ETEC 524 Assignment 2: Educational Technology Definition

The first educational technology organization I found was the IEEE Technical Committee on Learning Technology. (http://lttf.ieee.org/) IEEE is a larger organization, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. This part of the organization is part of the Computer Society in IEEE, and was founded to assist teachers and professionals in finding emerging technologies that can assist with learning. I selected this organization because they believe that technology can largely assist with learning and they are dedicated to finding out how best to do this. Through this class so far I have really started to look around at what technology we have just to have, and what technology is actually helping students. This organization provides introduction to different technologies, trainings, workshops, forums, and the ability for teachers to collaborate so that everyone has a better understanding of technology. Once we have a better understanding of different technologies, we can decide which would best help our students achieve the educational goals we have for them and they have for themselves.

The second organization I researched was EDC (Educational Development Center), and specifically the part of their group called ewit (http://www2.edc.org/ewit/) or Educator’s website for Information Technology. I really loved this part of the organization because it brings together professionals of all kinds such as Information Technology, K-12 teachers, and various other organizations to discuss and work with technology together. One of the biggest goals I want to achieve in my classroom is to have problems model the real world. With professionals and educators working together on technology we will be able to really see if the technology we are integrating not only meets our educational goals, but will be useful when students go into the workforce. This organization will help with technology integration, training and curriculum development, which is really the whole package when it comes to putting technology into the classroom.

My definition of Educational Technology

Educational Technology is about merging education and technology where it is beneficial to the students. Technology can take on many forms: computers, the web, iPads, video games, computer programming, Smartboards, etc. But integrating the technology is not good enough, we must make sure that the technology is helping education. It should be interactive, hands-on, fun, exciting, and give the students a different perspective then what they already have.  In other words it should improve learning, not be a replacement of the teacher. Below is a Concept Map that shows my ideas in a more visual representation.

I think this definition aligns with my philosophy very well. In my philosophy I stated that I wanted to use hands-on, interactive methods to help students learn better and educational technology is a great way to accomplish that goal. Also in my philosophy I say that I feel the teacher should be a facilitator, which I feel also fits into my educational technology definition. The teacher is not being replaced by technology, but can better step into the role of facilitator with the help of technology.