Page 7 - Educational Technology A Primer for the 21st Century

vi Preface
theories and for instructional designers and educators who understand technologies
and how to effectively integrate technology into learning and instruction. The field
of educational technology is becoming part of major educational programs in
institutions worldwide. The commercial training industry is large and still going
through a period of rapid and sustained growth, based in large part on the inte-
gration of advanced digital technologies.
The needs and requirements of the various organizations, both educational and
commercial, vary widely in terms of the knowledge and skills needed to implement
educational technology solutions effectively. Further complexity comes from the fact
that potential students of educational technology exist at different levels and in a
variety of contexts; potential students come from a variety of backgrounds, ranging
from education, computing, engineering, design, arts, the humanities, finance, and the
natural sciences. Their interests and expectations vary as widely as their aspirations
toward what kind of organizations they would like to serve after their studies. The aim
of this book is to prepare students with the knowledge and skills to understand the
organizational needs and requirements, and not only use and manage existing and
emerging technologies effectively, to be able to apply associated pedagogies and
instructional strategies appropriately and effectively, to evaluate and manage edu-
cational technology solutions, and to foresee and prepare for future possibilities.
This book is targeted toward readers who are interested in educational tech-
nology and would like to understand educational technology from different per-
spectives. Specifically, this book could be used as textbook for two types of
undergraduate students: (a) those who are looking for careers in educational tech-
nology, instructional design, or media and information systems, or may want to
continue their studies in graduate programs in learning and instructional technology
and (b) those who are interested in becoming teachers in K-12 settings or trainers in
industry and who need a strong background in educational technology. This book
will also act as a valuable resource in teacher education programs where the primary
focus on mainstream education requires an authentic resource in instructional
design and educational technology.
Keeping in mind the varied needs of the organizations, employees, and potential
students, this book adopts a competency-based approach to learning and assess-
ment. The themes and topics take a multi-disciplinary approach and are aimed at
preparing students for competent and innovative educational technology profes-
sionals. The approach taken in this book aligns with the recommendations of the
suggested curricula for advanced learning technologies developed by a task force
of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Technical Committee on
Learning Technology led by Roger Hartley (with Kinshuk, Rob Koper, Toshio
Okamoto, and Mike Spector) and published in 2010 (see http://www.ifets.info/
journals/13_2/17.pdf).

Beijing, China Ronghuai Huang
Denton, USA J. Michael Spector
Hangzhou, China Junfeng Yang