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Focus Question: What are the major issues, developments, and trends in the field of educational technology?

Educational technology has barriers, developments and trends. Educational technology refers to “a particular approach to achieving to the ends of education” (The Field of Technology). Nearly all schools have Internet access and the ratio of students to computers has improved. Still, K-12 schools lack technology in the classrooms than is the norm in higher education. Educational technology also gets replaced or updated less often. Some schools have multiple computers, flat screen televisions, and interactive whiteboards. However, other schools are still locked in the past and lack access in technology. It means that their computers are in poor conditions, limited software, and software and hardware are incompatible. Lack of access to technology is a major barrier. Teachers that have access to multiple computers incorporate it into classroom learning. It’s much easier to divide the class into small groups, with one group on the computers while the rest do other activities.

Besides lack of access, there are other obstacles to technology use. These obstacles blocks teachers from integrating computers into classroom teaching. Henry Becker, a researcher, first identified the following factors: teaching schedules, curriculum requirements, technology skills, organizational support, and personal attitudes. Another barrier is digital divides and participation gaps, which means students that lack access to the latest technologies at school or at home.

Technology has developed over the years and is slowing being integrated into classroom instruction. It is used for drill-and-practice worksheets, word processing, encyclopedias, and research. Technology has changed teaching and learning in productive ways by: “differentiating instruction to offer students diverse learning experiences, motivating disengaged individuals, creating group and cooperative learning situations, allowing access to academic information from multiple sources, and letting students visit places and observe processes that cannot be seen without electronic systems” (Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, 2011). The trends of technology today are laptops, smart boards, iPads, flat screen televisions, and nooks.

Photo credit to Alvin Trusty on Flickr

Tech Tool link: Apps for Teaching and Learning.

People have heard about apps, which is short for application. Applications is a “software program that runs on a smartphone or tablet computer” (Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, 2011). There are hundreds of thousands of apps and it increases as people demand for more. The article discusses that apps are educational technologies that offer a way to inform teachers and engage students. There are apps for every academic subject including: English/Language Arts, science, history/social studies, math, and general information. The Elements and 3D Sun, Poetry, Early Jamestown, Mathboard, and How Stuff Works are all apps that are developed for educational purposes. It’s essential for a teacher to find and use the best educational apps for information management activities.

Summary & Connection:

This chapter explores about educational technology in K-12 schools. This topic is covered by using questions about issues and trends. A career that matters to everyone is teaching because it’s filled with “powerful complexities, endless questions, and wonderful rewards, it requires constant learning” (Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, 2011). Technology makes important goals to be accomplished easier.

A concept that is mentioned is digital disconnect, which refers to “the differences that students perceive between themselves” (Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, 2011). Youngsters are comfortable finding information online rather than searching in a book. It goes on to discuss about the key issues for technology-using teachers and explains each question that was asked in the passage. It explains about our innovation and technological readiness, technology choices and student engagement, barriers to technology use, roles for technology in teaching, methods for teaching with technology, and students and their technologies.

Resources:

The field of educational technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gse.pku.edu.cn/qwang/main/The Field of Educational Technology.htm

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B.P. (2011). Transforming learning with new technologies. (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.