ET: Meaning and interpretation of Educational Technology

MEANING AND INTERPRETATION OF EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

The Meaning of Educational Technology and other Terms

Educational Technology, is one of the many concepts that have eluded scholars with each coming with their own concept analysis.

There are a lot of misconceptions as regards the meaning of educational technology. To many, it is a discipline associated with the use of audiovisual media in education. Some use the term software and hardware as synonyms of educational technology.

Other scholars have merged the definitions of “Education” and “Technology” in order to come up with a conclusive argument on the concept

Also specialists in education indicate that , educational technology can be explained by looking at the two major components of the concept “technology in education” and “technology of education” defining Education and Technology separately. the answer then most Zeroed down on is; “the art of applying the a body of knowledge (technology) to solving educational problems”. Adeyanju (1999), Balogun and Abimbade (2002). This is built on  the opinion that the supplements of Technology to education mounts to “Education Technology”

These thoughts are coined from the dictionary meaning of both “Education” and “Technology”.

NOTE:

The Oxford English Dictionary (2000),defines as “a process of teaching, training and learning,
especially in schools or colleges to improve knowledge and develop skills”. while Technology is defined as;                 “a body of knowledge which when used / applied helps in solving problems”.

Technology in Education:

By the term “technology in education” we  mean the application of machines, gadgets or equipment to improve the quality of education. This aspect is described as the “hardware” approach to educational technology. It involves the use of pieces of instructional materials (media) such as audio media, visual media, projected media, graphics, computers and other teaching machines. It is important to note that hardware/machines are means through which information are extracted from their corresponding software. They are explained as below

1. Audio Media

These are teaching-learning devices that appeal to the auditory sense. They consist of radio sets; audio recording machines such as audiotapes, disc machines, telephone and walkie-talkie.

2. Visual Media

These are instructional media that appeal to the sense of seeing (eyes). Most graphics are in this family of instructional media. They include: pictures, photographs, diagrams, charts and cartoons, still pictures such as slides, filmstrips and transparencies.

3. Audio-visual Media

These are instructional materials that have the capacity to provide issues in form of pictures and audio effect, in form of commentaries on the pictures simultaneously. Examples of media in this
category are: the television, videotape player, filmstrip/slides with in-built or synchronized sound.

4. Broadcast / Telecommunication Media

These are media through which information is disseminated usually to the mass of people audience that are scattered over a wide distance. Common among the family of mass media are: the radio, the television, and the newspapers. The two former ones are in electronic forms while the latter is the printed form.

5. Projected Media

Projected media belong to a group of instructional resources which can only be accessed by means of projecting  content on the screen/wall using a projector machine specifically designed for the purpose. Therefore, projected media are usually a combination of software and the corresponding hardware.

You may have watched a cinema or a film in a cinema house or at some gathering. Recall that there was an equipment/machine that was used to propel a scroll of film.

In addition, you will recall that the machine was energized through a power source – direct current or the use of a generator. Your experience has provided you with all that we can use to explain the meaning of projected media. From your experience, consider the machine that was used to propel the scroll of the film as the “hardware”. The “film” which contains the content or the message to be disseminated is referred to as the software.

What we need to know is that all projected media are designed to be transmitted on the screen through the use of projectors. Examples of such projectors are: slide projector, overhead projector, video projector, 16mm projector, 8mm projector, 35mm projector, filmstrip projector, opaque projector among others. It should be pointed out that most of the named projectors are fast becoming obsolete due to technological advancement and the advent of computer age. please see how a slide projector looks

How a slide projector works

 Technology of Education

The term “technology of education” refers to application of theories and laws/rules in education and related disciplines for the purpose of improving the quality of education. Such related disciplines include: sociology/sociology of education, philosophy/philosophy of education, psychology/psychology of education, communication, technology, etc.

Technology of education is a component of educational technology that is involved in the use of systems approach to promote high quality education. Furthermore, this aspect of educational technology is concerned with the use of systematic and scientific procedures in educational practice.

Simply put, technology of education refers to the application of the systems approach to educational enterprise. Its main concerns include issues bothering on identification of educational problem, analysing the problem, setting objectives, suggesting solution strategies, synthesizing the processes, embarking on evaluation and providing feedback.

View specialist Interpretation of education

Lesson Two: Psychological Basis of Educational Technology

As a discipline and in line with the dictate of technology of education, educational technology draws a lot from the field of psychology in general and psychology of learning in particular. The  works of such Psychologists such as B.F. Skinner, Pressey and Watson greatly influenced the method and practice of educational technology.

Indeed, the influence of the behaviourist psychologists mentioned above has far-reaching effect on educational technology. The works of  B.F. Skinner in the production of the teaching machines led to massive involvement of educational technologists in the production of more sophisticated teaching machines.

Again, Skinner’s involvement in Programmed Instruction (Skinner, 1968) led to modern trials in production of Programmed Instructional Packages and Machines.

The behaviourists’ interest in  research and experimentations in mastery learning based on the principle of individualization has  metamorphosed into modern-day application of modular instructional packages as well as adoption of high technological-based distance education mode of information dissemination to a
mass of populace.

The works of the behaviourists led to such theory as reinforcement that has led to propagation of reward by the educational technology experts in their efforts at designing instructional packages. Whether in live classroom teaching or mediated instructional process, an instructional designer knows that it is imperative to build on an effective “reward” strategy.

