LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
For Kumar (1997) Educational Technology (ET) involves the use of technology to educate or train for purposes of knowledge development and application.
This form of education and learning started as an Instructional Systems Design (ISD). At origin it was used by the United States military to train a large number of people during the World War II. As a result of this usage Americans commonly use the term Instructional Technology which arises from ISD produced Educational Technology (ET). Evens and Nation (2000, p.8) see Educational Technology (ET) as “the broad understanding of how to use a particular tool for educational purposes.” It can be understood in terms of involving human and social development as a backbone on any educational process. According to Laurillard (2002), Instructional Technology emphasises the concept of Learning Technologies, as one of its main areas but it is not a term that can be used to define ET because ET is much broader than Learning Technologies (which dominate Instructional Technology). Learning Technologies is just one of the sub areas of ET as the focus of it is only on learning. ET focus on both teaching and learning.
Traditionally, Educational Technology (ET) was defined as the use of Technology in Education (TIE) and Technology of Education (TOE) in order to improve learning and teaching situations. This indicates that ET is divided into two main divisions, namely: TIE and TOE (Percival & Ellington, 1988).
While TIE refers to the various technologies that are available to support teaching and learning, TOE refers to theoretical structures that facilitates teaching and learning. TIE on one hand is divided into two main divisions, namely: Hardware and Software (Percival & Ellington, 1988). The former refers to tools that can be used for education and training and the latter refers to any material that can be used in conjunction with the tools to educate. Some of the examples of the hardware are computer, over-head projector, digital video diskette (DVD) machine and many others. Some of the examples of the software are computer DVD, transparencies, video DVDs and many others.
Software carries information to be used in order to educate, train or learn. Both these TIE components can be seen and touched. On the other hand some examples of the TOE are research findings on how teaching and learning can be enhanced, teaching and learning theories (e.g constructivist approach to teaching and learning). This means TOE has a direct bearing on enhancing teaching and learning theoretically.
While TIE and TOE traditionally define what ET is all about, the latter has now evolved substantially. Legendre (2000) sees ET as a field of education that is dominated by planning, designing, implementation and evaluation of TIE and TOE in order to improve teaching and learning situations. ET has been critiqued for lack of theoretical grounds in most of the research projects produced in the field (Knowlton, Knowlton & Davis, 2000). This study thus brings into question different approaches of teaching or theories of learning that have been dominating the design of the Web.
Systems approach and the three schools of thought concerning learning as a cognitive process (behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism) have been influencing ET (Laurillard, 1993 & Kumar, 1997). This aspect is taken further in the next section that discusses the ‘object’ component of Activity Theory (AT).
The reason the system approach has been dominating within the ISD components is that it has been using its main powerful components in teaching and learning. These components are: analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation (Monahan, 2005). Today these components form part of ET definition.
The design of Web learning has progressively been changing between and amongst behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. Sometimes constructivism would be the initial theory that gets reversed to cognitivism and then behaviourism. Within this instability, if any one of TIE and TOE is not being applied and controlled effectively, it is unlikely that Web learning can achieve the intended outcomes. The researcher believes that effective use of both the TIE and TOE in designing the Web (Web technologies) goes a long way unchallenged because TIE has been dominating the field but TOE is attempting to occupy equal status as the TIE. Romiszowski (2004) claims that a successful WBTL environment has 20% technique and 80% tactics.
Figure 2.1
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The Tree Three Rings (TTTR)Figure 2.1: The Tree Three Rings (TTTR) can also be used to categorise the main elements of ET, although it was initially designed to simplify how the researcher sees WBTL. TTTR is a theory that was built from the data for this study (see Chapter 6 for details). With the context of ET, the stem and branches (Designing a Web site and LMS) of the tree can be considered as the Hardware (tools) of TIE. Leaves (search engines or web-site) can be considered as the Software component of TIE. All of these form parts that one can see and touch.
On the other hand roots (systems approach and theories of learning & teaching)
can be considered as the TOE. The researcher finds this Figure 2.1 to be one of the most effective ways of explaining and understanding the whole concept of ET and the design of the Web (technologies) to facilitate learning.
Educational Technologists thus far have been using the TIE as the main focus of ET, without understanding how the TIE is influenced by the TOE. This dissertation thus attempts to initiate or contribute to the discourse concerning ways in which TOE can influence ET, beginning from Educational Technologists’ teaching about the hardware and software (technologies).
Instead of using them to educate or train only, it is important to understand how they are constructed in order to understand their limitations before plans can be made for their use. Educational Technologists furthermore, need to look at designing the hardware and software to meet educational needs, not just accepting hardware and software designed for other needs. In most cases these hardware and software are not constructed for education and training in general. For example, ISD and the Internet, both have been dominating the field of Educational Technology for quite sometime and they are still dominating, were constructed for military purposes (Shelly, Cashman, Waggoner &
Waggoner, 2001). In other cases, where facilitators (Educational Technologists) have limited knowledge of such technologies, the option is to opt for the second best technology. Among the frames of reference mentioned by White and Weight (2000), one can see that the area of learning about technologies, before one learns about using them to educate or train, is necessary. Today Educational Technology facilitators can hardly operate effectively without this area of learning and about knowledge of these technologies.