An Overview of Educational Technology

An Overview of Educational Technology ................................................................................. 2 Text A：The Definition of Educational Technology .............................................................. 2 Text .................................................................................................................................... 2 Reference ........................................................................................................................ 12 Text B：Current and future trends in educational technology .......................................... 13 Text .................................................................................................................................. 13 Reference ........................................................................................................................ 18 Text C   Theories in Educational Technology ................................................................... 19 Text .................................................................................................................................. 19 Reference ........................................................................................................................ 24 Text D：Some Challenges for Educational Technology ..................................................... 25 Text .................................................................................................................................. 25 Reference ........................................................................................................................ 32 

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An Overview of Educational Technologyy 

An Overview of Educational Technology

Text A：The Definition of Educational Technology  Text 1. The Definition

Conceptions of educational technology have been evolving as long as the field has, and they continue to evolve. Therefore today’s conception is a temporary one, a snapshot in time. In today’s conception, educational technology can be defined as an abstract concept or as a field of practice. The definition is:

“Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitatinglearning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources”. (Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)；Definition and Terminology Committee. June 1, 2004).

2. Elements of the Definition

Each of the key terms used in the definition will be discussed as to their intended meaning in the context of the definition.

1) Study：The theoretical understanding of, as well as the practice of, educational

technology, requires continual knowledge construction and refinement through research and reflective practice, which are encompassed in the term “study.” That is, “study” refers to information gathering and analysis beyond the traditional conceptions of research . It is intended to include quantitative and qualitative research as well as other forms of disciplined inquiry such as theorizing, philosophical analysis, historical investigations, development projects, fault analyses, system analyses, and evaluations. Research has traditionally been both a generator of new ideas and an evaluative process to help improve practice. Research can be conducted based upon a variety of methodological constructs as well as several contrasting theoretical constructs. The research in educational technology has grown from investigations attempting to “prove” that media and technology are effective tools for learning, to investigations created to describe and detail the appropriate applications of processes and technologies to the improvement of learning.

Important to the newest research in educational technology is the use of authentic environments and the voice of practitioners as well as researchers. Inherent in the

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word “research” is the iterative process it encompasses. Research seeks to resolve problems by investigating solutions, and those attempts lead to new practice and therefore new problems and questions. Certainly, the ideas of reflective practice and inquiry based upon authentic settings are valuable perspectives on research. Reflective practitioners consider the problems in their environment (for example, a learning problem of their students) and attempt to resolve the problems by changes in practice, based upon both research results and professional experience. Reflection on this process leads to changes in the considered solution and further attempts to identify and solve problems in the environment, a cyclical process of practice/reflection that can lead to improved practice. (Sch.n, 1990)

Current inquiry problem areas are often determined by the influx of new technologies into educational practice. The history of the field has recorded the many research programs initiated in response to new technologies, investigating their best design, development, utilization, and management . However, more recently, the inquiry programs in educational technology have been influenced by growth and change in major theoretical positions in learning theory, information management, and other allied fields. For example, the theoretical lenses of cognitive and constructivist theories have changed the emphasis in the field from teaching to learning. These theoretical shifts have changed the orientation of the field dramatically from a field driven by the design of instruction to be “delivered” in a variety of formats (technologies or strategies) to a field which seeks to create learning environments in which learners can explore — often assisted by electronic support systems — in order to arrive at meaningful understanding . The research emphasis has shifted toward observing learners’ active participation and construction of their own path toward learning. In other words, interest is moving away from the design of pre-specified instructional routines and toward the design of environments to facilitate learning.

2) Ethical practice：Educational technology has long had an ethical stance and a

list of ethical practice expectations. The AECT Ethics Committee has been active in defining the field’s ethical standards and in providing case examples from which to discuss and understand the implications of ethical concerns for practice. In fact, the recent emphasis in society on the ethical use of media and on respect for intellectual property has been addressed by this AECT committee for the educational technology field.

There has been an increase in concerns and attention to the ethical issues within educational technology. Ethics are not merely “rules and expectations” but are a basis for practice. In fact, ethical practice is less a series of expectations, boundaries, and new laws than it is an approach or construct from which to work. Our definition considers ethical practice as essential to our professional success, for without the

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ethical considerations being addressed, success is not possible .

From the perspective of critical theory, professionals in educational technology must question their practices and concern themselves with their appropriate and ethical use. From the perspective of critical theory, it is vital to question even basic assumptions such as the efficacy of traditional constructs such as the systems approach and technologies of instruction, as well as the power position of those designing and developing the technological solutions . A postmodern stance might impel educational technologists to consider their learners, the environments for learning, and the needs and the “good” of society as they develop their practices. Considering who is included, who is empowered, and who has authority are new issues in the design and development of learning solutions, but an ethical stance insists that educational technologists question their practice areas in these ways as well as in the more traditional constructs of efficiency or effectiveness .

The AECT Code of Ethics includes principles “intended to aid members individually and collectively in maintaining a high level of professional conduct” (Welliver, 2001). AECT’s code is divided into three categories: Commitment to the Individual, such as the protection of rights of access to materials, and efforts to protect the health and safety of professionals; Commitment to Society, such as truthful public statements regarding educational matters or fair and equitable practices with those rendering service to the profession, and Commitment to the Profession, such as improving professional knowledge and skill, and giving accurate credit to work and ideas published. Each of the three principle areas has several listed commitments which help inform educational technology professionals regarding their appropriate actions, regardless of their context or role. Consideration is provided for those serving as researchers, professors, consultants, designers, and learning resource directors, for example, to help shape their own professional behaviors and ethical conduct.

3) Facilitating： The shift in views of learning and instruction reflected in

cognitive and constructivist theories has caused a dramatic change in assumptions about the connection between instruction and learning. Earlier definitions in this field implied a more direct cause-and-effect relationship between instructional interventions and learning. For example the 1963 AECT definition refers to “the design and use of messages which control the learning process.” Later definitions were less explicit , but continued to imply a relatively direct connection between well-designed, well-delivered instruction and effective learning. With the recent paradigm shift toward greater learner ownership and responsibility has come a role for technology that is more facilitative than controlling.

In addition, as learning goals in schools, colleges, and other organizations have shifted toward deep rather than shallow learning, the learning environments have

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become more immersive and more authentic. In these environments, the key role of technology is not so much to present information in drill-and-practice format (to control learning) but to provide the problem space and the tools to explore it (to support learning). In such cases, the immersive environments and cognitive tools educational technologists help design and use are created to guide learners, to make learning opportunities available, and to assist learners in finding the answers to their questions . Therefore, educational technology claims to facilitate learning rather than to cause or control learning; that is, it can help create an environment in which learning more easily could occur.

Facilitating includes the design of the environment, the organizing of resources, and the providing of tools. It may still entail the use of direct instruction within a pre-specified framework in some cases, or the use of open-ended inquiry methods to guide further learning in other cases. The learning events can take place in face-to-face settings or in virtual environments, as in micro-worlds or distance learning.

4) Learning: The simplest type of learning is retention of information. In schools

and colleges learning may be assessed by means of tests that require demonstration of such retention. Computer-based instruction units (as in “integrated learning systems”) frequently operate this way. The learning goal may include understanding as well as retention. Assessments that require paraphrasing or problem solving may tap the understanding dimension. Such forms of assessment are more challenging, mainly because they are more labor-intensive to evaluate. Learning goals may be more ambitious, such that the knowledge and skills are applied in active use. To assess this level of learning requires real or simulated problem situations, something that is obviously challenging to arrange. Some would characterize these differences in types of learning simply as surface vs. deep learning (Weigel, 2001).

Such types or levels of learning have long been acknowledged, but there has been a growing demand in schools, higher education, and corporate training for more attention to the active-use level . It is increasingly perceived that time and money spent on inculcating and assessing “inert knowledge” is essentially wasted. If learners don’t use the knowledge, skills, and attitudes outside the classroom, what is the point of teaching them? So today when educators talk about the pursuit of learning they usually mean productive, active-use, and deep learning. Pursuing deep learning implies different instructional and assessment approaches than surface learning, so this shift in connotation has profound implications for what processes and resources are “appropriate.”

