• The Field of Educational Technology
• EDTECH

The Field of Educational Technology

ED387117 Sep 95 The Field of Educational Technology: Update 1995--A Dozen Frequently Asked Questions. ERIC Digest.

Author: Ely, Donald P.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology, Syracuse, NY.

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

Educational technology is a term widely used in the field of education (and other areas), but it is often used with different meanings. The word technology is used by some to mean hardware--the devices that deliver information and serve as tools to accomplish a task--but those working in the field use technology to refer to a systematic process of solving problems by scientific means. Hence, educational technology properly refers to a particular approach to achieving the ends of education. Instructional technology refers to the use of such technological processes specifically for teaching and learning.

Other terms, such as instructional development or educational media, which refer to particular parts of the field, are also used by some to refer to the field as a whole.

The purpose of this digest is to provide background information and sources that help one to understand the concept of educational technology. This digest should serve as a "pathfinder" to relevant and timely publications that view the field from a variety of perspectives.

1. WHAT IS EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY?

The most recent definition of the field (which uses the term, instructional technology) has been published by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT): Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning.

The complete definition, with its rationale, is presented in the AECT publication:

Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1994). "Instructional technology: The definition and domains of the field." Washington, DC: Author.

An overview of the field can be found in:

Gagne, Robert M. (Ed.). (1987). "Instructional technology: Foundations." Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Anglin, Gary J. (Ed.). (1995). "Instructional technology: Past, present & future" (2nd ed.). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

2. WHAT ARE THE ROOTS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY?

The field is essentially a 20th century movement with the major developments occurring during and immediately after World War II. What began with an emphasis on audio-visual communications media gradually became focused on the systematic development of teaching and learning procedures which were based in behavioral psychology. Currently, major contributing fields are cognitive psychology, social psychology, psychometrics, perception psychology, and management. The basic history of the field was written by Saettler.

Saettler, Paul E. (1990). "The evolution of American educational technology." Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

A briefer history may be found in:

Reiser, Robert. (1987). Instructional technology: A history. In: Robert M. Gagne (Ed.), "Instructional Technology: Foundations." (pp. 11-48). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

3. WHAT IS A GOOD SOURCE OF RESEARCH FINDINGS?

Thompson, Ann, Simonson, Michael, & Hargrave, Constance. (1992). "Educational technology: A review of the research." Washington, DC: Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

Means, Barbara et al. (1993). "Using technology to support education reform." Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education.

4. WHAT DO EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS DO?

Most educational technologists carry out one or a few of the functions performed in the field. For example, some design instruction, some produce instructional materials, and others manage instructional computing services or learning resources collections. The competencies for instructional development specialists and material design and production specialists are published in:

International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction. (1993). "Instructor competencies: The standards" (Vol. 1). Batavia, IL: Author.

A comprehensive description of the functions of education technology personnel is given in:

Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1977). "The definition of educational technology" (pp. 55-79). Washington, DC: Author.

5. WHERE ARE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS EMPLOYED?

Until recently, most educational technologists were employed in schools and colleges as directors of resource centers and developers of curriculum materials. Many are still employed in such positions, but increasing numbers are being employed by training agencies in business, industry, government, the military, and the health professions. Colleges and universities employ individuals who are involved in instructional improvement programs that use a variety of technologies.

6. WHERE DO EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS OBTAIN PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION?

Professional programs are offered mostly at the graduate level, although there are a few two-year postsecondary programs in junior and community colleges. Lists of programs are found in:

Ely, Donald P., & Minor, Barbara B. (Eds.). (1994). Doctoral programs in instructional technology (pp. 257-272), and Master's degree and six-year programs in instructional technology (pp. 273-302). In: Donald P. Ely & Barbara B. Minor (Eds.). "Educational media and technology yearbook 1994." Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Johnson, Jenny K. (Ed.). (1995). "Graduate curricula in educational communications and technology" (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

7. WHAT FIELDS OFFER GOOD PREPARATION FOR EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY?

Many people enter the field following an undergraduate program in teacher education. More people come from the basic disciplines of the arts and sciences--English, sociology, communications, psychology, the physical sciences, and mathematics. Although there seldom are prerequisites for study in the field, persons who have good preparation in psychology and mathematics seem to have a head start. Formal course work and experience in human relations are helpful.

8. WHAT ARE THE MAJOR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS?

In the United States, most educational technologists would be a member of one or more of the following associations:

American Educational Research Association
1230 17th St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20036-3078

American Society for Training & Development (ASTD)
1630 Duke Street, Box 1443
Alexandria, VA 22313

Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT)
1025 Vermont Avenue, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005-3547

International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)
1300 L Street N.W., Suite 1250
Washington, DC 20005

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
1787 Agate Street
Eugene, OR 97403-1923

Major organizations in other parts of the world include:

Association for Media & Technology in Education in Canada (AMTEC)
3-1750 The Queensway, Suite 1318
Etobicoke, Ontario M9C 5H5 Canada

Association for Educational & Training Technology (AETT)
Centre for Continuing Education
The City University
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB, U.K.

