Elements of Educational Technology

In this assignment, we looked at the ever changing definition of Educational Technology. I was surprised to see that there are 13 elements to Educational Technology. I was even more surprised that all of these elements related to good teaching practice. The two elements that stood out to me were learning and creating.

I think that it is a given that educators should be focused on student learning. However, looking back at my own education, many of my teachers had the mindset of "I taught it, it's your job to learn it." Their "teaching" entailed a lecture of some sort, students in their desks quietly taking notes, doing an assignment on that day's topic, and eventually taking a test on the unit before shifting to a new unit. If we didn't "learn" the material by the end of the unit, it was up to us to figure it out on our own because the teacher was moving on to the next topic. With technology, educators and students alike can truly focus on learning. With numerous resources, experiences, networks, and progress monitoring software available, the focus truly can be on learning at the student's pace, and teachers are able to provide a high level of individualized instruction.

Students have a number of opportunities to create and publish products to a worldwide audience now, too. Creating is the highest level of thinking on Bloom's Taxonomy, and is a great assessment tool. Assessment through the creation of a product lends itself to differentiation much more readily than the traditional paper and pencil assessment.

My thoughts on the elements of educational technology can be found here.