5) Improving: For a field to have any claim on public support it must be able to

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make a credible case for offering some public benefit. It must provide a superior way to accomplish some worthy goal. For example, for chefs to claim to be culinary professionals they must be able to prepare food in ways that are somehow better than non-specialists — more appealing , safer, more nutritious, prepared more efficiently, or the like. In the case of educational technology, to “improve performance” most often entails a claim of effectiveness: that the processes lead predictably to quality products, and that the products lead predictably to effective learning, changes in capabilities that carry over into real-world application.

Effectiveness often implies efficiency, that is, that results are accomplished with the least wasted time, effort, and expense. But what is efficient depends on the goals being pursued. If you want to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the shortest time, Interstate Highway 5 is likely to be efficient. However, if your real goal is to see the ocean views along the way, State Highway 1, which winds along the coastline, would be more efficient. Likewise, designers might well disagree on methods if they do not have the same learning goals in mind. To a great extent, the systematic instructional development movement has been motivated by concerns of efficiency, defined as helping learners reach predetermined goals that are measured by objective assessments.

The concept of efficiency is viewed differently in the constructivist learning approach. In this approach, designers place greater emphasis on the appeal of the instruction and on the extent to which learners are empowered to choose their own goals and their own learning paths. They would more likely measure success in terms of knowledge that is deeply understood and experienced, and able to be applied to real-world problems as opposed to less authentic or embedded measures of learning, such as objective tests . Such designs, however, would still need to be planned for learning to occur within a particular time frame with some goals in mind and resources for meeting those goals. Among parties who have managed to agree on goals, efficiency in reaching those goals surely would be regarded as a plus.

With high expectations for learning, and high stakes for successful achievement becoming ever more important in society, other things being equal, faster is better than slower and cheaper is better than more expensive.

6) Performance: In the context of this definition, performance refers to the

learner’s ability to use and apply the new capabilities gained. Historically, educational technology has always had a special commitment to results, exemplified by programmed instruction, the first process to be labeled educational technology. Programmed instruction materials were judged by the extent to which users were able to perform the “terminal objective” after instruction. Terminal objectives were stated in terms of the actual conditions for which people were being trained or educated and

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were assessed according to how well learners functioned under these conditions.

The reference to “improving performance” also reinforces the newer connotation of learning: not just inert knowledge but usable capability. The use of “performance” in this definition is not meant to imply that educational technology encompasses all forms of performance improvement. As is advocated in the related field of performance technology, there are many different sorts of interventions that may be used in the workplace to improve performance: tool, incentives , organizational change, cognitive support, job redesign, in addition to instruction (Stolovitch & Keeps, 1992). Since it encompasses all these sorts of interventions, performance technology is a broader concept than educational technology.

The definition mentions three major functions that are integral to the concept of Educational Technology — creating, using, and managing. These functions can be viewed as separate sets of activities that might be carried out by different people at different times. They can also be viewed as phases of the larger process of instructional development. Advocates of a systems approach to instructional development would go further to specify that these functions be accompanied by evaluation processes at each phase. Monitoring decisions and taking corrective actions at each phase are critical attributes of the systems approach . Examples of such evaluation activities are mentioned under the headings of Creating, Using, and Managing below.

7) Creating: Creation refers to the research, theory, and practice involved in the

generation of learning environments in many different settings, formal and non-formal. Creating can include a variety of activities, depending on the design approach that is used. Design approaches can evolve from different developer mindsets: aesthetic , scientific, engineering, psychological, procedural, or systemic, each of which can be employed to produce the necessary materials and conditions for effective learning.

A systems approach, for example, might entail procedures for analyzing an instructional problem, designing and developing a solution, evaluating and revising decisions made at each step, and then implementing a solution. Assessing results and taking corrective action along the way is referred to as formative evaluation, while assessing the impact of the project at the end is referred to as summative evaluation . Different sorts of evaluative questions are asked at different stages. At the front-end analysis stage: is there a performance problem and does it entail instructional needs? In learner analysis: what are the characteristics of the learners? In task analysis: what capabilities must the learners master? At the design stage: What are the learning objectives? Is the blueprint aligned with those objectives? Do instructional materials instantiate the principles of message design? At the development stage: does the

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prototype actually guide learners toward the objectives? At the implementation stage: is the new solution being used and used properly? What is its impact on the original problem?

Design and development processes are influenced by the varied analog and digital technologies used to create learning environments. Designing for teacher-led classroom instruction, for example, may follow a different path than designing for a computer-based simulation game. What is created may be not only the materials for instruction and the surrounding learning environments, but also databases for knowledge management, online databases for problem exploration, automated help systems, and portfolios for displaying and assessing learning.

8) Using: This element refers to the theories and practices related to bringing

learners into contact with learning conditions and resources. As such, it is Action Central, where the solution meets the problem. Using begins with the selection of appropriate processes and resources — methods and materials, in other words — whether that selection is done by the learner or by an instructor. Wise selection is based on materials evaluation, to determine if existing resources are suitable for this audience and purpose. Then the learner’s encounter with the learning resources takes place within some environment following some procedures, often under the guidance of an instructor, the planning and conduct of which can fit under the label of utilization. If the resources involve unfamiliar media or methods, their usability may be tested before use.

In some cases there is a conscious effort to bring an instructional innovation to the attention of instructors, to market it. This diffusion process can be another phase of using. When teachers incorporate new resources into their curricular plans, this is referred to as integration; when such integration takes place on a larger scale, incorporating the innovation into the organizational structure, it is referred to as institutionalization .

In a systems approach, the design team would monitor the effectiveness of the usage at each phase and take corrective actions where indicated.

9) Managing: One of the earliest responsibilities of professionals in the field of

educational technology has been management; in the early years this took the form of directing the operations of audiovisual centers. As media production and instructional development processes became more complicated and larger-scale, they had to master project management skills as well. As distance education programs based on information and communications technologies (ICT) developed, educational technologists found themselves involved in delivery system management. In all of these managerial functions, there are sub-functions of personnel management and

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information management, referring to the issues of organizing the work of people and planning and controlling the storage and processing of information in the course of managing projects or organizations. Prudent management also requires program evaluation. In the systems approach, this entails quality control measures to monitor results and quality assurance measures to enable continuous improvement of the management processes.

People who carry out management functions may be seen as exercising leadership, combining management expertise with support of ethical practice in all phases of educational technology practice.

10) Appropriate: The term “appropriate” is meant to apply to both processes and

resources, denoting suitability for and compatibility with their intended purposes. The term “appropriate technology” is widely used internationally in the field of community development to refer to a tool or practice that is the simplest and most benign solution to a problem. The concept grew out of the environmental movement of the 1970s, sparked by the book, Small is Beautiful (Schumacher, 1975), in which the term was coined. In this sense, appropriate technologies are those that are connected with the local users and cultures and are sustainable within the local economic circumstances. Sustainability is particularly critical in settings like developing countries, to ensure that the solution uses resources carefully, minimizes damage to the environment, and will be available to future generations.

AECT’s professional standards have longed recognized that appropriateness has an ethical dimension. A number of provisions in the AECT Code of Ethics (Welliver, 2001) are relevant. Section 1.7 is the broadest and perhaps most directly relevant item, specifying the requirement to “promote current and sound professional practices in the use of technology in education.” Section 1.5 requires “sound professional procedures for evaluation and selection of materials and equipment.” Section 1.6 requires researchers and practitioners to protect individuals “from conditions harmful to health and safety.” Section 1.8 requires the avoidance of content that promotes gender, ethnic, racial or religious stereotypes , and it encourages the “development of programs and media that emphasize the diversity of our society as a multicultural community.” Further, Section 3 of AECT’s Code calls for providing \"opportunities for culturally and intellectually diverse points of view\" and avoiding \"commercial exploitation \practice using procedures guided by professional groups and institutional review boards.

