Educational technology plays important roles in 21st century education by allowing student-centered and collaborative learning, providing context for skills, and giving 24/7 access to information. It can be used comprehensively to develop 21st century skills through fact-based learning, support innovative teaching, and create robust educational systems. The key functions of educational technology include improving teaching and learning, enhancing educational goals, developing curriculum and materials, and identifying community needs.

1. Roles and Functions of
Educational technology in the
21st Century Education
Creating a 21st century education system is about
making sure that all students are prepared to
succeed in a competitive world---a world with plenty
of opportunities for highly skilled individuals and
limited options for everyone else.
It’s about maximizing the impact of technology to
develop proficiency in the century skills, support
innovative teaching and learning, and create robust
educational support systems.

2. In order to prepare students to play their role in 21st
century society we are part of, the following can be
considered when deciding how education will look in
our schools and classrooms.
1. Instruction should be student-centered
-instead of passively receiving information , the
students would gather information on their own,
under the guidance of their teacher. Different
learning styles are encouraged, and students have an
enhanced sense of motivation and responsibility.
-learning is about discovery, not the memorization of
facts.

3. 2. Education should be collaborative
-students must learn how to collaborate with
others. Collaboration should also be dynamic.
-students should learn how to recognize the
different strengths and talents each person can
bring to a project, and change roles depending
on those attributes.
3.Learning should have context
-the teacher can make a point of helping
students to understand how the skills they are
building can be applied in their lives.

4. -students will be much more motivated to learn
something that they can see the value in. We need
to take more general approach and teach them the
skills that are useful in any situation.
Technology is a tool, a way for fact-based learning
and allows students to do a lot of the research
using a lot of the internet and the various tools.

5. The Role of Technology in 21st Century
Learning:
1.Technology allows 24/7 access to information
2. Constant social media interaction , and
3. Easily created and shared digital content.

6. There is a call for action to integrate technology
as a fundamental building block into education
in three broad areas:
1. Use technology comprehensively to develop
proficiency in 21st century skills.
2.Use technology comprehensively to support
innovative teaching and learning.
3.Use technology comprehensively to create
robust education support systems.

7. Important Functions of Educational Technology
1.Improvement of Teaching
-By developing the theories of teaching, it helps
in improving the quality of education.

8. 2. Analysis of the teaching and learning
process
-educational technology aims at analyzing
the process of teaching-learning thoroughly.
-the principles of teaching and the maxims of
teaching are also evaluated by it.
-overall, it tries to establish better
relationship between teaching and learning.

9. 3. Improvement of learning
-educational technology analyses the
process of learning and the related
learning theories. It facilitates more and
more of learning in less time. It takes
the help of various empirically
established generations from
psychology, sociology, physical sciences
etc.

10. 4.Enhancing goals of education
-everything in this universe is undergoing
tremendous changes and with a very fast
speed. Educational technology helps in
enhancing the right objectives in the light of
the changed circumstances and changed in
the environment.

11. 5. Training to teachers
-the changed type of environment
with new curriculum and new materials is
to be handled by teachers. Right type of
training to teachers is the need of hour.
Educational technology can render its
valuable help training of teachers also.

12. 6. Development of curriculum
-curriculum is the total teaching-learning
environment, which has to be modified and
remodeled in the light of latest thoughts.
Educational technology can do this job of
developing a suitable curriculum
appropriately.

13. 7. Development of teaching-learning
materials
Teaching –learning materials are also as
important as anything else in the teaching –
learning process. They have to be
accordance with the environment of the
learners. Only right type of materials will
able to modify the behavior of the learner
suitably making him a fit person for the
society.

14. 8. Teaching –learning strategies
- a strategy plays an important role in the
hands of a teacher in every teaching-learning
situation. The strategy has to be the right one,
which should be accordance with the materials
and is able to bring about effective teaching-
learning. The different strategies are being
evolved by educational technology. The
knowledge of those strategies is a must for
every teacher.

15. 9. Development of audio-visual aids
-audio-visual aids have always played an
important role in the teaching –learning process.
They need be used according to the times. The
software aids, the hardware aids, the computer
etc., have to be used in the present type of
teaching-learning environment. Computer
assisted instructions will help the learner as well
as teacher to achieve the goals of education more
conveniently.

16. 10. Help in overall improvement
-educational technology helps in
locating the problems in the different areas
of education. It also helps in the remedying
the draw-backs. Educational technology
can revolutionize the whole process of
teaching learning.

17. 11. Identification of needs of the
community
-educational technology identifies the
needs of the community. It helps in
providing equal education opportunities to
backward people, disadvantaged and
deprived sections of the society. Educational
technology aims at identifying the needs of
the community from time to time. Then it
tries to improve the community in every
possible way.