Page 6 - Educational Technology A Primer for the 21st Century

Preface

Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and
improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological
processes and resources. From the perspective of technology used in education,
educational technology could be understood as the use of emerging and existing
technologies to improve learning experiences in a variety of instructional settings,
such as formal learning, informal learning, non-formal learning, lifelong learning,
learning on demand, and just-in-time learning. Educational technology approaches
have evolved from early uses of audiovisual aids to individual and networked
computers, and now have evolved to include various mobile and smart technolo-
gies, as well as virtual and augmented realities, avatar-based immersive environ-
ments, cloud computing, and wearable and location-aware devices. Various terms
have been used along the way to refer to educational technologies, such as learning
technologies/environments and instructional technologies/systems. We have
embraced a broad interpretation in this book to cover instructional design
approaches, learning strategies, and hardware and software. Our view is that any-
thing that consistently can support learning and instruction can be considered an
educational technology. Some educational technologies are simple and have existed
for many years; others are complex, and new ones are finding their way into
educational settings every day.
Educational technology focuses on both the technical and pedagogical ways and
means of supporting learning and instruction. It is the basis for the success of the
e-learning revolution in recent years. Technology-based instruction can surpass
traditional classroom-based instruction in quality by providing a wide variety of
affordances and capabilities that can promote motivation and result in engaging,
efficient, and effective learning.
The demand for educational technologies has been rising steadily; e-learning is a
huge and expanding worldwide industry. Commercial e-learning companies,
training departments in large companies and organizations, computer software
companies, and educational institutions over the world employ large numbers of
specialists in various aspects of educational technology creation (programming,
graphic design, instructional design, task analysis, usability engineering, subject
matter analysis, editing, etc.). However, these organizations often find it hard to
employ suitably qualified workers who have knowledge beyond their subfields and
disciplines. There is a strong demand for technologists who understand learning

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