The mediation of experience and educational technology: A philosophical analysis

This philosophical excursion into the foundations of educational technology begins by considering the nature of knowing and learning from the media, as well as stating the assumptions of the paper. The foundations of educational technology — the systems approach, systems theory, and behaviorism - are explicated. Then, I state and discuss four philosophical propositions for considering the mediation of experience and educational technology: a) Learning is a constructive activity so technologies should liberate, not constrain learners; b) media produce an event ontology separate from personal experience; c) mediation is a phenomenological process; and d) media provide existential access to the world’s knowledge and to internal aspects of the self. I am especially indebted to Professor Robert Heinich (Indiana University) for his repeated and insightful analysis of this paper. Significant contributions were also made by the late Professor James Macdonald, to whom the paper is dedicated, and Professor Arnold Levin (University of North Carolina at Greensboro). This paper was completed while I was a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Keele, Staffordshire, U.K. I should like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the department and its head, James Hartley, and especially the assistance of Mrs. M. Woodward.     

泰国教育技术述评

文章对以泰国素可太开放大学 (SuKhothaiThammathratopenUniversity)、东方大学 (Bu raphaUniversity ) ,SrinakhaiwirotUniversity等三所大学为代表的泰国教育技术一些思想、模式、方法、媒体进行了介绍与评论 ,并与中国的类似情况进行了初步比较 ,认为泰国远程教育理论与实践对我们有借鉴意义。     

现代教育技术网络课程的开发

介绍了现代教育技术网络课程的设计与开发。对现代教育技术网络课程设计的指导思想、设计思路进行了阐述,并就该网络课程的整体结构、主要功能模块等进行了相应的分析说明,同时对一些重要的功能模块进行了详细阐述,这为其他学校开发现代教育技术网络课程提供了参考。     

On educational technology

Changing social needs, and especially the rate of change itself, demand a fresh approach to educational theory and practice. Just as theory must draw on the findings of a wide range of sciences, so must practice ensure activity by the student and a reliable system of assessing attainment. Given the constraints to educational development, whether economic or behavioural, the author sees the introduction of educational technology as the only course for improving conditions. He adopts a wide definition of educational technology, to embrace a new applied pedagogical science and conceives it systemically.On the basis of this analysis, he describes as a practical example the creation of the Hungarian National Centre for Educational Technology in the 70's. With its main function in the area of research and development, the Centre carries out wide-ranging studies, ensures the collaboration of the specialists concerned in development of curricula, and then proceeds to the preparation of learning packages with a multi-media composition. After testing, the new materials and methods are disseminated, and here the Centre also plays an active role. It has promoted courses on educational technology at the pre-service and in-service teacher education levels, and carries out follow-up studies on the extent of application of the innovations it launches.

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Zusammenfassung Sich ändernde soziale Bedürfnisse und insbesondere das Tempo der Veränderung selbst erfordern einen neuen Ansatz in Theorie und Praxis des Bildungswesens. Genau wie die Theorie auf den Ergebnissen einer ganzen Reihe Wissenschaften aufgebaut werden muß, hat die Praxis die Aktivität der Studenten zu gewährleisten sowie ein zuverlässiges System zur Evaluation des Erreichten. In Anbetracht der wirtschaftlichen oder durch Verhaltensweisen bedingten Beschränkungen einer Bildungsentwicklung sieht der Verfasser in der Einführung einer Bildungstechnologie den einzigen Weg zur Verbesserung der Bedingungen. Er definiert den Begriff Bildungstechnologie in sehr weitgefaßtem Sinn, so daß er eine neue angewandte Erziehungswissenschaft umfaßt und diese als System versteht.Aufgrund dieser Analyse schildert er als praktisches Beispiel die Schaffung des Ungarischen Nationalen Zentrums für Bildungstechnologie in den 70er Jahren. Während seine Hauptaufgaben im Bereich der Forschung und Entwicklung liegen, führt das Zentrum weitgehende Studien durch, sichert die Mitarbeit von Spezialisten auf dem Gebiet der Curriculum-Entwicklung und befaßt sich dann weiter mit der Vorbereitung von Lernmaterial in multi-medialer Zusammensetzung. Nach entsprechenden Tests werden die neuen Materialien un Methoden verbreitet, und auch dabei spielt das Zentrum eine aktive Rolle. Es hat Lehrgänge über Bildungstechnologie auf der Ebene der Vor- und Weiterbildung von Lehrern gefördert und führt danach Untersuchungen darüber durch, wie weit die von ihm in Gang gesetzten Neuerungen angewandt werden.

