based learning by Murray Turoff and Starr Roxanne Hiltz at the New Jersey Institute of TechnologyHiltz, S. (1990). "Evaluating the Virtual Classroom". In Harasim, L. (ed.) Online Education: Perspectives on a New Environment. New York: Praeger, pp. 133–169. as well as developments at the University of Guelph in Canada.Mason. R. and Kaye, A. (1989). Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Education. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press. In the UK, the Council for Educational Technology supported the use of educational technology, in particular administering the government's National Development Programme in Computer Aided Learning (1973–1977) and the Microelectronics Education Programme (1980–1986).
Videoconferencing was an important forerunner to the educational technologies known today. This work was especially popular with museum education. Even in recent years, videoconferencing has risen in popularity to reach over 20,000 students across the United States and Canada in 2008–2009. Disadvantages of this form of educational technology are readily apparent: image and sound quality are often grainy or pixelated; videoconferencing requires setting up a type of mini-television studio within the museum for broadcast; space becomes an issue; and specialized equipment is required for both the provider and the participant.Crow, W. B. & Din, H. (2009). Unbound By Place or Time: Museums and Online Learning. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 9–10.