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. 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.

Tablets have become a popular educational technology tool in the classroom.

Educational technology has been shown to foster creativity, boost motivation, and increase engagement in classrooms.

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. 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.

• 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.”
• 1977 Definition: "“Educational technology is a complex, integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, and organization, for analyzing problems and devising, implementing, evaluating, and managing solutions to those problems, involved in all aspects of human learning.”
• 1994 Definition:“Instructional technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation of processes and resources for learning”

Overhead projectors have been used in classrooms for almost a century.

Classroom educational technology has evolved a lot over time. In the 1870s, classrooms started to use primitive versions of the slide projector; use of chalkboards and pencils began at the end of the 19th century. Radios became popular in 1920s classrooms and the overhead projector followed a decade later.

Photocopiers were introduced in 1959 and quickly became a standard practice for the quick reproduction of materials. Calculators and Scantron testing were introduced in 1972 and eventually became standard practice. The first everyday-use computers were introduced in the 1980s and by 2009, 97% of classrooms had one or more computers. The education world knew when computers were released that something great was occurring with immediate learning capabilities.

Technologies

Edtech can be used in a variety of different ways to improve the overall educational experience. This includes hardware and software systems.

Hardware

There is a wide variety of hardware technology used in classrooms. School districts use cameras, computers, printers, projectors, tablets, Smartboards and more.

Ethical Concerns

Educational technology often faces many barriers when schools try to implement it. There are cost barriers, resistance from teachers, and pushback from parents. There are also many ethical concerns that involve educational technology.

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. 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.

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Accessibility

According to Barrier Break, a Digital Accessibility Testing agency, many educational technology tools lack adequate accessibility functionalities. 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). 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.

See Also

• Digital_divide