User:Rukhsar baqir

meaning and Definition of technology: Educational technology is a wide field. Therefore, one can find many definitions, some of which are conflicting. Educational technology can be considered either as a design science or as a collection of different research interests addressing fundamental issues of learning, teaching and social organization. Official Definitions : The Association for Educational Communications and Technology, the professional society for ET, defines it as: Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. As a field, educational technology emphasizes communication skills and approaches to teaching and learning through the judicious use and integration of diverse media. Scholars in the field examine the uses of innovative media and technologies for education, examining all aspects from direct student learning to management and impacts on institutions. As in all forms of applied technology, the field studies how theoretical knowledge and scientific principles can be applied to problems that arise in a social context. Practitioners in educational technology seek new and effective ways of organizing the teaching and learning process through the best possible application of technological developments. These activities rely upon a body of knowledge for successful and ethical implementation, rather than routine tasks or isolated technical skills. term ET is misconstrued is on account of the changing nature of ET’s second component, viz., technology. The basic tenet of ET, viz., using all available resources (human and non-human) in a systematic manner to find viable solutions to educational problems, does not change. However, as technologies change and newer ones are brought into service in education (or, for that matter, into other spheres of development), the configurations, structures, and applications of ET will also change. This dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the discipline needs to be understood. Further, given the fact that educational problems are diverse, so are their solutions, ranging from providing resources in the classroom to distance education or using technologies to facilitate communication. These multiple facets of ET make a crucial difference to the way in which the term is interpreted. As the discipline continues to grow, we would like to give a short account of its evolution. When the term was first coined it referred to “technology in education”, implying the use of a variety of audio-visual aids (as they were then known) for teaching purposes. Implicitly relying on the then widely accepted sender–receiver construct, educational writers saw these aids primarily as transmitters of lesson content. As the concept of ET developed, the term “technology of education” came into vogue. This looked at education in a wider sense, and included various aspects such as entry behaviour of the learner, objectives, content analysis, evaluation, etc. By the mid 1970s, ET borrowed the terms “systems approach” from management studies and “corrective feedback” from cybernetics. This widened the scope of ET as the teaching-learning process was examined in a holistic manner. The arrival of digital convergent media encouraged interactivity and interconnectivity. This added a new dimension to ET. It gave an impetus to its further development as a discipline. While this field continues to evolve, we are faced with the problem of how to help learners to help themselves in learning in an effective and interactive manner. As the Focus Group deliberated, we felt that when we talk of the role of ET, we should direct our thoughts to education, and not to any technology and the logistics of getting it set up. The emphasis has to be on a culture of learning rather than on technology per se. Our perspective is that, except in the case of teacher education where ET is taught as a subject, ET is a value addition to quality, relevance, appropriateness, and other such attributes, transforming education by making it dynamic and responsive to the passions that move the learners and arouse their curiosity and desire to learn. The desire on the part of some people to leave the term ET behind is rooted in the awareness that historically the implementation of ET in India (and many other countries too) has been centered on machines and the educational software related to them. Such interpretations are easy to understand. More difficult to comprehend are approaches based on processes. Here we speak of the processes adopted by educationists to solve the difficulties that the prevalent system of education has in enhancing learning to meet the desired educational goals. The universally accepted definition of ET involves processes, methods and techniques, products, resources and technologies organized into workable systems. The recognition of the need for a multilevel organisation of a classroom, for instance, along with the designing of an appropriate programme and its implementation, become as much an exercise in ET as the use of audio-visual aids or the information superhighway. There is also a prevalent belief that modern technologies are better than older ones. Certainly, they offer many exciting possibilities, but both old and new serve different purposes of teaching learning, and are probably equally relevant in different given contexts. The key phrases in ET are appropriate technology, that is, appropriate to the task in hand for meeting specific educational objectives, and the organization of all available resources into a workable system, which is checked again and again to ensure that it is appropriate and changing it where it is not working. Formative evaluation and summative evaluation are essential parts of ET. In applying the discipline of ET to the field of education, it is imperative that the media choice must relate to instructional design as well as to what is available and eminently usable. The same is true of methods and techniques. For instance, the memorization of facts as a learning strategy still has a role to play. The ready availability of multiplication tables (pahadas) does speed up computation. It is the overgeneralization and unthinking application in inappropriate situations that has brought disrepute to memorization as a form of learning. Charts, graphs, textual materials, experimental kits, projected electronic aids, audio materials, computers, films, videos, the Internet, etc. can usefully serve the purposes of education in their own special ways and together they can make learning an enriching experience. ET could be defined in simple terms as the efficient organisation of any learning system, adapting or adopting methods, processes, and products to serve identified educational goals. This would involve: • Systematic identification of the goals of education, taking into account nationwide needs (higher scalability, for instance), the system capabilities, and the learners’ needs and potential. • Recognition of the diversity of learners’ needs, the contexts in which learning will take place, and the range of provisions needed for them. • Recognition of not only the immediate needs of children but also their future needs in relation to the society for which we are preparing them. • Designing, providing for, and enabling appropriate teaching-learning systems that could realise the identified goals. • Developing a range of support systems and training, creating the enabling systemic conditions/materials, reaching these to the school system, and training teachers and students to use them. • Research into existing and new techniques, strategies and technologies for solving problems of education, enabling judicious and appropriate application of technology. • Appreciation of the role of ET as an agent of change in the classroom, influencing the teacher and the teaching-learning process, and its role in systemic issues like reach, equity, and quality. (This appreciation should not be limited to educators alone, but should extend to planners and administrators as well, since systems both at micro and macro levels will be necessary to meet the current challenges of education.)

