Elements of Educational Technology

Before reading "The Definition of Educational Technology," my understanding of educational technology or any technology was very limited (not that it isn't limited anymore, though I feel a bit more enlightened).  My encounters with technology in general prior to the reading or the first week of this course for that matter were limited to a facebook account which I closed over two years ago and figuring out that my smartphone has a flashlight function.  Honestly, this is not exaggeration.  As far as educational technology goes I'm embarrassed to admit that my experience is limited to the occasional powerpoint presentation and attempting to set up a wiki for my writing class, which incidentally didn't exactly pan out, and hearing my students talking about "googling" the answers.  Some second-hand experience include listening to some colleagues talk about having their students use threaded discussions and hearing about a program called Camtasia.  I attribute this ignorance partially to my resistance to technology and the fact that the college at which I teach still utilizes chalk, blackboards, and overhead projectors.  Again, not an exaggeration. 

After reading AECT's definition of Ed Tech, which superficially looks fairly self-explanatory, and then reading the in-depth descriptions of each of the definition's core elements, I discovered that Ed Tech is not just power point presentations, facebook blogs, and "googling" it (the understatement of the week).  It is a field not only merging education and technology but also one that is informed by philosophy, ethics, sociology (e.g. critical theory or postmodern stances on ethical practice), and psychology, to name a few.

The assignment of choosing what I thought was the most important element in the definition of Ed Tech really functioned to show me more about my own teaching philosophy and the kind of teacher I strive to be than anything else.  I chose the term facilitating as it seems to be the most basic, foundational characteristic of what being a teacher is and how the tools that educational technology provides should function.

Link to "Elements" Google Doc