This week, we did a number of tasks including attempting to define educational technology by looking at an article related to the societal views (both inside and outside of the field) of educational technology as well as a historical look at various phases of educational technology. By the end of this course, I hope to have a clearer picture of what I believe to be a good approach (ie, how I will approach the field in the future from a theoretical perspective).
What I did this week to get there was to summarize all of the viewpoints in our class and come up with a solid definition of educational technology. Knowing what my own job title encompasses would be important to me as an educational technologist, so the following definition is my best effort at coming up with a "what" it is that I do.
Educational technology is a constantly evolving field, that involves the practical application of innovative tools or knowledge and is concerned with the design, management, and evaluative theories and processes that provides a mechanism for the creation of effective learning opportunities, enhancement of student learning and education, creation of lifelong learners, instillation of creativity, innovation, and critical thinking skills, ground in current and past research in an effort to provide for greater human learning potential.
I did not come up with this definition alone. It was defined using key points from other posts inside our class and references to the two articles we read this week. I made notes on these articles in my previous post.
I find it interesting to see the variations used in classrooms today from the three Phases of evolution from the historical perspective. I'm questioning whether this is truly a historical perspective, because many teachers still use print production aspects in their classrooms today.
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