Trends & Issues in Educational Technology: Expert Interview

In the career of education and particularly in educational technology, educators not only need to identify current trends, issues and new media, they also need to adequately assess which technological tools will best serve the educational needs at hand such as computer-mediated communications, mobile accessibility, virtual reality, distance education, artificial intelligence, and more.

To help answer questions about identifying trends and issues and adopting technology, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. David Holder, Assistant Professor of Graduate Education and Educational Technology at Liberty University. When asked to describe how he identifies current trends in the field, he said he first considers the technologies that he tends to use and that students and coworkers use. This is really practical advice for any educator: Consider technologies that are already gaining popularity, and see if they can serve an educational need. In other words, if it’s summer and people are buying ice cream, sell ice cream! But don’t try to sell ice to the Inuit.

The most poignant thought came when answering, “What advice do you have for a future professional entering the distance education or educational technology field?” Dr. Holder responded by saying “Technology cannot nor will it ever cause learning. It can only make the process of learning more efficient. This efficiency is the goal of educational technology. If it is not doing this it is a failure. If it is making the process more laborious then it is a failure.” I think this is something worth remembering for any educator. Many of us have seen thousands of dollars wasted by schools on the “next new thing.” The next new thing is fine but only if it serves the greater purpose of learning.

How do you identify and choose new educational technologies? What do you think are the new and/or upcoming trends and issues in educational technology?

You Have No Excuse for Not Having a Website: Create a Site Using Google Sites

Today, I’ve decided to pick a recent technology and discuss how I feel about it for personal and educational use. No research. Just thoughts.

I have been working with Google sites some recently. Google Sites provides a means for the layman (or laywoman) to create a decent website for free with little to no experience in Web design whatsoever. That alone, is still amazing to me. It’s amazing to me because 1) It’s free, 2) It’s incredibly easy to setup and use, and 3) I can’t help but see how much easier and robust this Web design tool is than the tools I was using 10 years ago.

You see, I started my Web design with a handy website called Geocities. Do you remember that one? Yahoo made it defunct when it bought it out a few years back, but that didn’t stop people from archiving thousands of sites prior to its demise. Back when it was the hot place to create a site, I created a basic website with the necessary page counter, slot machine widget, and guestbook. Whatever happened to the guestbook!? Did people stop caring about who came to their sites or what? Of course I’m being facetious. I think 50% of people spent more time with an “Under Construction” image on their pages than actual content. The Web has certainly evolved.

Back to Google sites. If you have a Gmail account, you’re almost there with having your own website. Visit http://sites.google.com to get started. It’s really so simple, your grandma could do it. The other great thing about Google’s resources is that Google typically does a great job educating users step by step in using their products. If you want a basic, professional website, Google sites is a great option. It can easily be used to create eportfolios or quick learning units for your students using images, videos, and text.

Have you used Google sites? Have you created anything with it for educational purposes? Feel free to share in the comments!

New Technology: To Buy or Not to Buy... Is Not Always the Question

Have you ever spent several hundred dollars (or several thousand dollars) on new technology having partaken in the sweet Kool-Aid of belief that this new technology will save you time, energy, money, and stress only to realize later that the technology ends up costing you more time, energy, money and stress than you ever realized you were silly enough to relinquish? Yeah… me neither. :) And even if our answer is a resounding “yes,” it merely brings us more pain to admit it.

Forgive me. My purpose in writing this is not to bring you (or me) more pain. But I would like to pose some thoughts on balancing the natural demands technologies place upon us and our families and the (supposed and realized) benefits they provide.

I will admit up front that I am a connoisseur of technology and often find “tech geek” an endearing term. That being said, I still do not enjoy finding myself becoming a slave to the technology that I love. "But EdTechSpy," you ask, "how do I escape the bonds of technoliciousness?" Glad you asked! I am going to make this simple knowing the potential I have for actually oversimplifying this broad and complex subject.

#1 – When choosing whether to partake of the fruits of a new technology, ask yourself this question: What do I really want to accomplish? This will help you get to the core reason you’re forking over $900 for an iPad… to play hours and hours of Angry Birds. However, if what you want to accomplish with that new iPad is to give presentations, easily answer email and research topics during your normal long commute, and connect with your kids through video chat while you’re away, you might have good justification. As a side note, beware of your internal voice that longs to justify irrationality. We all do it. We really want to buy that iPad for Angry Birds but we make up justifiable reasons for the iPad other than Angry birds such as giving presentations, that long commute, or connecting with loved ones… you get the idea. Just be honest with yourself.

#2 – The second question to ask yourself when choosing whether to partake of the fruits of a new technology is similar to the first question, but instead of asking “what” you are now asking yourself “why.” Why do I want this? If you can honestly answer why you want a new technology, you’ll be closer to knowing whether you’re making the right decision. You may say, “I want the new iPad because I like showing off expensive wares,” and that could be compelling enough for you to proceed. If that’s the answer to your why and you’re still okay with that, then more power to you! Strut your techno stuff (I suppose)! For others, however, this may be a reminder that it’s time to lay off the Kool-Aid.

There’s so much more one could say on this topic, but I’ll leave that for future posts. What are your thoughts on technology? Do you think we own technology or it owns us?