Of course, a practice or resource is appropriate only if it is likely to yield results. This implies a criterion of effectiveness or usefulness for the intended purpose. For example, a particular computer-based simulation game might be selected by a social

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studies teacher if past experience indicated that it stimulated the sort of pertinent discussion that she intended. It would be judged appropriate in terms of usefulness. “Appropriateness” has sometimes been used as a rubric for attempts to censor books or other instructional materials. Challenges may be based on claims that the material is sexually explicit, contains offensive language, or is otherwise unsuited to a particular age group. That is not the connotation or the context intended in this definition.

In summary, the selection of methods and media should be made on the basis of “best practices” applicable to a given situation, as specified in Section 1.7 of the Code of Ethics. This implies that educational technology professionals keep themselves updated on the knowledge base of the field and use that knowledge base in making decisions. Random choices, which might be acceptable for those outside the profession, do not meet the criterion of “appropriate.” Informed, professionally sound choices help learners learn productively while making wise use of the time and resources of the organization, including the time and effort of educational technologists themselves.

11) Technological: In terms of lexicography , it is undesirable to use the word

“technological” in a definition of “educational technology.” In this case, the use is justified because “technological” is a shorthand term that describes an approach to human activity based on the definition of technology as “the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks ” (Galbraith, 1967). It is a way of thinking that is neatly summarized in one word. It would be more awkward to paraphrase the concept of “technological” within the new definition than to simply use the shorthand term.

The term modifies both processes and resources. First, it modifies processes. There are “non-technological” processes that could be used in planning and implementing instruction, such as the everyday decision-making processes of teachers, which may be significantly different from those advocated in this field. The field advocates the use of processes that have some claim of worthy results, based on research or at least reflective development. Without the “technological” modifier, any sorts of models, protocols, or formulations could be included in the ambit of educational technology, blurring the boundaries with Curriculum and Instruction or education in general . Second, the term also modifies resources, the hardware and software entailed in teaching — still pictures, videos, audio cassettes, satellite uplinks , computer programs, DVD disks and players, and the like. These are the most publicly visible aspects of educational technology. To ignore them in this definition would be to create a greater communication gap between specialists and non-specialist readers.

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12) Processes: A process can be defined as a series of activities directed toward a

specified result. Educational technologists often employ specialized processes to design, develop, and produce learning resources, subsumed into a larger process of instructional development. From the 1960s through the 1990s a central concern of the field was the pursuit of a systems approach to instructional development. To many, the systems approach was and is central to the identity of the field.

A paradigm shift occurred in the decade since the prior AECT’94 definition, involving postmodern and constructivist influences among others. To simplify, the focus moved from what the instructor is doing to what the learner is doing. In this view, individuals construct their own knowledge and gain ownership based on their struggles to make sense of their experience. To the extent that the teaching-learning experience is abstracted from real-world application and to the extent that it is controlled and possessed by the teacher, it diminishes the likelihood of learner engagement, mastery, and transfer of the skill . This sensibility came into conflict with the plan-and-control sensibility of systematic instructional development, a conflict whose resolution is still being negotiated.

In the context of the definition, “processes” also include those of using and managing resources as well as those of creating them.

13) Resources: The many resources for learning are central to the identity of the

field. The pool of resources has expanded with technological innovations and the development of an understanding regarding how these technological tools might help guide learners. Resources are people, tools, technologies, and materials designed to help learners. Resources can include high-tech ICT systems, community resources such as libraries, zoos, museums, and people with special knowledge or expertise. They include digital media, such as CD-ROMs, Web sites and WebQuests, and electronic performance support systems (EPSS). And they include analog media, such as books and other print materials, video recordings, and other traditional audiovisual materials. Teachers discover new tools and create new resources; learners can collect and locate their own resources; and educational technology specialists add to the growing list of possible resources as well.

14) Conclusion: What is proposed here is a revised definition of the concept of

educational technology, built upon AECT’s most recent prior definition of instructional technology (Seels & Richey, 1994). It is a tentative definition, subject to further reconsideration over time. Educational technology is viewed as a construct that is larger than instructional technology, as education is more general than instruction. Further, educational or instructional technology can be seen as discrete elements within performance technology, the holistic approach to improving

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performance in the workplace through many different means, including training.

The concept of educational technology must be distinguished from the field and the profession of educational technology. The validity of each can be judged separately from the others and can be judged by different criteria .

This definition differs from previous ones in several regards. First, the term “study” instead of “research” implies a broader view of the many forms of inquiry, including reflective practice. Second, it makes an explicit commitment to ethical practice. Third, the object of educational technology is cast as “facilitating learning,” a claim more modest than that of controlling or causing learning. Fourth, it is intentional that learning is placed at the center of the definition, to highlight the centrality of learning to educational technology. It is the goal of promoting learning that is distinctive about the field, compared to other fields with which it might be conflated, such as information technology or performance technology.

Fifth, “improving performance” implies a quality criterion, a goal of facilitating learning better than is done with approaches other than Educational Technology, leading to usable skills, not just inert knowledge. Sixth, it describes the major functions of the field (creation, use, and management) in broader, less technical terms than previous definitions in order to reflect an eclecticview of the design process. Seventh, it specifies that the tools and methods of the field be “appropriate,” meaning suited to the people and conditions to which they are applied. Finally, it makes the attribute of “technological” explicit, with the rationale that tools and methods that are not technological fall outside the boundaries of the field.

The terms “improving” and “appropriate” are explicitly included in the definition in order to recognize the centrality of such values to the core meaning of educational technology. If the work of the field is not done “better” by professionals than it is by amateurs , the field has no justification for public recognition or support. It must represent some specialized expertise that is applied with professional soundness.

Reference 1．Galbraith, J.K. (1967). The new industrial state. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2．Januszewski, A. (2001) Educational technology: The development of a concept. Englewood, CO:Libraries Unlimited.

3．Kovalchick, A. & Dawson, K, ed’s. (2004) Education and technology: An encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

4．Perkins, D. N. (1992). Technology meets constructivism: Do they make a marriage? In T. M. Duffy & D.H. Jonassen (Ed’s), Constructivism and the technology of education: A conversation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

5．Schön, Donald A. (1990). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco:

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Jossey-Bass.

6．Schumacher, E. F. (1975). Small is beautiful: economics as if people mattered. New York:Harper & Row.

7．Seels, B., & Richey, R. (1994). Instructional technology: The definition and domains of the field.Washington DC: Association for Educational Communications and Technology. 8．Shafritz, J., Koeppe, R., & Soper, E. , ed’s. (1988). The Facts on File dictionary of education.New York: Facts on File.

9．Skinner, B.F. (1965). The technology of teaching. Proceedings of the Royal Society (of London),Series B, 162, 427-43.

10．Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

11．Stolovitch, H., & Keeps, E., ed’s. (1992). A handbook of performance technology. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

12．Weigel, V. B. (2001). Deep learning for a digital age: Technology's untapped potential to enrich higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

13．Welliver, P. W., ed. (2001). A Code of Professional Ethics: A guide to professional conduct in the field of Educational Communications and Technology. Bloomington, IN: Association for Educational Communications and Tec.

Text B：Current and future trends in educational technology Text As the 20 century was drawing to a close, the world has once again experienced a quite revolution that has transformed man's life on earth forever. The invention of the personal computer coupled with advances in networking and communication technologies has ushered in a new era which is commonly referred to as the digital age. These developments have enabled man to transcend the barriers of physical distance turning the world in which we live in at present into what the media commonly refer to as a global village.