Characteristics of Educational Technology

Characteristics of Educational Technology are as follows:

1. It is based on scientific and technological advancements.

2. It is more a practical discipline and less a theoretical one.

3. It is a fast growing modern discipline.

4. It makes use of the research findings of psychology, sociology, engineering, sciences and social psychology etc., and applies the same to the field of education.

5. It brings pupils, teachers and technical means together in an effective way.

6. It is the science of techniques and methods. It locates the problems in the field of education, remedies them and ultimately aims at improving the education system.

7. It is bound to improve the teacher, the learner and the teaching learning process.

Nature of Educational Technology

1. The basis of educational technology is science.

2. Educational Technology studies the effect of science and technology upon education. In other words, science and technology are used under educational technology. Hence, it is the practical aspect of science.

3. Educational Technology is a continuous dynamic, progressive and effect-producing method.

4. New conceptions are possible only due to educational technology such as programmed learning, micro-teaching, simulated teaching, interaction analysis, video-tape, tape-recorder, projector and computer, etc.

5. Educational Technology accepts schools as a system. In this system, the school-building, furniture and teachers act as input while various methods, techniques, strategies and the teaching and examination with the help of audio-visual aids function in the form of a process. Lastly, the output is in of form of ability of the pupils.

6. Audio-visual aids cannot be termed as educational technology. It is because its concern is only with the process-aspect of educational technology and not with the input and output aspects. But if these A.V. aids are used to achieve educational objectives, then it can be put in the category of Educational technology.

7. Programmed Instruction is also different from Educational Technology. Its main cause is that the student learns himself during the programmed instructions. It does not allow interaction between pupil and teacher.

Hence, it can be used only for limited objectives and limited subject-matter. Therefore, programmed instruction is merely a part of educational technology.

8. Engineering Technology is not the educational technology because the engineering technology has manufactured radio, tape- recorder, video-tape and T.V., etc., which are used in teaching as audio-visual aids, but still engineering technology is different from educational technology. In education, it is accepted as hardware approach only.

9. Educational Technology cannot solve each and every problem of education. It can be used successfully in teaching and instructional system only.

10. Some people assume that educational technology will replace the teacher which will make the teacher unemployed one day. It is their mistake. Educational technology can never replace the teacher. It is because of three aspects of educational technology.

These are 1. Input, 2. Process and 3. Output. Input is the teacher’s job and therefore, educational technology cannot snatch the place of a teacher.

In spite of this, educational technology develops cognitive domain only and not the affective domain. Affective domain can only be developed when an interaction between teachers and pupils takes place. Hence, educational technology cannot replace the teacher.

Technologizing Education Is To Optimize Learning Endeavours

In Educational Technology, both hardware and software mechanisms are involved.

Garrison (1989), opines “technology will be viewed here as having both a process (software) and a product (hardware) component, where process is the creative application of knowledge of purposeful activities. A subset of hardware is media, where media are the devices used to distribute information.”

In Educational Technology, hardware covers TV, Computer, Overhead projector, Tape Recorder, Teaching machines etc. Software includes audio/video cassettes, Filmstrips, micro films, slides etc.

Educational Technology is comprehensive. It is associated with all aspects of educative process-methods, teaching strategies, learning materials, handling of various equipment etc.

The following 4 M’s are the major components of Educational Technology:-

(i) Methods, (ii) Materials, (iii) Media, (iv) Manpower.

(i) Methods:

It is concerned with the devices such as Programmed Learning Team Teaching, Micro Teaching, Personalized System of Instruction in Teaching Learning situations.

(ii) Materials:

Instructional materials such as Programmed Text book the material of this type may be handwritten or printed.

(iii) Media:

The media used here are audio, or visual or audio­visual. A few examples are radio, tape recorder, charts, films, educational television etc.

(iv) Man Power:

Man power controls educational technology in every way. Educational Technology without man is zero.