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Résumé L'évolution des besoins sociaux et particulièrement la rapidité de cette évolution, exige une approche nouvelle de la théorie et de la pratique de l'éducation. Tout comme la théorie doit exploiter les découvertes d'un large éventail de sciences, la pratique doit assurer l'activité de l'étudiant et fournir un système éprouvé d'estimation des connaissances acquises. Etant donné les contraintes qui brident le développement de l'éducation — qu'elles soient provoquées par l'économie ou par le comportement — l'auteur estime que l'introduction d'une technologie de l'éducation est le seul moyen d'améliorer les conditions. Il définit largement la technologie de l'éducation comme une nouvelle science pédagogique appliquée et la conçoit de façon systématique.Se basant sur cette analyse, il donne en exemple la création, dans les années 70, du Centre National Hongrois de Technologie de l'Education. Ce Centre, dont les activités s'appliquent principalement au domaine de la recherche et du développement, et embrassent un champ très étendue d'études, s'assure la collaboration de spécialistes du développement des curricula puis procède à la préparation de packages avec un ensemble de moyens d'enseignement. Après expérimentation, les nouveaux matériels et les nouvelles méthodes sont disséminés et, à ce stade encore, le Centre joue à nouveau un rôle actif. Il crée et développe des cours de technologie de l'éducation aux niveaux de la formation professionnelle initiale ou en cours d'emploi des enseignants, et il organise des études longitudinales afin d'évaluer l'application des innovations apportées.

     

A review of educational technology research in Taiwan

Conclusion Beginning in 1989, the Ministry of Education and the National Science Council of Taiwan have sponsored an international biennial conference organized by different local universities. The purpose of this conference, the International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE), is to report educational technology research. After the 1993 conference, it became a regional biennial conference held by different countries in the Asia-Pacific region. ICCE 95 was held in Singapore and ICCE 97 will be in Malaysia. After 1997, ICCE will again become an annual conference to reflect the growing research impetus in the region.In Taiwan, after exporting ICCE to the region, the funding agents continue to support an annual conference with a different name, International Conference on Computer Assisted Instruction (ICCAI). This locally organized conference has been held annually since 1994. As a natural result of these activities and consistent support by funding agents, a growing number of international publications are reporting on the more mature results of educational technology research at international conferences and in journals.Contributors included Jon-Chao Hong, Professor of Industrial Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan; Jihn-Chang Jehng, Associate Professor, Human Resources Management, National Central University, Taiwan; Yu-Fen Shih, Associate Professor, Media and Library Science, Tamkang University, Taiwan; and Gary Chon-Wen Shyi, Associate Professor, Psychology, National Chung- Cheng University, Taiwan.Tak-Wai Chan is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Central University. He is also the President of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education and is an Associate Editor of theInternational Journal of Educational Telecommunications.     

The diffusion of educational technology in Indonesia: a multi-faceted approach

Indonesia, like many developing countries, has problems of increasing numbers of students, shortage of qualified teachers, limited resources and strong support for traditional schooling. Educational technology has been introduced to help alleviate some of the problems and has been relatively successful over the past 15 years. A planned effort to use educational technology in appropriate ways began in the mid-1970s and is still growing. Such success does not come easily. The lessons learned from this effort are explicitly stated in four categories: (1) cultural affairs (2) personnel and training (3) organisation and management and (4) leadership. Each 'lesson' is stated as a principle or guideline. Conclusions emphasise the importance of leadership, commitment, local control, long-range planning and the presence of a communications satellite.     