Information and Communications Technology has had a profound effect on almost all aspects of human existence. Business and governmental organizations dealing with the complexities and challenges in today's world were the first to make use of the tools and technologies brought about by the Information Revolution. Soon, each

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specific field of human endeavor went along with the trend and applications in various fields of endeavor were developed and used.

IT applications in the field of education focused firstly on processing administrative and financial information and then migrated into the pedagogical areas such as computer aided instruction and distance education. I will report primarily on the current trends in technology education and deal briefly with future trends.

1. Current Trends

The following trends will highlight how information and communication technology exerted a profound influence in the field of education.

1)Education as a Life-long Process. The very fast pace of technological developments had cause the early obsolescence of knowledge gained through formal education. This is especially true in the field of information technology wherein we have to be truly circumspect in the way we choose what programming language to study because the language may already be obsolete by the time that we learned them. This new outlook in education asserts that education does not stop after a college degree. It emphasizes on the need to keep up with current information in your field of professional expertise. It also implies the workers must be ready to shift to different careers which the new business environment dictates.

2)New Educational Technologies. Information Technology has made available

new tools and techniques that can enable students to explore areas of knowledge which have not been studied because of inadequate tools and technologies. IT has brought about new symbol systems and visualization techniques that enable them to understand not only the complex observable phenomena but also the phenomena that lie outside of human perception. The power of visualization made available had enabled scientists to utilize fractal geometry to study natural forms where Euclidean geometry has provided inadequate results. Through virtual reality, students are afforded experimentation on three-dimensional space where physical variables can be controlled.

3)Redefinition of the Meaning of Knowledge. We used to believe that to know something means to have information about a topic in our own brain. This concept is now being deprecated in favor of a new meaning which states that to know is now equivalent to having access to information about a particular topic and knowing how to use it.

4)Information Literacy. The theory of three R's in elementary education had stood the test of time since the beginning of the public school system. Increasingly, however, it is being challenged and the new thinking favors the addition of a new R that would mean Information Literacy. This new skill means the ability to look for and use information to solve problems.

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5)Technology Enhanced Classroom. The ideal school for the 21 century

needs to have multimedia and robotics technology in order to facilitate the learning process. This setup features a computer with probes connected to it for measuring different aspects of the physical world.

6)Global Classroom. This new concept operationalizes the idea of a classroom connected to the World Wide Web. It enables supplementary and current information from the experts to be readily available inside the classroom by accessing the relevant web sites.

7)Multimedia Approach. The challenge of making lessons more interesting especially for young students had been addressed with the introduction of audio and video capabilities for interactive computer based lessons.

8)Integrated Learning Systems. This is a new form of educational material that includes everything a learner needs to master a particular topic of study. There are at present commercially available materials that teaches computer programming for students wishing to self-study the programming language they want to learn. The set is composed of books and CD ROMS from which you can install the development environment and compiler programs in your computer and copy the sample programs to your hard disk. The set is usually tied in to a web site where you can interact with other students or experts on the subject matter.

9)Rebirth of Distance Education. Distance Education has assumed a new lease

of life since the advent of the Internet. The old correspondence schools had given way to universities in cyberspace. It is now possible to get a college degree through the Internet.

2.The Future Trends in Educational Technology

The development of the personal computer and the Internet has \"enabled man to transcend the barriers of physical distance\" (Castro, 2001). People no longer limit their learning to an educational setting such as a school or university. Learning can take place at home or at the office, by online distance learning. The future of

technology will enable people to be life-long learners (Thornburg, 1999). Learning will continue into the work place where there is a \"need to keep up with current information\" (Castro, 2001).

Learners do not have to depend on their memories. They can store information on their personal computers and be able to retrieve it at all times. The concept of

knowledge has changed from having information in the brain, to \"having access to information about a particular topic and knowing how to use it\" (Castro, 2001). Teachers' roles will ultimately change since they will no longer be providers of

information. They will be facilitators who concentrate \"on the teaching of social skills rather than academic or technical expertise\" (Castro, 2001). However,

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\"teacher-mediated classrooms do not foster computer-mediated learning\" (Snyder, 2004). \"Technology requires changes in the way humans work\" (Mulcahy, 2003), yet schools are \"adding computers to a traditional, authoritarian, classroom-centered\" (Snyder, 2004) setting. It won't work. \"As General Electric CEO Jack Welch has said, \"If the rate of change inside an institution is less than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight\" Welch (as cited in Thornburg, 1999). Technology is developing at a very fast pace. If education fails to keep up with the current trends, will it keep up with those of the future? This paper will discuss two articles that deal with future trends of educational technology. The articles are: David Thornburg's \"Reading the Future\" (1999) and Aureo Castro's \"Learning in a Digital Age: Current and Future Trends in Educational Technology\" (2001).

Even though David Thornburg's article appeared in 1999, the trends he writes about are still relevant today. David Thornburg lists seven \"trends and their consequences\" (1999) while Aureo Castro mentions six. The former discusses the \"rapid increase in the growth of information, the collapse of the information float, increasingly global marketplace, computers continue to increase in power while dropping in cost, the computer chips continue to follow Moore's Law, bandwidth is becoming free and finally network power continues to obey Metcalfe's Law as future trends that will have \"implications for education\" (1999). Aureo Castro's future trends include, an increase in web enabled courses, more home schoolers, new roles for teachers, a paradigm shift in primary education, new roles for schools and centralization of curriculum and instructional development\" (2001).

According to David Thornburg, because the Internet is \"doubling in size every year, and the web is doubling in size every 90 days there is need for a complete rethinking of education\" (1999). He suggests the need for \"technological fluency so that students can sit down at a computer and use it as easily as they can pick up and read a book in their native language\" (1999).

Aureo Castro sees \"home schooling and more web-enabled courses\" (2001) as future trends in \"rethinking education\" (Thornburg, 1999). He predicts \"new roles for

teachers as facilitators who will concentrate on the teaching of social skills rather than on academic or technical expertise\" (2001). Aureo Castro predicts that there will be an increase in online courses \"offered through the Internet\" (2001). He suggests that \"the only way to go with the fast increase in population and the physical constraint of the existing colleges and universities is in cyberspace\" (2002). Aureo Castro focuses on the Internet and \"distance education\" as a trend that will become even more

popular in the future. He claims that future \"schools will cease to become like a mill where students undergo academic processing but will evolve into becoming community centers where students engage in a variety of activities and projects\"

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(2001). According to Aureo Castro, school \"curriculum will shift from what used to be extra-curricular activities and become the main curriculum\" (2001).

David Thornburg focuses on another trend for the future of schools. He worries about \"the lack of technologically fluent workers\" and getting prepared for jobs that have not been invented yet (1999). David Thornburg claims that educators \"must create an educational system that prepares students to work in fields that do not even exist\" (1999). David Thornburg doesn't predict how educators would deal with the educational trends of the future. However, he does claim that once \"technologies

become commonplace with all students, the tools for lifelong learning will be in place, [adding that] the notion [of] lifelong learning is a survival skill\" (1999). Future trends cannot be ignored. David Thornburg's final words are harsh. He claims that \"Schools that ignore the trends shaping tomorrow will cease to be relevant in the lives of their students and will disappear quickly\" (1999). The competition is tough. This reflects Jack Welch's statement that \"if the rate of change inside an institution is less than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight\" (as cited in Thornburg, 1999).

\"Truly global leaders are geo-strategic futurists who gaze across time and make extraordinary things happen\" (Feather, n.d). Aureo Castro and David Thornburg are educational futurists who have looked at future trends in technology and their impact on education. Technology can improve student learning and make teachers' work much easier. Educational technology will become \"powerful low-cost, off the shelf tools that can make learning more engaging and knowledge more accessible\" (Snyder, 2004). Educators \"must work in partnership to break down the barriers of time, space, content and form so learners can collaborate, communicate, and share ideas\" (Mulcahy, 2003).

1)Increase in Web Enabled Courses. It is predicted that there will be more

and more courses that will be offered through the Internet. With the fast increase in population and the physical constraint of the existing colleges and universities, the only way to go is in cyberspace.

