Educational technology refers to the use of technology in educational settings like schools, universities, and independent study. Originally, visual media like photographs and films were used, but then audio was added. Silent films were produced for instruction but rarely used due to lack of teacher skills, high costs, and difficulties integrating films into lessons. Radio was then adopted but had problems with audio quality, costs, and fitting broadcasts into classes. Television became a major focus in the 1950s and 1960s due to funding and educational channels, but high production and equipment costs were drawbacks. Computers began being used widely for instruction in schools in the 1980s, but access was limited. Educational technologist Richard Clark argued that media do not influence learning outcomes.

2. WHAT IS EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY?
The term educational technology refers to the
use of technology in educational settings,
whether it be elementary and secondary schools,
colleges and universities, corporate training sites,
or independent study at home

3. Visual education vs Audiovisual education
 The terms visual education and visual
instruction were used originally because many
of the media available to teachers, such as
three-dimensional objects, photographs, and
silent films, depended upon sight.
 When sound was added to film and audio
recordings became popular, the terms
audiovisual education, audiovisual instruction,
and audiovisual devices were used to represent
the variety of media employed to supplement
instruction.

4. FILMS
 Silent films were being produced for instructional
use.
 Teachers used films only sparingly.
REASONS
 Teachers’ lack of skill in using equipment.
 The cost of films and equipment.
 Inaccessibility of equipment needed.
 The time involved in finding the right film for
each class.

5. RADIO
 Radio was the next
technology to gain
attention.
 In 1920 the Radio Division
of the U.S. Department of
Commerce began to
license commercial and
educational stations. Soon
schools, colleges,
departments of education,
and commercial stations
were providing radio
programming to schools.
DRAWBACKS
 Poor audio reception
 The cost of equipment
 The lack of fit between the
broadcasts and the
teachers’ agendas

6. TELEVISION
Instructional television was the focus of attention during
the 1950s and the 1960s.
FACTORS
 (1952) The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC)
decision to set aside 242 television channels for
educational purposes led to a rapid development of
educational television stations.
The substantial investment by the Ford Foundation ($170
million)

7.  School systems and state departments of education
formed consortia to pool funds to provide for the
cost of program development.
 Congress also provided funds to support
instructional television via satellite transmission in
an effort to help rural schools, in particular, to
obtain courses that might not otherwise be
available to their students
DRAWBACKS
• Substantial costs incurred for program
development and the purchase and maintenance
of equipment.

8. COMPUTERS
 (1980s) The appearance of microcomputers
 (1983) Computers were being used for instructional
purposes in 40 percent of all elementary schools and
75 percent of all secondary schools in the United
States.
DRAWBACKS
 Limited access

9. Has technology been successful in helping students learn
more effectively and efficiently?
Educational technologist Richard Clark claims:
"there are no learning benefits to be gained from employing
any specific medium to deliver instruction," and that "media
do not influence learning under any conditions," but are
"mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence
student achievement any more than the truck that delivers
our groceries causes changes in our nutrition" (1983, p.
445).

10.  History, the History of computers and the History of computers in
Education
http://www.csulb.edu/~murdock/histofcs.html
 Baldwin, R. (n.d) School Technology in Education
http://www.answers.com/topic/school-technology-in-education
 Educational Technology In Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology