When I first did my education degree in 2005, I was able to be part of an educational technology research group.  I remember initially thinking that educational technologists were the people who fixed the computers and LCD projectors in the schools.    My profs were doing a research project on e-portfolios and went out of their way to expose us to educational technology and demonstrate ways to “facilitate” (Januszewski, 2001) learning via technology. My misguided conception correlated with a pre-1963 definition of educational technology.  The  1963 essential shift from product to process enabled educational technologists to focus on the learning affordances provided by technology, rather than the technology object (as I initially had).

Januszewski (2001) highlighted the work of James Finn who opposed the notion that “technology is a category of objects…rather…technology is a process and a way of thinking”(Dorbolo, 2004).  After seven years experience in the education field I have come to understand how educational technology is more about the education and less about the technology.  It is essential that I as an educator understand the learning theories underlying ET.  For example, how the substitution of a word in a definition could alter the meaning of educational technology (Januszeqski, 2001 & Dorbolo, 2004).  The change from “control” to “facilitate” meant a move away from behaviouralism to the eventual constructivism/connectivism viewpoint of today, thus helping to place further emphasis on the learning and process aspect of educational technology.

While reading the political and economic history of the definition of educational technology and e-learning, I was struck by the causal relationship of the definitions and the societal pressures of the time.  The definition of educational technology will continue to evolve as best practices in education change and our understanding of the affordances of technology change.

Educational technology as a machine is a commodity.  It will be essential for educators and researchers to continually reinforce the 1993 definition of educational technology as a “design process and resource” (Januszewski, 2001) for learning.