What is Educational Technology?

The term educational technology can refer to a variety of activities using technology to facilitate teaching and learning. Perhaps instead of concentrating on "technology" as something alien and separate from learning, we should coin a new term ~ techknowlogy ~ to describe the development, creation, and construction of knowledge using tools which facilitate efficient, effective communication and collaboration for all learners ~ including and especially digital immigrants. The use of technology tools allows us to achieve greater depth and complexity in learning rarely experienced prior to the invention of the computer.

I had the opportunity to discuss technology with a group of seniors in a local high school. I asked them to "tell me about how you use technology at school." My request was met by deer in the head light expressions and they asked, "Do you mean how the teachers use it?" The students then promptly told me how the teachers used classroom projectors and document cameras, but said they really didn't use technology at school. I was taken back by the comment and later in the conversation asked what technologies they personally used. Of course, Facebook, mySpace, cell phones, and email were at the top of their list ~ but not at school. As I watched the videos, I wondered how many opportunities we are missing in education to capitalize on the powerful technologies we have at our disposal ~ and wondered.... how can we change schools to meet the challenges presented by the global world in which we find ourselves .... and how can we connect technology to learning and school for the digital natives we are stifling every day..... which will be another discussion on another day!