Educational Technology
Educational technology or instructional technology (often referred to by shorthand as edtech) is the practice of facilitating learning using both hardware and software technologies.[1] The purpose of educational technology is to improve education through both teaching and learning. Edtech often also refers to the variety of companies that design technology for education.
Contents
History
In the mid 1900s, audiovisual experts sought to build their industry by focusing on a new concept, educational technology. They wanted to make educational technology distinguishable from traditional classroom teachers. Educational technology has been formally defined many times.[3] One of the early definitions, in 1963, recognizes the “increasing awareness of the need for greater support of, and improvement in, American education” and a need for clarification of the emerging instructional technology.[4]
- 1963 Definition: “Audiovisual communications is that branch of educational theory and practice concerned with the design and use of messages which control the learning process. It undertakes: (a) the study of the unique and relative strengths and weaknesses of both pictorial and nonrepresentational messages which may be employed in the learning process for any reason; and (b) the structuring and systematizing of messages by men and instruments in an educational environment. These undertakings include planning, production, selection, management, and utilization of both components and entire instructional systems. Its practical goal is the efficient utilization of every method and medium of communication which can contribute to developing the full potential of the learner.”[5]
Technologies
Edtech can be used in a variety of different ways to improve the overall educational experience. This includes hardware and software systems.
Hardware
Software
Google Classroom
Clever
ClassDojo
Ethical Concerns
Privacy
Google Chromebooks make up 60% of all laptops sold to K-12 schools, and the Google suite - including Google Classroom – are widely used across the nation in classrooms.[6] However, Google has admitted to scanning data and emails of students using the Google education systems in the classroom. Google faced a lawsuit for this in 2014 over concerns of US child-protection laws and potential violation of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.[7]
Accessibility
According to Barrier Break, a Digital Accessibility Testing agency, many educational technology tools lack adequate accessibility functionalities.[8] Students with cognitive, visual, auditory, neurological and physical disabilities often face issues with edtech. The disadvantages thousands of students. Edtech tools often are not compliant with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) nor with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).[9] This issue was heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic with over a billion students shifting to remote learning, where students with disabilities faced hurdles with edtech.
Access
There are significant disparities in the access that students have to technology between affluent and lower income schools. A report shows that 52% of teachers in affluent school districts feel their students have technology necessary to complete homework, while only 3% of teachers in high-poverty districts felt that way.[10]
See Also
References
- ↑ Januszewski, Alan, and Michael Molenda. Educational Technology: A Definition with Commentary. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JO3Yc0UuK74C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=educational+technology&ots=aBz1U2gMPs&sig=JBqrsEGgT_LimbeMenrm7n_luh0#v=onepage&q&f=false, Accessed 26 Jan. 2022.
- ↑ “Technology Can Close Achievement Gaps, Improve Learning.” Stanford Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, 19 Sept. 2014, https://ed.stanford.edu/news/technology-can-close-achievement-gaps-and-improve-learning-outcomes.
- ↑ Januszewski, Alan. Educational Technology: The Development of a Concept. Libraries Unlimited, 2001, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=mlZsIIoOaSYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false, Accessed 27 Jan. 2022.
- ↑ Ely, Donald P. “The Changing Role of the Audiovisual Process in Education--a Definition and a Glossary of Related Terms.” ERIC, Institution of Education Sciences, 30 Nov. 1962, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED016409.
- ↑ Ely, Donald P. “The Changing Role of the Audiovisual Process in Education--a Definition and a Glossary of Related Terms.” ERIC, Institution of Education Sciences, 30 Nov. 1962, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED016409.
- ↑ Watters, Audrey. “The 100 Worst Ed-Tech Debacles of the Decade.” Hack Education, 31 Dec. 2019, http://hackeducation.com/2019/12/31/what-a-shitshow.
- ↑ “Google Faces Lawsuit over Email Scanning and Student Data.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 Mar. 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/19/google-lawsuit-email-scanning-student-data-apps-education.
- ↑ “EdTech Digital Accessibility.” BarrierBreak, 7 July 2021, https://www.barrierbreak.com/edtech-digital-accessibility/.
- ↑ “EdTech Digital Accessibility.” BarrierBreak, 7 July 2021, https://www.barrierbreak.com/edtech-digital-accessibility/.
- ↑ “Technology Can Close Achievement Gaps, Improve Learning.” Stanford Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, 19 Sept. 2014, https://ed.stanford.edu/news/technology-can-close-achievement-gaps-and-improve-learning-outcomes.
