The field of Educational Technology has exploded in recent years with the development of digital technologies. Educational opportunities at all levels and are being created by the innovative application of technology. This has lead to the rapid expansion of the field creating significant challenges. Some of these include acceptable assessments; misunderstanding of best practices and educational theories, as well as a lack of a professional regulatory body. These are serious challenges but are currently being addressed by the academic community as evidenced by the ACET definition and the Code of Professional Ethics (Januszewski & Molenda pg. 3, 2008).
The opportunities in the Field of Educational Technology are limitless. It is one of the fastest growing and is becoming intertwined with almost every other facet of human life. This puts a great deal of responsibility upon Educational Technologists because they are becoming the facilitators of communication and education (Januszewski & Molenda pg. 2, 2008). We are responsible for adhering to the philosophy behind each element of the ACET definition. This is important for creating a universally acceptable framework that Educational Technologists can ethically operate within.
ACET Definition:
Educational Technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources (Januszewski & Molenda pg. 1, 2008).
The previous definition supplied by the text “Educational Technology, A Definition with Commentary”, comes from an Association for Educational Communications and Technology project and provides an opportunity to examine the underlying philosophies behind each element.
My personal definition of Educational Technology is as follows:
Educational technology is the analysis and implementation of technology in learning settings within the framework of best practices, ethics, and applied education instruction theories.
The two definitions while different express many of the same terms and philosophical understandings. Both are centered on the important foundational themes of analysis, implementation, best practices and ethics. These in my opinion should be the central pillars of Educational Technology as a field and profession. The literature as cited above suggests similar observations.
Ethics is perhaps one of the more problematic issues addressed by ACET. The importance to the field of using ethics as the foundational construct rather than a series of rules and expectations can’t be overstated. Without this philosophical framework success is not possible (Januszewski & Molenda pg. 3, 2008). I feel that this is quite a profound shift from historical applications of ethics philosophies and is re-defining the constructs with which we as Educational Technologists must operate within.
References
Januszewsk, A., Molenda, M., (2008) Educational Technology: a Definition with Commentary. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate & Taylor and Francis Group
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