Computers per se aren’t important – the learning and thinking which happens while students work with computers are important. Interactivity is not what happens when a finger clicks on a mouse button, but what happens when a mind is engaged in work (or play) facilitated through computer technology. (Milt McClaren, personal communication, October 19, 2007)

Technology is a part of our everyday lives. It is continuously evolving; shaping our culture and being shaped by our culture. We are situated in a time and place steeped in technological advancement. As an educator, I am concerned with the affect new technologies have on my students and the effect I can have on my students with these technologies.

My philosophy of educational technology is directly related to my understanding of, and preference for, various theories of learning and teaching. Learning is an active, social process in which participants need to be fully engaged (Driscoll, 2005). To capture the minds of students, this means utilizing media and the mediums with which they are familiar and by which they are motivated. For today’s students, this includes computers, Internet resources, multi-media and social networking. The effective use of these technologies along with “hands-on, minds-on” (Duckworth, Hawkins and Henriques in Koch, 2006, p.93) active learning strategies fosters engagement and can produce a deeper understanding of content and context. As Moody states in Children of Telstar, “media become extensions of the mind” when used to create something (1999). Students will learn about media by doing media.

Teaching with computers, however, must also involve instruction about computers – not necessarily the ‘how’ of computers but the ‘why’ and the ‘who’ of computers. Technology and technological advancements have serious environmental, social and cultural implications about which members of a democratic society need to be aware (Kerr, 2004). Thus, it is important that a critical pedagogical approach (Petrina, 2008) be employed to help students, throughout their time in school, become increasingly aware of the major issues: the digital divide; bias; corporate influence; the power structure; consumerism; misinformation; property rights to name but a few.
While students today may be ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001), they are not necessarily critical consumers of technology. We need to help them become active rather than passive learners. To this end, we must address the impact of technology on the world and the impact they can have on the world with technology.

References
Driscoll, M.P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction. Toronto, ON: Pearson.
Kerr, S. T. (2004). Toward a sociology of educational technology. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (pp. 113-142). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Koch, J. (2006). Learning Theories and Pedagogy. In K. Appleton (Ed.), Elementary Science Teacher Education: international perspectives on contemporary issues and practice (ch.6). Routledge Publishing.
Moody, K. (1999). The children of Telstar. New York: Vantage
Petrina, S. (2008) Theory Primer for CUST 601. Vancouver, BC: Tech no-Printing Press.

Prensky, M. (2001). “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. On the Horizon 9 (5). Lincoln: NCB University Press.