2)More home Schoolers. Home schooling is an alternative to sending children to school with parents assuming the role of teachers and lessons undertaken in a home setting. A study has concluded that home schoolers are better prepared for the requirements of life in the digital age than students taught in the conventional schools. Home schoolers in the U. S. are estimated currently to be from 700,000 to 1 million students. It is projected that this figure will increase by a big percentage in the coming years.

3)New Role for Teachers. As more and more of the routine teaching are done either through home schooling or the Internet, the role of teachers are predicted to

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evolve into more of being facilitators and concentrating on the teaching of social skills rather than academic or technical expertise.

4)Paradigm Shift in Primary Education. It is predicted that more and more activities in the primary education will shift away from classroom lectures into projects and activities that emphasize group efforts and held outside of the classroom. The effect is like a paradigm shift in what used to be extra-curricular activities will now become the main curriculum.

5)New Role for Schools. The schools will cease to become like a mill where students undergo academic processing but will evolve into becoming community centers where students may engage in a variety of activities and projects.

6)Centralization of Curriculum and Instructional Development. With most of the actual learning process undertaken in cyberspace, curriculum and instructional development are expected to be centralized to organizations which are considered centers of excellence in the particular subject matter.

These are some of the ways by which the educational system is currently responding and expected to evolve in the future as developments in information and communications technology continue its onslaught in almost all aspects of human existence.

Reference 1. Castro, A. P. (2001). Learning in a digital age: Current and future trends in

educational technology. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://www.geocities.com/apcastro111/conteduc/edutech.htm

2. Good, D. G. (1999, January). Future trends affecting education. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/13/27/1327.htm

3．Thomas G. Layton(2000). Digital Learning. Why tomorrow's school must learn to let go of the past. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://www.electronic-school.com/2000/09/0900f1.html.

4．Roger C. Schank(2000). Future Perspective: A Vision of Education in the 21st Century. http://www.thejournal.com/articles/14552.

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Text C   Theories in Educational Technology Text 1．Anchored Instruction

Anchored Instruction Theory maintains that real world contexts imbedded in

educational media serve as anchors of learning in the sense that learners construct knowledge while solving the subsequent problems. The theory was developed by the Cognition & Technology Group at Vanderbilt with John Bransford's lead. Exemplary products are the Jasper Woodbury Videodiscs.

Anchored instruction is a major paradigm for technology-based learning that has been developed by the Cognition & Technology Group at Vanderb ilt (CTGV) under the leadership of John Bransford. While many people have contributed to the theory and research o f anchored instruction, Bransford is the principal spokesperson and hence the theory is attributed to him.

The initial focus of the wo rk was on the development of interactive videodisc tools that encouraged students and teachers to pose and solve complex, realistic problems. The video materials serve as \"anchors\" (macro-contexts) for all subsequent learning an d instruction. As explai ned by CTGV (1993, p52): \"The design of these anchors was quite different from the design of videos that were typically used in

education...our goal was to create interesting, realistic contexts that encouraged the active construct ion of knowledge by l earners. Our anchors were stories rather than lectures and were designed to be explored by students and teachers. \" The use of interactive videodisc technology makes it possible for students to easily explore the content.

Anchored instruction is close ly related to the situated learning framework (see CTGV, 1990, 1993) and also to the Cognitive Flexibility theory in its emphasis on the use of technology-based learning.

Scope/Application:

The primary application of anchored instruction has been to elementary reading, language arts and mathematics skills. The CLGV has developed a set of interactive videodisc programs called the \"Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series\". These programs involve adventures in which mathematical concepts are used to solve problems . However, the anchored instruction paradigm is based upon a general model of problem-solving (Bransford & Stein (1993).

Example:

One of the early anchored instruction activit ies involved the use of the film, \"Young Sherlock Holmes\" in interactive videodisc form. Students were asked to examine the film in terms of causal connections, motives of the characters, and authenticity of th e settings in order to understand the natu re of life in Victorian England. The film

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provides the anchor for an understanding of story-telling and a particular historical era.

Principles:

Learning and teaching activities should be designed around a \"anchor\" which should be some sort of case-study or problem situation.

Curriculum materials should allow exploration by the learner (e.g., interactive videodisc programs).

2．Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive Flexibility Theory focuses on the learning in complex and ill-structured domains. The theory focuses on the spontaneity of learning situations. It maintains that learning should be in context, however information should be presented from multiple perspectives and various case studies should be utilized in instruction. Rand Spiro is the leading theorist. Best tools are interactive technologies, hypertext being the most important. Medical Education is the field that most widely uses Cognitive Flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility theory focuses on the nature of learning in complex and

ill-structured domains. Spiro & Jehng (1990, p. 165) state: \"By cognitive flexibility, we mean the ability to spontaneously restructure one's knowledge, in many ways, in adaptive response to radically changing situational demands...This is a function of both the way knowledge is represented (e.g., along multiple rather single conceptual dimensions) and the processes that operate on those mental representations (e.g., processes of schema assembly rather than intact schema retrieval).\"

The theory is largely concerned with transfer of knowledge and skills beyond their initial learning situation. For this reason, emphasis is placed upon the presentation of information from multiple perspectives and use of many case studies that present diverse examples. The theory also asserts that effective learning is context-dependent, so instruction needs to be very specific. In addition, the theory stresses the importance of constructed knowledge; learners must be given an opportunity to develop their own representations of information in order to properly learn.

Cognitive flexibility theory builds upon other constructivist theories (e.g., Bruner, Ausubel, Piaget) and is related to the work of Salomon in terms of media and learning interaction.

Scope/Application:

Cognitive flexibility theory is especially formulated to support the use of interactive technology (e.g., videodisc, hypertext). Its primary applications have been literary comprehension, history, biology and medicine.

Example:

Jonassen, Ambruso & Olesen (1992) describe an application of cognitive flexibility theory to the design of a hypertext program on transfusion medicine. The program

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provides a number of different clinical cases which students must diagnose and treat using various sources of information available (including advice from experts). The learning environment presents multiple perspectives on the content, is complex and ill-defined, and emphasizes the construction of knowledge by the learner.

Principles:

Learning activities must provide multiple representations of content.

Instructional materials should avoid oversimplifying the content domain and support context-dependent knowledge.

Instruction should be case-based and emphasize knowledge construction, not transmission of information.

Knowledge sources should be highly interconnected rather than compartmentalized.

3．Constructivist Theory

Constructivism argues that learning is an active process. Learners construct their own knowledge by selecting and transforming information, constucting and refining hypotheses, and decision-making. Discovery learning is one of the major themes of constructivist theory. One of the implications of the theory is the importance of learner's motivation. Major work in this theory is done by Piaget and Bruner. A major theme in the theoretical framework of Bruner is that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their

current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to \"go beyond the information given\".

As far as instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and encourage students to discover principles by themselves. The instructor and student should engage in an active dialog (i.e., socratic learning). The task of the instructor is to translate

information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding. Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have already learned.

Bruner (1966) states that a theory of instruction should address four major aspects: (1) predisposition towards learning, (2) the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner, (3) the most effective sequences in which to present material, and (4) the nature and pacing of rewards and punishments. Good methods for structuring knowledge should result in simplifying, generating new propositions, and increasing the manipulation of information. In his more recent work, Bruner (1986, 1990, 1996) has expanded his theoretical framework to encompass the social and cultural aspects of learning as well as the practice of law.

Scope/Application:

Bruner's constructivist theory is a general framework for instruction based upon the study of cognition. Much of the theory is linked to child development research

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(especially Piaget ). The ideas outlined in Bruner (1960) originated from a conference focused on science and math learning. Bruner illustrated his theory in the context of mathematics and social science programs for young children (see Bruner, 1973). The original development of the framework for reasoning processes is described in Bruner, Goodnow & Austin (1951). Bruner (1983) focuses on language learning in young children.