Thus, in computer-assisted designed programme, such words like correct, right, good, splendid etc. after remittance of correct response are built into the package because such words when used have the potentiality of encouraging better performance of learners at a later time.

Adherence of specialists in educational technology to the use of principle of Immediate Knowledge of Result
(IKOR) was not unconnected to the work of the behaviourists or linguists. Because of this, rewards whether symbolic or not are usually provided immediately after a correct response.

Psychological laws such as “readiness” which emphasise that learners learn a task better and easier when they are mature for the task from psychological, physiological, and intellectual points of view has been found applicable in the design of instructional packages by educational  technologists.

You must have discovered that the course material you are reading follows a pattern that allows you to move from a simpler concept to a more complex one. You would have  also observed that by now you have been given some activities meant to assist you to recall and practice what you have learnt. This is a direct reflection of the work of experts in psychology of learning. It was said by Watson (1977) and reported by Salawu, Taiwo and Aremu (1994) that:

“Learning from reading is facilitated more by time spent recalling what has been read than by reading as students who spent 80 percent of their learning periods trying to remember what they had read surpassed those who spent only 60 percent of the time on recollection. The students who spent all the time reading and re-reading the assign-ment made the poorest record”. (p. 10)

Lesson three: Philosophical Basis of Educational Technology

The definition of educational technology that has enjoyed general acceptability is that which defines it as “a systematic way of designing, planning, implementing and evaluating the total process of teaching and learning based on specific objectives using human and non-human elements together with application of communication theories to achieve predetermined objectives.

Look at this picture:   

It can also be defined as a systematic and scientific approach to identification of educational problems using human and non-human elements in the designing, planning, implementing and evaluating the solution strategies aimed at a better performance of the educational system. By its very nature, educational technology is an eclectic discipline.

By being eclectic is meant that the disciplines have elements of some other disciplines in it. You will remember in our definition of educational technology, we made reference to other specialised areas like philosophy, sociology and communications/ information and communication technology.

Indeed, other disciplines from where educational technology shares content and methods include library science and archival studies. However, for this purpose, attention shall be focused on philosophy and philosophy of education. Like the sub-title has suggested, we shall briefly discuss the relationship between philosophy and educational technology.

You would gain a deep knowledge of the philosophy of education in the course of your study. Philosophy has been variously and variedly defined. Unah (2001) provided a summary of the various definitions as: Philosophy is the love of wisdom; Philosophy is the search for reality; Philosophy is the search for truth; Philosophy is the search for value or the search for the best form of life; Philosophy is the rational study of nature; Philosophy is the critical discussion of received ideas, and Philosophy is the concern with human existence.

A critical analysis of all the definitions of philosophy as given showed that philosophy has a lot to offer educational technology. You may want to ask a pertinent question – In what way(s)?

Fine, if you consider educational technology as a discipline that is interested in solving educational problems using systems approach, then some philosophical questions such as:

– What is the problem to be solved?

– How is the problem to be solved?

– What are the things needed to solve the problem?

– Why do we regard the problem as such?
– What are we going to gain by solving the problem? etc.

You will begin to understand the relationship between philosophy and educational technology.

Again, because philosophy is a discipline which is based on reflection on human experience, you will understand that human experience cannot be explained by words of mouth only. There is  the need to show in concrete terms some of the abstract experiences being described.

The reality of this is felt in the writings of a great renowned philosopher such as John Amos Comenius (1652 – 1670) who wrote the book “Orbit Picture” and the Great Didactics, John Locke who was the chief proponent of functional education, Rousseau (1712 – 1788) postulated that education should be child-centred, John Lancaster was reported for the introduction of the use of bold letters in writing and the use of different colours in chart preparation, John Pestalozzi (1746 –1827) devised the method of learning from concrete To abstract. This was re-emphasised by Edgar Dale (1964) with the pyramidal model of degree of concreteness in instructional media.

Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) recommended that learning should not only take cognizance of the child-developmental stages but teaching-learning process should be play-centred.

Suffice to summarise that the contributions of each of the above philosophers and of course, several others not mention have a lot of impact on not only the content of educational technology as a discipline but also the nature, structure and research methodology.

Lesson Four: Dimensions of Educational Technology

Attempts to further provide fuller description of educational technology has led to the emergence of three dimensions of educational technologies (Davids, 1975 and Plump and Pals (1989).

1. Educational Technology I (ET I)

This dimension of educational technology focuses more on physical media that are designed and developed to improve the quality of teaching-learning process.

This refers to the use of instructional materials of all categories to facilitate learning (Afolabi, 2008). It can also be called the hardware approach to teaching and learning. In short, ET(I) is synonymous to the meaning we gave to Technology in Education earlier in this unit.

2. Educational Technology II (ET II)

The meaning of this dimension of educational technology is closely related to the one we earlier provided in the discussion of Technology of Education. Indeed, the major difference between the two concepts is that of nomenclature (names). ET (II), therefore refers to all strategies, techniques and means through which instructions are designed, planned, implemented and evaluated.

It does not exclude integration of laws and rules especially in the field of education for proper integration and utilisation of media for better results.

3. Educational Technology III

This is an amalgam of Educational Technologies I and II that seeks to produce desirable effect. This aspect of educational technology is usually attributed to philosophical and holistic orientation based on the concept of problem analysis and goal achievement. Simply put, Educational Technology III has its roots on the systems theories and applications. This aspect attempts at putting man and machine efforts together to improve the quality of instruction. It has led to a popular concept known as “Systems Approach”.

You would learn more about this concept in the subsequent units.