Ely, D. P. (2002). Trends in educational technology: Fifth edition. Department of Education: Washington, DC. ERIC document ED 477 511
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Chapter Assignments below:
Introduction (Cynthia Zartuche Manrrique)
Trends in Educational Technology report focuses on the education settings of technology applications. A trend indicates what direction will occur over time; this report will intend to answer the question “What is happening today in the field of educational technology and training.” The design of instructional technology can be defined by the process of human learning through communication and a combination of resources that brings about effective instruction.
Computer application and use of the Internet are two vehicles used for teaching and learning. The trends presented are from analysis that have developed since 1996 for all levels of education. The most current studies began in 1987 as an increase of technology entered the classroom with new equipment and applications being introduced.
New equipment encourages new ways of learning when the instructor can better assist their students. Computers and Internet dominate the educational technology with online learning through different levels of education. Access to computers in the home, school and offices have increased making it easier than ever for people to find resources with no regard to their location, status or level of education. Wireless handheld devices and laptop computers also help with the wireless devices and will help financially when institutions no longer needs wires to connect.
More professionals are embracing and supporting the direction that technology education has taken as parents, as well as educators pressure all levels of government for technology education reform.
Teachers, who once avoided technology due to lack of knowledge and fear, now look forward to training opportunities as well as incentives being offered to use their new skills in the classroom.
Motivation and leading learners to problem-solving and independent thinking continues to be the role of technology. Signs of change has occurred with the trend of technology education and is being embraced with education as being an important part of its systematic entity.
Trend 1: Computer Access and Use (Cynthia Cantu)
Studies suggest that there is a near saturation of computers in K-12 schools, and that in higher education institutions the saturation is slower. Access to computers is growing steadily and quickly in K-12 schools while in colleges and University computer access is not growing as quickly. The number of computers in elementary and secondary schools in America has been steadily increasing from one computer for every 125 students in 1983-84 to one computer for every 6.6 students in 2000 (Market Data Retrieval 2001). It is important to note that the report states that the computer is usually shared in the classroom or lab, and students have access to computer.
Further confirmation of the saturation comes from the 1999 study of the National Center of Educational Statistics, Teachers’ Tools for the Twenty-First Century. The study reports that, “Nearly all public school teachers (99 percent) reported having computers available somewhere in their school in 1999. Half the teachers who had computers in their schools used them for classroom instruction and that number is steadily increasing. Reports regarding computer use in schools frequently include Internet applications such as e-mail correspondences and use of the World Wide Web.
In the higher education sector, one of the most reliable studies of technology use in the annual Campus Computing Project, begun in 1990 by K.C. Green of Claremont Graduate University in California . The study shows that though saturation has not yet reached in higher education as it has in the K-12, computer purchases for instruction in colleges has leveled off due to budget constraints. Yet, studies show that more and more students own their own computer. The computer has become a symbol of educational (or instructional) technology.
Trend 2: Internet Access and Use (Idalia Delgadillo)
Statistics reveal that 73% of youth, ages 12-17, have internet access available to them. This includes at home or at school. Internet access allows students the opportunities to connect with a variety of resources including other students, their professors, and even experts; making the Internet a valuable resource for their school projects and reports. According to a report published by USA Today, 30% of elementary schools reported having access to the Internet in 1994. That number increased to 97% in 2000. Results from a study by Quality Education Data indicate that in 2001, 97% of public schools had Internet access. In 1996, only 49% of U.S. public schools reported having Internet access.
Traditionally professors at institutions of higher education are considered to be hesitant to innovations of teaching and learning. However, in 2000 a study revealed that 59.3% of college courses used e-mail and 42.7% used the Internet as a resource. The number of online tools has also increased the growth in distance learning. Approximately 45% of faculty use Internet-based instruction .
Trend 3: Television and Video (Kimberly Flippin)
In the field of education, the use of television has leveled off because of the gaining popularity of recent technology such as video streaming and distance learning settings. Video streaming uses audio and video and is currently included in countless educational web sites. It can be used to support learning or simply for visual impact.
Cable broadcast television, available to anyone who chooses to participate, may be viewed while the program is being presented or recorded for later viewing. In 1989, the cable industry created Cable in the Classroom, which provided both private and public schools access to free educational programming. It presented commercial-free and copyright-cleared programs from sources such as CNN, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Weather Channel, and others. Cable in the Classroom also provides educators with Teacher’s guides at no cost to the school.