Note that Constructivism is a very broad conceptual framework in philosophy and science and Bruner's theory represents one particular perspective. For an overview of other Constructivist frameworks, see

Example:

This example is taken from Bruner (1973): \"The concept of prime numbers appears to be more readily grasped when the child, through construction, discovers that certain handfuls of beans cannot be laid out in completed rows and columns. Such quantities have either to be laid out in a single file or in an incomplete row-column design in which there is always one extra or one too few to fill the pattern. These patterns, the child learns, happen to be called prime. It is easy for the child to go from this step to the recognition that a multiple table , so called, is a record sheet of quantities in

completed mutiple rows and columns. Here is factoring, multiplication and primes in a construction that can be visualized.\"

Principles:

Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn (readiness).

Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student (spiral organization).

Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given).

4．Diffusion of Innovations

The Diffusion of Innovations Theory attempts to explain the patterns of adoption of innovations in general. Educators' adoption of technology is an important application of the principles of this theory. It explains the stages through which a technological innovation passes, the charactesistics of innovations that affects their adoption,

adopter categories, and the different roles of poeple in the process. Rogers is the most prominent researcher of this theory.

5．Distributed Cognition

The Theory of Distributed Cognition is closely related to Social Constructivism in the argument it makes that cognition is not within the individual but rather it is distributed over other people and tools. The use of telecommunications technologies in education has to rely highly on distributed cognition. Major researchers in the field are Pea, Salomon, Perkins, Cole, G. Hutchins, and Norman.

6．Dual-Coding Theory

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The Dual Coding Theory which serves most to learning via multimedia focuses on the processing of information. It argues that information is processed through two distinct channels - visual and auditory, each indivudual channel is limited in the amount of information it can process at a time, and humans learn actively by integrating mental representations. A major implication of the research based on this theory is that

learning occurs best when the information in the two channels are closely related and match, enabling interaction between the two. Two important researchers are Paivio and Mayer.

7．Elaboration Theory

Elaboration Theory argues that instruction should be organized from simple to

complex to increase learning, while providing the learner with a meaningful context in which subsequent ideas can be integrated. The theory has seven strategy

components: an elaborative sequence, learning prerequisite sequences, summary, synthesis, analogies, cognitive strategies, and learner control. The theory has

implications in instructional and curriculum design. Reigeluth is the main theorist, where Ausubel's and Bruner's work provide the foundations for Elaboration Theory.

8．Experiential Learning

Carl Rogers' theory is rooted in humanistic education. He identifies the two types of learning as cognitive and experiential. Cognitive learning refers to the learning of isolated information out of context, which usually takes place in formal school settings. Rogers lists the qualities of experiential learning as personal involvement, self-initiation, learner evaluation, and pervasive effects on learner. The theory suggests that learner motivation and thus the relevance of the topic are keys to successful learning.

9．Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences suggests that every individual possesses a unique combination of distinct intelligences. The main forms of intelligence are, linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, body-kinesthetic, intrapersonal and interpersonal. Recently 'natural intelligence' is proposed to be the 8th form of

intelligence. The theory suggests that everyone learns best when the material matches the intelligences he/she is strong at. Thus, teaching should take into consideration the degrees of intelligences of each learner. The theory gains importance due to the fact that most of our schooling focuses on only two of the intelligences - linguistic and mathematical - so, does not provide equal opportunities for all learners.

10．Script Theory

Script Theory is primarily intended to explain language processing and higher thinking skills. Schank and Abelson, the pioneers, developed the theory to explain story-level understanding, but te work later was extended by Schank to cognition in general. The theory argues that all memory is episodic, that is, everything has to be attached to personal experiences in order to be in the memory. However, there are

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generalized episodes, \"scripts\information in conceptualizing a narrative.

11．Situated Cognition

Situated Cognition argues that learning is \"situated\high degree to the activity, context and culture in which it occurs. According to the four major theorists, Lave, Brown, Collins, and Duguid, this is not the case with most classroom activities. Novice learners learn through a process of \"legitimate peripheral participation\" within a \"community of practice\". This theory also promotes the use of Anchored Instruction.

12．Social Constructivism

Social constructivism maintains that learners construct knowledge in interaction with their social environment. Learning is regarded as a collaborative activity. Lev Vygotsky, is the most prominent figure in the development of social constructivist theory. He outlines the community, the tools (e.g. language) in the learning

environment, and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) as important elements in learning. ZPD refers to the tasks the learner cannot perform on his/her own but can with the help of a 'more knowledgeable other'. It promotes all learning activities that include collaboration. Computer Supported Collaborative Learning is the most recent application of this theory.

13．Symbol Systems

The theory explores the symbols systems in different media and how they affect learning. Salomon, a pioneer of the theory, states that different inherent symbol systems in the media affect the messages conveyed by the media and the nature of learning. He also states that the symbol system has the most effect in learning novel topics. Research on Sesame Street deals closely with symbol systems in educational media. Other major theorists are Perkins and Globerson. Educational Technology owes this theory because it provides a foundation for educational multimedia applications.

Reference 1. Theories in Educational Technology. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://education.ufl.edu/school/edtech/theories.htm

2．John Bransford & the CTGV. Anchored Instruction. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://tip.psychology.org/anchor.html 3．R. Spiro, P. Feltovitch & R. Coulson. Cognitive Flexibility . Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://tip.psychology.org/spiro.html

4．J. Bruner. Constructivist Theory . Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.html

5．A. Paivio. Dual Coding Theory . Retrieved January 14, 2008, from

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http://tip.psychology.org/paivio.html  

Text D：Some Challenges for Educational Technology Text Many exciting applications of information technology in schools validate that new technology-based models of teaching and learning have the power to dramatically improve educational outcomes. As a result, many people are asking how to scale-up the scattered, successful “islands of innovation” instructional technology has empowered into universal improvements in schooling enabled by major shifts in standard educational practices. Undertaking “systemic reform” (sustained, large-scale, simultaneous innovation in curriculum; pedagogy; assessment; professional development; administration; incentives; and partnerships for learning among schools, businesses, homes, and community settings) requires policies and practices different than fostering pilot projects for small-scale educational improvement. Systemic reform involves moving from utilizing special, external resources to reconfiguring existing budgets in order to free up money for innovation. Without undercutting their power, change strategies effective when pioneered by leaders in educational innovation must be modified to be implemented by typical educators.

Technology-based innovations offer special challenges and opportunities in this scaling up process. I believe that systemic reform is not possible without utilizing the full power of high performance computing and communications to enhance the reshaping of schools. Yet the cost of technology, its rapid evolution, and the special knowledge and skills required of its users pose substantial barriers to effective utilization. One way to frame these issues is to pose six questions that school boards, taxpayers, educators, business groups, politicians, and parents are asking about implementing large-scale, technology-based educational innovations. After each question, I’ll respond to the issues it raises. Collectively, these answers outline a strategy for scaling-up, leveraging the power of technology while minimizing its intrinsic challenges.

Question One: How can schools afford to purchase enough multimedia-capable, Internet connected computers so that a classroom machine is always available for every two to three students?

Giving all students continuous access to multimedia-capable, Internet-connected

computers is currently quite fashionable. For politicians, the Internet in every classroom has become the modern equivalent of the promised “chicken in every pot.” Communities urge everyone to provide volunteer support for Net Days that wire the schools. Information technology vendors are offering special programs to encourage massive educational purchases. States are setting aside substantial amounts of money for building information infrastructures dedicated to instructional usage.

Yet, as an educational technologist, I am more dismayed than delighted. Some of my nervousness about this initiative comes from the “First Generation” thinking about

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information technology that underlies these visions. Multimedia-capable, Internet-connected computers are seen by many as magical devices, “silver bullets” to solve the problems of schools. Teachers and administrators who use new media are assumed to be automatically more effective than those who do not. Classroom computers are envisioned as a technology comparable to fire: just by sitting near these devices, students get a benefit from them, as knowledge and skills radiate from the monitors into their minds.

