Ed Tech Geek

Wow, I finally have a blog.  I feel like the web 2.0 world has left me in the dust.  I am so excited to give this a try!

Instructional Technology is a term that was completely new to me four years ago when I first became an educator.  At that time my background in technology itself was much more developed then my knowledge of education, pedagogy and quality instruction.  If you  asked me then what I felt instructional technology was I probably would have considered all technology instructional, with the idea that I would love using any gadget possible during a lesson.  My focus would have been more on what I could use and not why I was using it.  My definition of instructional technology has definitely evolved over these few years though, and now I actually find it harder then ever to put one solid description on the term instructional technology.

My core belief at this time is that instructional technology is any technology that supports instruction by enhancing the learning of the students.  This is a very general description that could be interpreted in many ways.  In this description I see technology as hardware, software, media devices, peripherals and any other device that supports input, output or processing of information.  When this technology is used either by a teacher or by a student to enhance a lesson, I feel that there is a greater opportunity for student’s to have a more enriched learning experience. 

There is a great deal of technolgoy that is used by teachers or in an enducational setting that is used for records and clerical tasks.  Although there may also be an instructional use for these technologies, I don’t think that you can consider them instructional when used as a clerical tool.  It isn’t the technology itself that is instructional, it is all about how it is being used.  I do feel that technology can be considered instructional even if the students aren’t directly using it themselves though.  I think a teacher can do a great job of using technology to enhance their lessons, and help their students have a better learning experience.