Educational Technology (Week 2)

In class this week we talked about educational technology, also known as E-Learning, instructional technology or technology performance. As society continues to evolve and begin to use technology more and more in every day life, it is important that students and children are taught in non-traditional ways that allow them to adapt to a rapidly changing society.  Combining education, which refers to learning, teaching, and instruction, and technology, which refers to gadgets, tools and techniques, cumulates into the following definition from Roblyer in 2002:

“Educational technology is a combination of the processes and tools involved in addressing educational needs and problems, with an emphasis on applying the most current tools: computers and their related technologies.”

In class we discussed the transformation of technology over the last few years. If there is one area where educational technology has transformed, it is journalism.

Years ago, when I first decided I wanted to be a journalist, it was a pretty simple idea. I would write. No videos, no photos, no web design or any of the myriad of other technology-based skills. However, the media has come a very long way in a few short years. Unlike the stereotypical journalists, today journalists need to not only write stories well, but also take pictures, design layouts, put together videos, use Indesign and Photoshop, and put together a web page. Most of the UF journalism classes teach or incorporate a new technology based skill, like using Indesign, or incorporate multimedia, such as pictures and videos, into the regular story assignments.

As I am learning, it’s important that I learn to use the technology now, so I can effectively communicate with readers as the world and the media continue to evolve and shift from print to online journalism.  Many of the advantages to educational technology overlap into the journalism field, as well. As discussed in the second week of class, technology can help learners visualize concepts and problems, much like it could help readers visualize ideas and news better, and technology can gain learner attention, much like technology can grab a reader’s interest.

While researching this topic, I found the following video that provides a timeline of technology over the past 100 years. The video shows the progression of technology in the Twentieth Century and can provide insight to how quickly technology has developed and will continue developing. Watch the video for more:  

The video is from Youtube.com and was posted by OscarRetterer.