Yet decades of experience with technological innovations based on First Generation thinking have demonstrated that this viewpoint is misguided. Classroom computers that are acquired as panaceas end up as doorstops. As discussed later, information technology is a cost effective investment only in the context of systemic reform. Unless other simultaneous innovations in pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and school organization are coupled to the usage of instructional technology, the time and effort expended on implementing these devices produces few improvements in educational outcomes—and reinforces many educators’ cynicism about fads based on magical machines.

I feel additional concern about attempts to supply every student with continuous access to high performance computing and communications because of the likely cost of this massive investment. Depending on the assumptions made about the technological capabilities involved, estimates of the financial resources needed for such an information infrastructure vary (Coley, Cradler, & Engel, 1997). Extrapolating the most detailed cost model (McKinsey & Company, 1995) to one multimedia-capable, Internet-connected computer for every two to three students yields a price tag of about ninety-four billion dollars of initial investment and twenty-eight billion dollars per year in ongoing costs, a financial commitment that would drain schools of all discretionary funding for at least a decade. For several reasons, this is an impractical approach for improving education. First, putting this money into computers-and-cables is too large an investment in just one part of the infrastructure improvements that many schools desperately need. Buildings are falling apart, furnishings are dilapidated, playgrounds need repair, asbestos must be removed...otherwise, the machines themselves will cease to function as their context deteriorates. Also, substantial funding is needed for other types of innovations required to make instructional hardware effective, such as standards-based curricular materials for the World Wide Web and alternative kinds of pedagogy based on partnerships between teachers and tools. (The McKinsey cost estimates do include some funding for content development and staff training, but in my judgment too little to enable effective technology integration and systemic reform.) If most of the money goes into new media, little funding is available for the new messages and meanings that those devices could empower.

Second, without substantial and extended professional development in the innovative models of teaching and learning that instructional technology makes affordable and sustainable, many educators will not use these devices to their full potential. “Second Generation” thinking in educational technology does not see computers as magic, but does make the mistake of focusing on automation as their fundamental purpose.

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Computers are envisioned as ways to empower “teaching by telling” and “learning by listening,” serving as a fire hose to spray information from the Internet into learners’ minds. However, even without educational technology, classrooms are already drowning in data, and an overcrowded curriculum puts students and teachers on the brink of intellectual indigestion. Adding additional information, even when coated with multimedia bells-and-whistles, is likely to worsen rather than improve educational settings. Professional development needs are more complex than increasing educators’ technical literacy (e.g., training in how to use web browsers). The issue is building teachers’ knowledge and skills in alternative types of pedagogy and content, and such an increase in human capabilities requires substantial funding that will be unavailable if almost all resources are put into hardware.

Third, the continuing costs of maintaining and upgrading a massive infusion of school based technology would be prohibitive. High performance computing and communications requires high tech skills to keep operational and will become obsolete in five to seven years as information technology continues its rapid advance. Yet taxpayers now see computers as similar to blackboards: buy them once, and they are inexpensively in place for the lifetime of the school. School boards rapidly become restive at sizable yearly expenditures for technology maintenance and telecommunications usage—especially if, several months after installation, standardized test scores have not yet dramatically risen—and will become apoplectic if another $50B to replace obsolete equipment is required only a few years after an initial huge expenditure. For all these reasons, investing a huge sum in information infrastructures for schools is impractical and invites a later backlash against educational technology as yet another failed fad.

I would go farther, however, and argue that we should not make such an investment even if the “technology fairy” were to leave $100B under our virtual pillows, no strings attached. Kids continuously working on machines with teachers wandering around coaching the confused is the wrong model for the classroom of the future; I wince when I see those types of vendor commercials. In that situation—just as in classrooms with no technology—too much instructional activity tends to center on presentation and motivation, building a foundation of ideas and skills as well as some context for why students should care. Yet this temporary interest and readiness to master curricular material rapidly fades when no time is left for reflection and application, as teachers and students move on to the next required topic in the overcrowded curriculum, desperately trying to meet all the standards and prepare for the test.

Substantial research documents that helping students make sense out of something they have assimilated, but do not yet understand is crucial for inducing learning that is retained and generalized (Schank & Jona, 1991). Reflective discussion of shared experiences from multiple perspectives is essential in learners’ converting information into knowledge, as well as in students mastering the collaborative creation of meaning and purpose (Edelson, Pea, & Gomez, 1996). Some of these interpretative and expressive activities are enhanced by educational devices, but many are best conducted via face-to-face interaction, without the intervening filter and mask of

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computer-mediated communication (Brown & Campione, 1994).

What if instead much of the presentation and motivation that is foundational for learning occurred outside of classroom settings, via information technologies part of home and workplace and community contexts? Students would arrive at school already imbued with some background and motivation, ripe for guided inquiry, ready for interpretation and collaborative construction of knowledge. People are spending lots of money on devices purchased for entertainment and information services: televisions, videotape players, computers, Web TV, videogames. Many of these technologies are astonishingly powerful and inexpensive; for example, the Nintendo machine available now for a couple hundred dollars is the equivalent of a several hundred thousand dollar graphics supercomputer a decade ago. What if these devices—many ubiquitous in rich and poor homes, urban and rural areas—were also utilized for educational purposes, even though not acquired for that reason? By off-loading from classroom settings some of the burden of presenting material and inducing motivation, learning activities that use the technology infrastructure outside of schools would reduce the amount of money needed for adequate levels of classroom-based technology. Such a strategy also enables teachers to focus on students’ interpretation and expressive articulation without feeling obligated to use technology in every step of the process.

Such a model of “distributed learning” involves orchestrating educational activities among classrooms, workplaces, homes, and community settings (Dede, 1996). This pedagogical strategy models for students that learning is integral to all aspects of life—not just schooling— and that people adept at learning are fluent in using many types of information tools scattered throughout our everyday context. Such an educational approach also can build partnerships for learning between teachers and families; this is important because parental involvement is certainly one of the most powerful levers in increasing any student’s educational performance.

In other words, unless “systemic reform” in education is conducted with one boundary of the system around the school and another boundary around the society, its affordability and sustainability are doubtful. As a bridge across these boundaries, new media can play a vital role in facilitating this bi-level approach to large-scale educational innovation. For example, videogame players are the only interactive devices widely available in poor households and provide a sophisticated, but inexpensive computational platform for learning—if we develop better content than the mindless follies of Super Mario. or the grim dystopias of Doom.. My research in virtual reality illustrates how multisensory, immersive virtual environments could leverage learning complex scientific concepts on computational platforms as commonplace as next decade’s videogames (http://www.virtual.gmu.edu).

Districts can leverage their scarce resources for innovation, as well as implement more effective educational models, by utilizing information devices outside of classrooms to create learning environments that complement computers and communications in schools. To instead saturate schools with information technology is both very expensive and less educationally effective.

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Question Two: How can schools afford enough computers and telecommunications to sustain new models of teaching and learning?

Educational improvement based on distributed learning—utilizing information technologies external to school settings to enable increased interpretive and expressive activities in classrooms—does not mean that schools won’t need substantial amounts of computers and communications. To empower project-based learning through guided inquiry, students must have access to sophisticated information devices in schools (Linn, 1997). Even if this is accomplished via notebook computers and wireless networks moved from class to class as required, with pupils also spending significant amounts of time learning without the aid of technology, districts must allocate more money to purchasing, maintaining, and upgrading computers and telecommunications than has been true historically.