A study performed in 1997 by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shows that 98% of educators had access to television and video, and all of these educators said that they had used either video or television in their classrooms in the past 5 years. The study also confirms that teachers use approximately 27 minutes of public television, 13 minutes of cable resources, and a variety of local and national educational resources. Interestingly, about one-fourth of the teachers surveyed stated that the use of television and video in the classroom actually increased with the availability of computers.
Although television is still actively used in distance education, a 1999 National Center for Educational Statistics survey illustrates that Web sites, interactive video, and prerecorded video are all used in combination in most classroom settings. This seems to be most effective and increases student participation.
Trend 4: Advocacy (Mary Flores and Mary Montgomery)
Mary Flores
Increasing support for Educational Technology from organizations and associations outside the educational environment indicate that this is becoming a legitimate movement. In addition, current research indicates that changes after elections, in the branches of government, have also resulted in an increase of support for educational technology from the federal, state and business sectors.
The national strategy consists of effective use of technology by teachers and students in the public schools. Not only will the teachers and students have access to technology but they will also learn the effective use and literary skills necessary to impact and transform the next generation of technology applications. In addition, internet resources will become available and affordable for all learners increasing the online educational approaches that embrace learning at any given moment.
Support for Educational Technology also comes from commercial organizations that are involved in technology related business and advocate technology training for their employees. Their recommendations focus on educational objectives, the development of twenty first century skills, research and development and the key elements of the education process.
Other influential groups, such as the national professional education association, support the transformation of the education process by establishing information technology for education and training, research, effective use of technology and work closely with industry and academia to develop technical standards.
Lack of technology related resolutions may support the growing trend that policy organizations advocate and support educational technology as a teaching tool.
Mary Montgomery
Support for educational technology comes from not only educators, suppliers of hardware and software, but through other sources as well. When Executive and Legislative branches of government change every few years, priorities change too. This means that sometimes educational technology is in the front of the list for the educational agenda and other times it is at the end or not listed at all. With the government changing every so often, the definition of “educational technology” changes with it. Does it include the hardware and software for everyone to use? Or does it only include the technology for those who are “special needs” students?
Business and industry sector add support for educational technology. They usually provide the hardware, computers, and the software programs to the schools. They are now, however, having their own employees join the growing number of students in the educational technology classes.
Other influential groups are found in the national government agencies and national associations. These groups help set forth the recommendations to those who need to know them, so that the policies makers can make new or change policies. The agencies and associations want to address the key elements of what they feel are the education process: tools, systems, processes, learners and teachers.
However, enthusiasm for technology applications in distance learning is not universal. Instructors are warned before they teach any online class that the programs that the students use will not be universal. This means that the students will use what they have at their homes, and not a standard program.
Items related to technology at the 2001 National Education Association, are embedded in resolutions facilities, the contents of teacher preparation programs and time to teach. Here again the definition for “educational technology” is being raised. The more experienced teachers are somewhat scared to teach using or showing how to use the technology, because they themselves have not had the training to use it. The less experienced teachers are jumping right in and wanting to use it, however, the school may not be set up for the technology they want to use. Guidelines need to be put into place.
The lack of technology – related resolutions in 2001 may reflect the acceptance by that time of technology in the classroom as an appropriate and valid teaching tool.
Trend 5: Home Use and Distance Education (Griselda Garcia and Marco Lopez)
In 1984 the U.S. Census Bureau began tracking households who own at least one computer and in 2001, the number of households who own computers ascended to 50 percent. Over half of the 105 million households who own a computer have internet access.
Children that go to school are more likely to have a computer at home. It is estimated that 90 percent of children have access to the computer, either at home or in school. Children that are home-schooled also use the internet or software programs that are designed for home school students. Adults and senior citizens use the internet daily to find information or to take online classes.
In 1998, the International Data Corporation estimated that two and four year colleges and universities would offer distance education courses in the year 2002. Distance education is very different from one learning campus to another including professors. Several states and districts have also made virtual distant education high schools, which means building fewer classrooms. Although distance education can be taken in the library, work, or school, home is the most preferred place to take a course.
Trend 6: New Delivery Systems (Judith Navarro)
Many delivery systems that have encouraged and supported the use of technological applications for teaching as well as learning are wireless devices such as handheld computers, laptops, and personal digital assistants. The growing use of these devices is apparent, facilitated by three factors that enable wireless communication: service portability, personal mobility, based on a person’s own needs, and terminal mobility, which is provided by wireless access.
