What is educational technology?

 Educational technology is a systematic application of relevant technological processes and resources in teaching, with a goal to improve students' performance. It involves a disciplined approach to identifying the needs of students, applying technology in instructions, and tracking their performance. Educational technology is the use of both physical hardware, software, and educational theoretic to facilitate learning and improve performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. This field, which is also called EdTech or EduTech,has been described as a persisting initiative that seeks to bring learners, teacher, and technical means together in an effective way.

In addition to experiential knowledge drawn from educational practice, educational technology is based on theoretical knowledge that emerge out of various disciplines such as communication, education, psychology, sociology, artificial intelligence, and computer science, among others. It encompasses several domains including learning theory, computer-based training, online learning, and m-learning, where mobile technologies are used. These students need technology in the classroom. Just like previous generations of students needed colorful textbooks and we provided that for them, we have to respect the needs of modern students, too.

They are engaging with technology outside the classroom on a daily basis. They want to use their parents’ smartphones and tablets. They know how to play their favorite songs on YouTube. Technology is part of their lifestyle and they love it. As teachers, we have to respect that inclination. In fact, we can use it to our advantage.

When we introduce technology in the classroom, we’re using something they like. They will easily get engaged in the learning process. Technology is making learning more fun and accessible for today’s students.

Educational technology is the effective use of technological tools in learning. As a concept, it concerns an array of tools, such as media, machines and networking hardware, as well as considering underlying theoretical perspectives for their effective application.

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. Nevertheless, there are a few features on which most researchers and practitioners might agree:

Use of technology is principled: Technology means the systematic application of scientific knowledge to practical tasks. Therefore, educational technology is based on theoretical knowledge drawn from different disciplines (communication, education, psychology, sociology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, computer science, etc.) plus experiential knowledge drawn from educational practice.

Educational technology aims to improve education. Technology should facilitate learning processes and increase performance of the educational system(s) as it regards to effectiveness and/or efficiency.