Where will educators find the funds for equipment, software, technical staff, ongoing telecommunications services, professional development—the myriad of costs associated with a sophisticated information infrastructure? In the past, this money has come largely from special external sources: grants, community donations, bond initiatives. To be sustainable over the long run, however, resources for technology must come from reallocating existing budgets by reducing other types of expenditures. Of course, such shifts in financing are resisted by those groups whose resources are cut, and district administrators and school boards have been reluctant to take on the political challenges of changing how money is spent. An easy way to kill educational innovations is to declare that of course they will be implemented—as long as no existing activities must be curtailed to fund new approaches. Such an approach to institutional evolution is one reason why, if Rip Van Winkle awoke today, he would recognize almost nothing in modern society—except schools.

Educational organizations are unique, however, in demanding that technology implementation accomplished via add-on funding. Every other type of societal institution (e.g., factories, hospitals, retail outlets, banks) recognizes that the power of information devices stems in part from their ability to reconfigure employee roles and organizational functioning. These establishments use the power of technology to alter their standard practices, so that the cost of computers and communications is funded by improvements in effectiveness within the organization, by doing more with less. If educators were to adopt this model—reallocating existing resources to fund technology implementation—what types of expenditures would drop so that existing funds could cover the costs of computers and communications?

First, schools that have adopted the inquiry-based models of pedagogy find that outlays on textbooks and other types of standardized instructional materials decrease. While these materials are a smaller part of districts’ budgets than salaries or physical plants, nonetheless they cost a significant amount of money. When students collect their own data, draw down information across the Internet, and interact with a larger pool of experts than teachers and textbooks, fewer commercial presentational resources are required—especially if learners draw on topical data flowing through information sources outside of schools. Moreover, covering a few concepts in depth rather than surveying many ideas superficially reduces the amount of prepackaged

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information educators must purchase.

A second way to reconfigure existing financial resources is to reduce the staff involved in data entry operations. Educators are inundated with large amounts of recordkeeping functions, and one of the most debilitating aspects of this work is the continuous reentry of identical information on different forms. Businesses have saved substantial amounts of money by altering routine information processes so that data is only entered once, then automatically flows across the entire organization to each place in which it is needed. Were educators to adopt these already proven models for cost-efficient information management, the amount of time and staff required for data entry functions would decrease markedly, freeing funding for instruction-related uses of technology.

Third, and on a more fundamental level, teaching is more efficient and effective with new types of technology-based curriculum and pedagogy. At present, substantial re-teaching of knowledge and skills is required; presentational material flows into students’ minds, is retained just long enough to perform on a test, and then is forgotten. Class sizes are typically between twenty-five and forty—somewhat too large for effective project-based learning, yet small given that lectures work as well for several hundred students as for several dozen. The scheduling of class periods is too short, limiting teachers and students to fragmentary presentational and practice activities. Teachers all have comparable roles with similar pay structures—unlike other societal organizations, which have complementary staff roles with a mix of skill levels and salaries. Visions presented in the forthcoming 1998 ASCD Yearbook (Dede & Palumbo, in press) depict how altered configurations of human resources, instructional modalities, and organizational structures could result in greater effectiveness for comparable costs—even with the acquisition of substantial school-based technology. This case is also made at greater length in Hunter & Goldberg (1995).

In the commercial sector, too often these types of institutional shifts result in layoffs. However, because of the coming wave of retirements among educators, districts have a window of opportunity to accomplish structural changes without major adverse impacts on employees. Over the next decade, large numbers of “baby-boom” educators will leave the profession, and a staged process of organizational restructuring could occur in parallel with those retirements. Coordinating technology expenditures as an integral part of that larger framework for institutional evolution is vital in districts’ planning to afford computers and communications.

Question Three: How can many educators disinterested or phobic about computers and communications be induced to adopt new technology-based models of teaching and learning?

Thus far, most educators who use technology to implement the alternative types of pedagogy and curriculum are “pioneers”: people who see continuous change and growth as an integral part of their profession and who are willing to swim against the tide of conventional operating procedures—often at considerable personal cost. However, to achieve large-scale shifts in standard educational practices, many more teachers must alter their pedagogical approaches; and schools’ management,

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institutional structure, and relationship to the community must change in fundamental ways. This requires that “settlers” (people who appreciate stability and do not want heroic efforts to become an everyday requirement) must be convinced to make the leap to a different mode of professional activity—with the understanding that, once they have mastered these new approaches, their daily work will be sustainable without extraordinary exertion. How can a critical mass of educators in a district be induced simultaneously to make such a shift?

Studies of innovation in other types of institutions indicate that successful change is always bottom-up, middle-out, and top-down. The driver for bottom-up innovation in a district is the children. Typically, students are joyful and committed when they are given the opportunity to learn by doing, to engage in collaborative construction of knowledge, and to experience mentoring relationships. That these types of instruction are accomplished via educational technology will excite some kids, while others will be indifferent—but all will appreciate the opportunity to move beyond learning by listening. Educators can draw enormous strength and purpose from watching the eager response of their students to classroom situations that use alternative forms of pedagogy. Often, teachers have shifted from pioneers to settlers because they were worn down by the unceasing grind of motivating students to master uninteresting, fragmented topics; and administrators have undergone a similar loss of enthusiasm by being inundated with paperwork rather than serving as instructional coordinators. The professional commitment that kids’ enthusiasm can re-inspire is a powerful driver of bottom-up change.

The source of middle-out change is a district’s pioneers. Many teachers entered the profession because they love students of a certain age and want to help them grow—or love their subject matter and want to share its beauty and richness. Often, these teachers feel alienated because the straightjacket of traditional instruction and school organization walls them away from meaningful relationships with their students and their subject. Similarly, many administrators want to serve as leaders and facilitators, but are forced by conventional managerial practices into being bureaucrats and bosses. Middle-out change is empowered when educators who have given up hope of achieving their professional dreams see pioneer colleagues using technology to succeed in those goals—and realize that, if everyone made a similar commitment, no one would have to make continuous personal sacrifices to achieve this vision.

The lever for top-down innovation is the community served by the district. Educators want respect—yet teaching has fallen from a revered professions to a much lower status. The relationship between educators and their community is seldom seen as a partnership; instead, teachers and administrators often feel isolated, forced to perform a difficult task with inadequate resources. Parents, the business sector, and taxpayers bitterly debate the purpose of schools and sometimes attempt to micro-manage their operation. In contrast, when homes, classrooms, workplaces and community settings are linked via new media to achieve distributed learning, much more positive interactions emerge between schools and society. Educators can move from isolation to collaboration with the community, from a position of low esteem to an respected

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role in orchestrating children’s learning across a spectrum of settings. This shift in status is a powerful driver for innovation.

To activate these bottom-up, middle-out, and top-down forces for improvement, educators must take the lead in developing a shared vision for systemic reform, distributed learning, and sophisticated utilization of technology. Making such a commitment to large-scale educational innovation is not only the right thing to do, but is increasingly essential to educators’ professional integrity. In many ways, physicians working in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) face challenges similar to teachers and administrators working in today’s schools. These doctors are responsible for the well-being of their patients, but work within administrative structures that restrict their decision making capabilities, that are focused on saving money at least as much as on combating illness, and that do not provide the latest technology or much time and resources for professional development. Yet we expect those physicians to do whatever it takes—fight the system for what the patient needs, spend personal time mastering the latest medical advances and technologies—to help those whom they serve. To do otherwise would be malpractice, a betrayal of trust, a breach of ethics as a professional. Given advances in information technology that are reshaping the knowledge students need and the ways educators can help them learn, we need to accept a professional obligation—despite current institutional constraints—to do whatever it takes in changing traditional instructional practices so that a generation of children is truly prepared for the 21st century.

Reference 1. Chris Dede,(1998). Six Challenges for Educational Technology. Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://www.virtual.gmu.edu/pdf/ASCD.pdf

2. Barker, T. (2005). A Multiverse of Systems: global challenges for educational technology. Paper presented at the IEEE 3rd International Workshop on Technology for Education in Developing Countries, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Retrieved January 14, 2008, from http://www.timbarker.org/academic/publications/Barker_ICALT05_Full.pdf

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