9. WHAT PUBLICATIONS DO EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS READ?

A recent study of journals read by educational technologists listed over 50 journals in the field. The most frequently read journals include:

"British Journal of Educational Technology," published by the National Council for Educational Technology, Sir William Lyons Road, Science Park, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7EZ, England, U.K.

"Learning and Leading with Technology," published by ISTE.¿ "Innovations in Education and Training International," published by AETT, Kogan Page Ltd., 120 Pentonville Rd., London N1 9JN, England, U.K.

"Educational Technology," published by Educational Technology Publications, 700 Palisade Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632.

"Educational Technology Research and Development," published by AECT.

"Journal of Research on Computing in Education," published by ISTE.

"TechTrends," published by AECT.

10. WHAT ARE THE COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCES FOR THE FIELD?

There are two major encyclopedias:

Eraut, Michael, (Ed.). (1989). "The international encyclopedia of educational technology." New York: Pergamon Press.

Unwin, Derek, & McAleese, Ray (Eds.). (1988). "The encyclopedia of educational media communications and technology." (2nd ed.) Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

There are two major yearbooks which offer articles on current issues and extensive lists of people, organizations, literature, and other resources:

Ely, Donald P., & Minor, Barbara B. (Eds.). "Educational media and technology yearbook." Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Osborne, Christopher W. (Ed.). "International yearbook of educational and instructional technology." London: Kogan Page, and Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.

11. WHAT TEXTBOOKS ARE COMMONLY USED?

There are dozens of books used in educational technology courses. Selection of titles depends upon the content of the course, the primary audience, and the instructor's objectives. General textbooks that have been used in a variety of courses are:

Heinich, Robert, Molenda, Michael & Russell, James. (1993). "Instructional media and the new technologies of instruction." (4th ed.) New York: Macmillan.

Dick, Walter, & Carey, Lou. (1990). "The systematic design of instruction." (3rd ed.) Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Co.

12. WHERE CAN MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY BE FOUND?

The ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) system sponsored by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education has been selecting documents on educational technology since 1966 and indexing articles from key journals since 1969. Abstracts of the documents can be found in:

¿ "Resources in Education," published monthly by the U.S. Government Printing Office and available in more than 3,500 libraries throughout the world.

Selected articles which have been indexed from educational technology journals are listed in:

"Current Index to Journals in Education," found in many libraries or available from Oryx Press, 4041 North Central at Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85012-3397.

Computer searching of the ERIC database is available in many academic and some public libraries. It can also be done over the Internet and on some commercial networks. Specific questions can be addressed to:

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology (ERIC/IT)
4-194 Center for Science and Technology
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-4100
(315) 443-3640; (800) 464-9107

There is a listserv on the Internet that focuses on discussion of issues in educational technology. The address is:

listserv@msu.edu

The ERIC/IT Clearinghouse has a publications list of monographs and digests about current issues and developments in the field and publishes a newsletter, ERIC/IT Update, twice each year. Both items are available without charge.

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Donald P. Ely is Associate Director, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, and Professor, Instructional Design, Development & Evaluation, Syracuse University. Revised September 1995.

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ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

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ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology
Syracuse University
4-194 Center for Science & Technology
Syracuse, New York 13244-4100
(315) 443-3640; (800) 464-9107; Fax: (315) 443-5448; Internet: eric@ericir.syr.edu

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This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, contract no. RR93002009. The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the Department of Education.

Welcome to the EDTECH mailing list. This list was conceived to bring together students, faculty, and "interested others" in the field of educational technology to share ideas and information. There are more than 1300 subscribers from about 30 countries on the EDTECH list. As well, EDTECH is carried on USENET NEWS as bit.listserv.edtech, on the AskERIC gopher server, and on private electronic bulletin boards at several universities.

Some topics we often discuss include:

- problems in using educational technology and how to solve them
- articles and books you've found stimulating and worthwhile
- information about course offerings and edtech graduate program requirements at various schools
- notable educational hardware and software, as well as junk one should avoid
- conferences and events related to educational technology
- current dissertations and research projects in educational technology

Here are a few tips for using this discussion group well:

1. This list is moderated. That means when you send something to EDTECH, it first automatically is forwarded to a Moderator. The Moderator is any one of a group of graduate students, faculty and staff at Michigan State University who work with the list. The Moderator screens out communications not related to Educational Technology or obviously not intended or appropriate for the EDTECH list (things like "HELP" or "Harry, It's nice to hear from you again!") and handles them privately. The Moderator forwards the rest of the communications on to all the subscribers of the list. (There may be a few hours delay from the time you send your message until it actually appears on EDTECH.) When you get mail from EDTECH it may seem, at first glance, that it is all coming from the Moderator (21765EDT@MSU). This is not the case, however. The original sender is also usually named in the header, and people sign their mail at the bottom.