Garage door openers and television remote controls are the precursors to cordless telephones, wireless local area networks, satellite mobile and paging systems, which are becoming increasingly common devices that are being used for educational purposes. Also, graphing calculators and personal digital assistants (PDAs) look to be an ever-present tool that will facilitate learning in mathematics classrooms.
A syndicated columnist, Walter S. Mossberg, reviewed the last ten years of technological advancements, noting that in the year 1991, cell phones were restricted to use in a vehicle, the Internet and world wide web were nonexistent, computer modems were slow, and other digital devices such as digital camcorders and DVD players, also did not exist. He predicted that wireless devices would be pervasive and compliment personal computers, but would otherwise have “little to do” with the personal computers.
As Mossberg stated, many educational institutions, ranging from elementary schools to universities, have integrated the use of such devices as laptops and PDAs into their curriculum for research purposes and for teaching computer skills. Research indicates that some benefits of this implementation include increased student motivation as well as a more student-centered classroom. Research also suggests that there will be an ever-increasing use of wireless devices for educational purposes and that they may replace personal desktop computers. Despite this, laptops may not be as commonplace as handheld computers due to concerns with cost, equal accessibility, technical issues, and security. While this is true, further research is being conducted by the University of Michigan on the effectiveness of students’ use of handheld computers and probes to collect data. Wireless connectivity is becoming increasingly widespread and will be greatly beneficial to those in educational settings.
Trend 7: Professional Development for Teachers (Charles Rich)
The author begins this section with the idea that every new technology created for education faces the same barrier; lack of user skill and confidence. Teachers generally agree that the technology given them is needed, but many are reluctant to learn the new skills necessary to use the new technology.
Initially, those developing the new technology failed to stress the need for training on new products. Many now offer on-site training, realizing of course that if a school's staff is skilled in the use of technology they will return to the company providing it for more.
Teachers are beginning to see more opportunities to become proficient. Many schools have begun providing in-service training and state and federal programs have begun providing funds for additional training as needed. Teachers who do master technology skills are often rewarded. The author provides and example from the article "Internet Access Booms in Schools" in USA Today in 2001 of one school district, Northwest ISD in Dallas, that requires teachers to master computer skills in order to receive pay raises.
The author went on to cite a few statistics from NetDay, a national nonprofit educational technology organization, that you might find interesting:
- 84% of teachers surveyed believed that computers and access to the Internet improved the quality of education.
- 75% say the Internet is an important tool for finding new resources.
- but 75% also say the Internet is not well integrated into their classrooms and only 26% felt pressured to actually use it.
The article goes on to say that most teachers these days have access to the Internet and as many as 80% have connections in their classrooms. In other words, the few teachers who are not using technology are running out of excuses.
The author summarizes by stating that only time will tell if technology will come into common use. Whether people will continue to grow after public funding has diminished or dried up remains to be seen. Certainly future plans should be influenced by measures of how well learners have achieved curriculum goals and objectives. Of course measures of cost and effectiveness will come into play as well.
Trend 8: Education Reform (Courtney Rodgers)
In this section, the trend of using technology as a form of instruction is discussed as a way to change education. Since technology has had a positive impact on the business side, how might technology make a difference in education?
Throughout history, people have been strong supporters of new and emerging technologies. Each new technological advancement was expected to completely change education as it was known at the time. Ely includes an example from Saettler of one advancement touted by Thomas Edison in 1913 (2002). Saettler states that Edison wrote how using the new technology of motion pictures would eventually eliminate the need for books in schools completely and predicted the system would be different in ten years (as cited in Ely, 2002, p.35). Over the next sixty to seventy years, other emerging technologies - instructional television, programmed instruction and microcomputer were all introduced and expected to be the next "big thing" in reforming education. Each one did its part in continuing the push for utilizing technology as a medium for change in education and instruction.
The U.S. Department of Education is responsible for the current push drive of using technology in instruction. The department established Regional Technology Centers beginning in with six in 1995 and realigning in 2000 to create ten. The purpose of the centers was to help develop plans from the state-level down to use technology in instruction. This desire of every state having a technology plan was achieved by 2002.
The section closes with a statistic from United University Professions (2001) stating that a survey of higher education instructors found that even with 90% of respondents having no experience with online teaching, 60% would be willing to try teaching an online course.
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