![\"\"](\"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2018\/09\/edtech.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When one thinks of educational technology, it is forgivable if one’s thoughts are drawn to images of ipads, learning management systems, and interactive videos. Educational technology has been present for longer than Apple has been around, much to the surprise of my children. The first use of educational technology is thought to be cave drawings that can be dated as far back as 30,000 years BCE.<\/span><\/p>\n Establishing a definition of educational technology is not such an easy task. As I did my research, I found that the definition of educational technology is a product of its time. Is the definition focused on the process of learning, the learning theories or frameworks used, or even just on the technological tools themselves? As stated in the Edutech wiki “Educational technology, sometimes shortened to EduTech or EdTech, is a wide field. Therefore, one can find many definitions, some of which are conflicting”. For this blog entry, I am choosing to use the definition provided by Richey et al. as defined by the\u00a0Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), “Educational\u00a0technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.”<\/span><\/p>\n Too often instructors focus on the technology and miss the point; technology is a tool used to help students learn. Of all the successful technological tools used throughout the centuries (Paper, chalkboards, pencils, calculators, smartboards to name a few), the ones that have been successful are the ones that thought about how they served the students. As Eric Simon said in his Ted talk there are three reasons to use technology in education:<\/span><\/p>\n 1- To save time and effort<\/span> Throughout history, the technologies that have lasted and have made an impact would have addressed some or all of these questions. When we look at the future of the use of educational technology, we need to pause and ask ourselves the question, Is this Tech serving our students first?<\/span><\/p>\n References<\/span><\/p>\n Educational technology. (n.d.). In Edutech Wiki<\/em>. Retrieved September 6, 2018, from http:\/\/edutechwiki.unige.ch\/en\/Educational_technology Haran, M., (2015, May 29). A history of education technology.<\/em> [blog post] Retrieved Sept 6, 2018, from\u00a0http:\/\/institute-of-progressive-education-and-learning.org\/a-history-of-education-technology\/<\/span><\/p>\n Richey, R. C., Silber, K. H., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Reflections on the 2008 AECT Definitions of the Field.\u00a0 <\/em>Retrieved September 5, 2018, from\u00a0https:\/\/link-springer-com.ezproxy.royalroads.ca\/content\/pdf\/10.1007%2Fs11528-008-0108-2.pdf<\/span><\/p>\n [Tedx Talks]., (2015, January 27).\u00a0\u00a0Instructional technologies — Changing teaching and learning | Eric Simon | TEDxNewEnglandCollege\u00a0<\/em>[Video File]. Retrieved from\u00a0https:\/\/youtu.be\/E45A1UR1roE<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When one thinks of educational technology, it is forgivable if one’s thoughts are drawn to images of ipads, learning management systems, and interactive videos. Educational technology has been present for longer than Apple has been around, much to the surprise… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[58,59],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523","tag-edtech","tag-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0054\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2- To provide accessibility<\/span>
\n3- To provide pedagogical improvement<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n