My original definition of educational technology from discussion one is as follows
Educational technology in one line means to me merging technology with education and not the opposite.
The merging process needs a bridge and this bridge can be built in an excellent way when we know:
- When to merge the appropriate technology in the right time and place it in that bridge
- Who will use this bridge, how they will use it and why!
- How can we make this bridge last strongly so that people don’t fell over it when they start walking on it
- What factors will affect this bridge?
The builders of this bridge are the professional practitioners of educational technology, they are the one who will define the strength of this bridge and how much time it will last, because they are the one who works on creating the perfect merge between education and technology. The ultimate goal of this bridge is to facilitate educational instruction to meet the assigned objectives for learners and help them absorb and apply knowledge in a way never existed in 20 or 30 years ago, because technology and learners in these days are completely different and the new emerging EdTech field is responding to that need. The general problem in the edtech field in my opinion is that technology is being merged by Geek people who knows how to use tools and that educational people rely on them because they fear of technology never used in their life or career and so the use of educational technologists is limited on institutions who believe that there is a difference between Geeks and EdTech practitioners
When reading what I have written before few months I could see that my first attempt wasn’t perfect 100%. So I started to analyze each of my sentences to rethink about it:
Part # 1
“Educational technology in one line means to me merging technology with education and not the opposite.”
My view: disagree 100%
Reasons:
• Educational purposes can be merged with technology when technology architecture is influenced by learning theory or educational technology theories. Emerging technologies for example are used to create learning communities and educators are using it to merge educational purposes (e.g., edmodo, blogs, wikis). See my example on how I have used technology and theories at the same time to create virtual learning community. It’s how we design learning environment, the process starts by learning theories and end with technology to fulfil the desired outcome.
• There are some technologies (e.g., Twitter, Instegram, Facebook) weren’t designed for educational purposes, they were created/designed for sharing events, but now they are heavily used to create virtual learning communities that collaborate and share knowledge. Educators manipulate different technologies to serve their demand in multiple approaches. See below my video, I was using an avatar game to transfer educational information to engage my audience and send my massage effectively. The game design was for fun not for education. When I prepared this video it seems that I didn’t give much thought about my educational technology definition
Part # 2
Below you can see the rest of my statements and comments on each sentence
The merging process needs a bridge and this bridge can be built in an excellent way when we know:
I agree with this sentence to some extent , but now I can add that this bridge should be theories that will help us create effective learning environment and activities, this bridge can be also familiarize learners and educators about the used technology, the bridge can be rules and regulation in school for example that will facilitate technology integration
• When to merge the appropriate technology in the right time and place it in that bridge
Agree 100%
• Who will use this bridge, how they will use it and why!
I meant here the charactaristics of our learners and educators and this is true, we should know about the background, need, vision of our learners and educators when it comes to technology integration
• How can we make this bridge last strongly so that people don’t fell over it when they start walking on it
Agree 100%. I was talking here about the context of the learning environment, organizational support, learners motivation toward learning, and educators willingness to support their edtech skills and real desire for improving learners performance
• What factors will affect this bridge?
Agree 100%, we should think of factors that will affect this bridge. For example: Is it a bad technology that won’t support the learning outcome? Or digitally divided learners or educators that won’t be able to survive in these ethnological environment? Or policies or regulations?
I f I have the chance to redefine what is edtech then I will say that edtech is:
Using technologies that we use in our life to enhance and aid our educational instruction, it’s about the appropriate and effective technology integration in our desired context
Reference
Association for Educational Communications and Technology (2004, June 1). The definition of educational technology. Retrieved from http://ocw.metu.edu.tr/file.php/118/molenda_definition.pdf
Noura Sa'd: EDTECH Learning Log 