2. Please be careful when using the REPLY function to reply to EDTECH mail. That will generally send your reply back to the EDTECH list. Usually, to reply privately to the individual who wrote the message, you will need to address your reply specifically to that person. If it is not clear whether your message was intended for the list or not, the Moderator may send you a note asking what you intended.

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your name
email address
and professional affiliation
If you neglect to do this, the Moderator may add it to your message for you or return your mail. This is necessary because the original address headers at the top are automatically stripped off by many mailers, so if your address isn't included in the body of your message, some subscribers won't know who posted it. EDTECH does not accept anonymous contributions.

4. Because of the various problems inherent in sending and archiving very long messages, EDTECH prefers that you try to keep messages under 500 lines in length. It is often better to offer people information about where they can order a very long message via FTP or other means, if they are interested, than to send it to everyone.

5. While it is sometimes important to quote a short part of a previous message that you are replying to in order to set up the context, it is not necessary to routinely quote the entirety of a previous message. If your mailer does this by default, we would appreciate your deleting the unnecessary parts of the previous message from your reply before sending. In particular, please do not include old quoted address headers that say To: EDTECH... in the body of your new message, as the listserver may reject your mail if you do.

6. If you have had little or no experience using BITNET we recommend that you send for the file "Bitnet Userhelp." To order this file send mail to:
LISTSERV@BITNIC.BITNET

Your mail should say SEND BITNET USERHELP in the first line of your message.

You might also purchase one of the several currently available guides to the Internet available at your local bookstore. Check that the book includes a chapter on using LISTSERV mailing lists.

7. In your first communication with EDTECH, we would appreciate hearing about you, your interests, your work, and/or your institution.M

8. Please send maintenance communications/questions (eg. sign off procedures, archives, etc.) to LISTSERV@MSU. Please send only substantive communications regarding educational technology to EDTECH@MSU. The command for subscribing to EDTECH is SUB. The command for signing off is SIGNOFF. To get a list of the names and email addresses of all subscribers use the REV command.

To use these commands put them in the first line (not the subject line) of a mail message addressed to LISTSERV@MSU.BITNET

For example, your mail message might say:

SUB EDTECH Your name or
SIGNOFF EDTECH or
REV EDTECH

To temporarily stop EDTECH mail (for example when you go on vacation), send the following command to LISTSERV@MSU

SET EDTECH NOMAIL

When you want to receive mail again, send the command SET EDTECH MAIL

If possible, attempt to do maintenance of your subscription directly with the LISTSERV yourself rather than asking the Moderator to do it for you.

9. To read conversations that have happened in previous months on EDTECH or get another copy of a message you deleted, you can use the AskERIC service gopher or order archives from AskERIC via FTP.

Gopher: ericir.syr.edu port 70
or look under Other gopher servers in North America

FTP: ericir.syr.edu
login as anonymous /pub/EDTECH

Gopher is the best way to access the messages. The FTP file is just one large text file, gopher breaks them up into individual subjects to browse.

We recommend that new subscribers read through the recent postings on gopher to get up to date with current conversations on EDTECH.

If you can't find the AskERIC gopher, have any technical problem or want to know more about the AskERIC service, please send a note to AskERIC (askeric@ericir.syr.edu) or to R. David Lankes the AskERIC technical consultant (rdlankes@ericir.syr.edu).

11. Alternatively, you can request logs of previous months from the LISTSERV with the GET command. A new log is created each month numbered with the year and the month--for example, EDTECH LOG9304. Logs for some months may be split in 2 parts (A & B). At present we keep about a year of back logs at MSU. To get a list of available logs send the command INDEX EDTECH to LISTSERV@MSU. To order a log send mail to LISTSERV@MSU

Your mail should say GET EDTECH LOG9304 (or whichever log you want) as the first regular line of the mail message.

11. Though most mail gets through to subscribers promptly, people with certain computers that have technical problems or bad links into the Internet, may miss a certain amount of mail. We recommend that such subscribers check in to our archives on gopher if they are interested in a conversation, as up to 10% of their mail may not get through due to technical problems.

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EDTECH was originally located on the OHSTVMA node at Ohio State University. You may see old references to EDTECH@OHSTVMA. All EDTECH messages should now be directed to MSU rather than to OHSTVMA. We appreciate the time and effort put in by the staff at Ohio State during the EDTECH's first years.

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