{"id":231,"date":"2026-08-29T13:25:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T20:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/?p=231"},"modified":"2026-08-29T13:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T20:25:20","slug":"reflection-on-25-years-of-ed-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/reflection-on-25-years-of-ed-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection on 25 Years of Ed Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before reading Weller’s 25 Years of Ed Tech<\/em>, I tended to think of educational technology as a story of continuous innovation driven by new digital tools. My understanding of the field focused largely on major milestones such as learning management systems, social media, and, more recently, artificial intelligence. Weller’s introduction challenged this perspective by arguing that educational technology often suffers from “historical amnesia,” where new developments are presented as revolutionary despite having roots in much older ideas and practices. [read.aupress.ca]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The argument I found most compelling was Weller’s criticism of the “year-zero mentality.” He suggests that educational technology frequently forgets its own history and repeatedly rediscovers ideas that have already been researched and implemented. This resonated with me because current conversations about AI sometimes sound similar to earlier claims about online learning transforming education. Weller’s perspective encourages educators to approach innovation with both curiosity and healthy skepticism. [read.aupress.ca]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weller’s discussion also made me reflect on how I evaluate technology in my own teaching practice. Over the years, I have seen educational tools generate a great deal of excitement without necessarily leading to meaningful learning. For example, our school invested in coding robots that were engaging for students and helped build some confidence, but much of the coding knowledge was tied specifically to those devices and did not easily transfer to other contexts. This reinforced for me that the value of technology lies not in the tool itself, but in the learning opportunities it creates. When deciding whether to adopt a new technology, I am less interested in novelty and more interested in how it supports curriculum goals and develops transferable skills. Recently, I purchased drawing tablets for my media classroom because they provide students with opportunities to build digital literacy, learn industry-relevant software and hardware, and strengthen their artistic skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Weller also prompted me to think about artificial intelligence in a similar way. Unlike some past educational technologies, I believe AI will have a lasting impact not only on education but also on how people live, work, and communicate. As a result, I see part of my role as helping students develop the skills needed to work effectively and ethically with AI, while remaining mindful of Weller’s reminder to look beyond the hype and critically examine both its promises and limitations. [read.aupress.ca]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Footnote:<\/strong>\u00a0Copilot was used to refine the language in the final draft. All concepts and ideas are mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weller, M. (2020). 25 years of ed tech<\/em>. Athabasca University Press. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15215\/aupress\/9781771993050.01<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before reading Weller’s 25 Years of Ed Tech, I tended to think of educational technology as a story of continuous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt523"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru312\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}