Blog 1: Educational Technology

According to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, educational technology is defined as being, “the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and the evaluation of processes and resources for learning.” Over the years educational technology has gone from slides and radios, to computers with wireless internet and DVD with Blue Ray and high definition. Technology is changing the way students are learning material and even the military.

As a public relations major, understanding how educational technology impacts the community, students and those who use it, allows a way to understand our audience better and create better lines of communication. Better knowledge of how they learned something, what was available, what is the best way to sort of say, “be on their level” and know how to interact with them, would be ideal and the best way of doing your job as a public relations specialist. Also going into the military, knowledge of educational technology will help me to understand what my sailors and enlisted personnel are working with and find ways to help them.

VOA Special English Education Report

I chose this video, the VOA Special English Education Report, because I think it has a lot to do with the different advantages and applications of educational technology. The video mentions different factors that play into the amount of technology or type of technology including budgets and goals of teachers and schools. There are such devices such as the Smart Board that allows students to become involved with a n interactive white board. Other education professionals are integrating newer technology, such as I-pods and mobile phones, into the curriculum to make learning in the classroom more effective.