Exploring Current Issues In Educational Technology

This text deals with controversial issues about technology and its use in classrooms. Issues include the educational application and classroom implementation of new communications technologies such as e-mail, the Internet and World Wide Web; laptop computers, school television newscasts, hypermedia environments, distance education, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the like. Rather than simply providing information, the text presents problematic issues and situations in realistic case studies and asks the student how best to deal with them. The scenarios involve such issues as commercial TV in the classroom, copyrights and fair use, researching on the Web, and online learning communities. Each scenario is introduced by a clear explanation of why the issues raised are important. Each case study demands student research and a written response outlining what they believe to be the best course of action.

This book deals with controversial issues about technology and its use in classrooms. Issues include the educational application and classroom implementation of new communications technologies such as e-mail, the Internet and World Wide Web; laptop computers, school television newscasts, hypermedia environments, distance education, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the like. Rather than simply providing information, the text presents problematic issues and situations in realistic case studies and asks the student how best to deal with them. The scenarios involve such issues as commercial TV in the classroom, copyrights and fair use, researching on the Web, and online learning communities. Each scenario is introduced by a clear explanation of why the issues raised are important. Each case study demands student research and a written response outlining what they believe to be the best course of action.

This volume identifies promising learning, teaching, and assessment strategies for the use and assessment of technology in educational settings, specifically: *educational context (e.g., organizational and structural factors that contribute to the effective use of technology in school settings); *promising learning and teaching strategies; *promising technology-based assessment procedures and methods; *policy implementation issues; and *a summary of current research on the effective use of technology in education. Chapter authors represent a variety of perspectives and disciplines, from computer science, cognitive and educational psychology, and educational administration. Authors represent government, business, and university communities from within and outside the U.S. These multiple perspectives contribute to the overall understanding of current technology use in education and help in identifying future research needs. Technology Applications in Education: A Learning View explores the state of the art of technology in K-16 education from a learning perspective rather than a hardware/software view. It is designed for professionals and graduate students in the educational technology, training, assessment/evaluation, school administration, military psychology, and educational psychology communities. This book is characterized in the following montage of factors: *the primacy of learning as a focus for technology implementation; *a focus on technology uses in K-16 education; *a focus on the assessment of both individuals and teams; *a broad variety of methodological approaches from qualitative to instructional design to quantitative (e.g., structural equation modeling); *a need to support the development of technology-based curriculum and tools; and *a need for theory-driven and evaluation studies to increase our knowledge.

Educational technology is a creative blending of 'idea' and 'product' technologies with subject-matter content in order to engender and improve teaching and learning processes. Educational technology is often associated with the terms instructional technology or learning technology. 'Product' technologies are tangible; for example, computer hardware or software. 'Idea' technologies are cognitive frameworks or schemes; for example, the Multiple Intelligence Theory proposed by Howard Gardner. When products are thoughtfully blended with subject matter content (such as mathematics or science concepts) for a specific audience in a specific educational context (such as a school), one is using 'educational technology'. The words educational and technology in the term educational technology have the general meaning. Educational technology is not restricted to the education of children, nor to the use of high technology.

Education is the key to America's economic growth and prosperity and to our ability to compete in the global economy. It is the path to higher earning power for Americans and is necessary for our democracy to work. It fosters the cross-border, cross-cultural collaboration required to solve the most challenging problems of our time. The National Education Technology Plan 2010 calls for revolutionary transformation. Specifically, we must embrace innovation and technology which is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work. This book explores the National Education Technology Plan which presents a model of learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity.

"Over the last decade, the practices by which scholarly knowledge is produced – both within and across disciplines – have been substantially influenced by the appearance of digital information resources, communication networks and technology enhanced research tools. Viewed from a methodological perspective, the rich ICT-based environment in educational settings influences research methods, ethics and the general conduct of research. Methodological Challenges When Exploring Digital Learning Spaces in Education represents a collection of work of established academics as well as emerging early career researchers all of whom focus on various methodological challenges. From numerous perspectives, the chapters in this volume deal with three particularly demanding challenges for educational research in digital learning contexts. The first challenge concerns how research manages to explore networked learning within a multi-faceted ICT environment. What kind of research designs and forms of data collection are able to grasp this complexity of multiple learning taking place within these contexts? The second challenge deals with how researchers experience the research context and interact with various actors within these settings. How to capture and understand interaction between contexts and across different dimensions of contexts in time and space? And finally, the third challenge is about exploring how children make meaning across physical places and virtual spaces. All together, these challenges are questioning the traditional research methods that we use and are familiar with. This volume is devoted to stimulating debate about the various methodological challenges facing the researcher in the digital sphere of educational research, and furthermore, exploring what kind of new methodological approaches these challenges impose. It is aimed at students, researchers and academics within education and those working with learning across disciplines and contexts interested in methodological issues. Greta Björk Gudmundsdottir lives and works in Oslo, where she is a Researcher at the Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education. Kristin Beate Vasbø also works and lives in Oslo, where she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo. "

This collection of first-hand accounts from experienced and accomplished learning technology practitioners highlights issues in using learning technologies for flexible, distance and open learning. Drawing on their own experience, the authors identify and explore the most practical and complex issues faced and reflect upon the lessons learned. The definition of learning technologies is broad, encompassing not only the tools (print, audio, video, online applications) but their creative and informed application and social effects. Experiences from eight different countries are presented while the themes addressed include policy development, teaching skills, learner guidance, evaluation and reflective practice. Often, busy practitioners argue that they do not have time for reflection but that they do have time to swap stories with colleagues. Using Learning Technologies promotes such engagement through a broad range of first-hand accounts of facing the challenges entailed in using learning technologies. The stories recounted here speak directly to practitioners, researchers and administrators, provide a model for reflection and offer practical guidelines for comparison with the reader's own experience.

In Issues in Technology, Learning, and Instructional Design, some of the best-known scholars in those fields produce powerful, original dialogues that clarify current issues, provide context and theoretical grounding, and illuminate a framework for future thought. Position statements are introduced and then responded to, covering a remarkably broad series of topics across educational technology, learning, and instructional design, from tool use to design education to how people learn. Reminiscent of the well-known Clark/Kozma debates of the 1990s, this book is a must-have for professionals in the field and can also be used as a textbook for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses.