When I decided to continue my degree in EdTech one of my relatives asked me what: “what does this mean?”, back then I didn’t knew what exactly should I say, because I had no exact definition for EdTech. The major criticism I received from colleagues who knows nothing about the 21st century education in all around the world was that I was bothering myself in continuing my degree because:
- I had a good experience in eLearning field in general, due to my junior experience in my eLearning start up that aimed to spread the culture of online education, so no need to continue my higher education in another language and at my own expenses
- There was no rules in our educational system in Jordan that encourage or support e Learning, above all there is no single online accredit institution in Jordan, because the law don’t give accreditation for such institutions in Jordan.
What my colleagues didn’t knew that I was thinking in completely different avenue. There should be a starting point for changing anything. I decided that being single change agent can’t be accomplished easily without being armed with a good education and experience at the same time. If I want to help others in my community and spread the online education culture through my start up, then I need to help myself first. I found out that my passion for the edtech field is not enough. I knew what online education can bring to my community and the wide accessibility to learning by offering anytime and anywhere delivery, but at the same time I knew that there was something missing in the way I implemented technology. I must admit that I have contributed in the failure of my start up in one way or the other at its pilot stage. The main challenges that I have failed to solve were:
- The “digital divide,” caused by low computer literacy rates and lack of access to technology among educators I have worked with and this was the result of our traditional educational system. I found out that the professional development for the educators was more important than the used technology itself, because they were the major factor that will promote the quality of students learning when developing technology
- Humanities technology in the head of the educators I worked with, because we all believed that technology based learning (TBL) can be achieved only with good technology, so we weren’t able to use technology effectively and this affected the success of the initiative tremendously. I missed what I have recently knew “Technology Plan” that I believe would have helped me to know where I was and where I plan to go
Back then I lacked the proper knowledge and techniques required to merge technology effectively, but now I believe that I’m on the right track in finding parts of the puzzle that will help me finds solutions for my previous challenges. EdTech is not about technology tools as I thought in the past! EdTech is the emphasizes in applying scientific techniques In order to solve educational problems in efficient and effective ways or more simply: EdTech refers to an area of technology devoted to the development and application of tools (including software, hardware, and processes) intended to promote education. I’m happy that I’m learning EdTech techniques step by step in each online course I complete in this program. So what kind of change I’m looking to get in EdTech 504? I’m looking to expand my knowledge of the learning theories and how can I apply them in my understanding for TBL, because I never knew that there were theories behind technology use in education. The first time I knew that was in my EdTech 503 and I believe that EdTech 504 is just another serious of how to implement theories in the edTech system or/and consider it the base for the new revolutionized technologies. For this course I want to know:
- How can I apply the new earned theories in my work
- How theories have evolved till this century? And whether theories were affected by new emerging technology or the opposite?
- What factors affects the implementation of theories in technology? Should we always integrate theories in technology implementation
- How can I assess the success of any technology if it was based on theories integration?
Finally, I want to add my first attempt in defining what is EdTech using my personal avatar. I’m sure that this initial definition that reflect my understanding for the field till this moment of my educational life after few course in this program will be developed in EdTech 504
Visit my revised definition for EdTech at the end of EdTech 504 course
References
- Koller, V., Harvey, S., & Magnotta, M. (n.d.). Technology Based Learning Strategies. Retrieved from http://www.doleta.gov/reports/papers/tbl_paper_final.pdf
- Januszewski, A. (2001). Educational Technology: The Development of a Concept. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. Required Reading: A brief review on the book: Educational technology: The development of a concept
- Providing Professional Development for Effective Technology Use
- What is EdTech and why should it matter to you?
Noura Sa'd: EDTECH Learning Log 