网络技术专业人才需求及教育衔接研究

高职高专计算机网络技术专业是相对成熟的IT类专业.对石家庄网络技术人才的需求状况和学生的就业岗位进行了分析,探讨了中高职街接的几个方面：人才培养目标及专业结构布局的街接,课程体系、教材及信息技术应用的街接,教育教学过程和评价模式的衔接及院校间、教师间的多向合作.     

The application of persuasive technology to educational settings

Persuasive technology is a sub-discipline of Human?CComputer Interaction that has emerged within the last 10?years, and which has generated increasing interest in the application of persuasion to systems design. Most applications have to date been developed in commercial contexts, as well in the domain of health promotion. We present a mainly theoretical consideration of how persuasive technology could be used in educational contexts, particularly in school settings. We consider how persuasive technology design may need to be modified to meet the needs of complex educational settings. We propose four design principles for the use of persuasive technology in instructional design, including credibility and Kairos. We derive these from theoretical considerations, as well as from our experience with the HANDS project, which has developed a mobile persuasive application for positive behaviour change in young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. We conclude that persuasive technology has the potential to be used effectively to bring about positive behavior and attitude change in school settings.     

The rhetoric and reality of aid: promoting educational technology in Egypt

This paper examines a US foreign aid project to promote use of new technologies in Egyptian education. Though the project sought to improve teaching and learning, an examination of implementation indicates how goals of Westernization ended up taking precedence. These included a focus on bringing Egyptian educators to the US and on showcasing US hardware and software. This underlying emphasis on Westernization weakened the project’s potential contribution to educational improvement. However, grass roots Egyptian teacher educators found ways to assert their own voices in the project through small‐scale and locally appropriate uses of technology.     

The promises of numeracy

The aim of this study is to better understand the notion of early algebraic thinking by describing differences in grade 4–7 students’ thinking about basic algebraic concepts. To achieve this goal, one test that involved generalized arithmetic, functional thinking, and modeling tasks, was administered to 684 students from these grades. Quantitative analysis of the data yielded four distinct groups of students demonstrating a wide range of performance in these tasks. Qualitative analysis of students’ solutions provided further insight into their understanding of basic algebraic concepts, and the nature of the processes and forms of reasoning they utilized. The results showed that students in each group were able to solve different number and types of tasks, using different strategies. Results also indicated that students from all grades were present in each group. These findings suggest the presence of a consistent trend in the difficulty level across early algebraic tasks which may support the existence of a specific developmental trend from more intuitive types of early algebraic thinking to more sophisticated ones.     

Appropriate educational technology: Does “appropriateness” have implications for the theoretical framework of educational technology?

It is argued here that educational technology can be inappropriate in developing countries due to dependence on the practices, rather than the principles, of educational technology. Practices have, inevitably, a cultural dimension, and it is proposed that the solution to the problem is the clearer identification of principles and the encouragement of educational technologists to work from principles rather than from practices.     

The warrant for constructivist practice within educational technology

Educational technology is an instantiation of technical rationality. Technical rationality depends on an objectivist epistemology and a representational model of mind. Currently, a growing number of practitioners in the field of educational technology consider themselves constructivists. Because their epistemological position conflicts with that of technical rationality, these practitioners must currently find a warrant for their practice outside the field. However, a warrant for a strong form of constructivism (enactive constructivism) can be located in recent developments in systems theory, one of the foundational pillars of educational technology. These developments have the potential to provide practitioners a philosophical mooring within the field itself. One of these developments, autonomous systems theory, with its rejection of the representational model of mind, is described, and implications of its application to educational technology are discussed.     

高校教育技术教学改革的探索与研究

本文就高师现代教育技术的改革、发展进行了探索与研究 ,对如何更新和改革现代教育技术的内容及教学方法提出建议     

现代教育技术在职业教育中的应用

一、现代教育技术提高教师素质的应用研究 通过对现代教育技术的应用研究,探讨现代教学模式的结构,研究现代教学的方法,以讲座、竞赛、赛教、课件制作评比等形式,全面提高教师运用现代教育技术的能力。     

Frameworks of educational technology*

This paper, written from a 20th‐century perspective, traces the development of, and influences on, the field of instructional technology and attempts to describe a framework within which we can better understand the field.