Ely, Donald. Trends in Educational Technology. 5^th Edition (2002).

Introduction: Eric Folks

Chapter 1 (Computer Access and Use): Eddie Mathews

Chapter 2 (Internet Access and Use): Leonel Yanez

Chapter 3 (Television and Video): Gustavo Cortez

Chapter 4 (Advocacy): Rogelio Ramos

Chapter 5 (Home Use and Distance Education): Jose Correa

Chapter 6 (New Delivery Systems): Marni Saenz- Carlos Ireta

Chapter 7 (Professional Development For Teachers): Michaelina Hernandez

Chapter 8 (Education Reform): Jessica Pettyjohn

Introduction: Summary by Eric Folks

Mr. Ely starts off the introduction by defining his terms: “trends” are indicators of direction, no guarantee of the future, but educated guesses based on where we are now and where we were up to this point and any patterns that can be discerned in between.  Additionally, identifying trends give us the chance to identify possible new areas for research and reflection.  Ely then goes on the identify a working definition on educational or instructional technology, a term or field that describes “a spectrum of resources and processes that are often used in education and training,” and one that was used to guide his research.  Data used in this latest edition originate from 1996 (a good ways back in terms of technology development!) but these are just a continuation of data-derived trends reaching as far back as 1987.

The rapidly advancing integration of technology in the classroom is not beneficial for student learning, it also provides us with new strategies for pedagogical reflection: we can use technology, for example rapidly deployed and disaggregated formative assessments through student response systems, to analyze the effectiveness of our own teaching.  But the virtually synonymous understanding of distance and/or online learning and educational technology reflect yet another epiphany: technology’s presence in people’s lives is similar to the historical role of bicycles for women or the Model T for the middle class in that technology provides access to otherwise inaccessible areas of experience.  More and more people can access more and more information in more and more ways, thanks to technology’s permeation of society’s varied socio-economic levels.  Indeed, Ely even makes veiled references to the Marxist’ leveling off of the “haves” and the “have nots” in describing technology’s increasingly less marginalized role in society: enough so, it should be pointed out, that even some of the hoity toity professional education associations have increasingly warmed up to the endorsement of technology’s role in education.  This is indeed an exciting time to be not just dipping our feet in the water but carving turns on the technology wave overtaking education!

Chapter 1: Computer Access and Use (Summary by Eddie Mathews)

Ely identifies eight trends in this recent edition. His first trend reports that in K-12 schools there is near saturation of computers while schools of higher education report only moderate saturation. Both students and teachers have easy access to computers and many of them are connected to the Internet.

In the 1983-84 school year there was one computer for every 125 students in elementary and secondary schools in America. Two years later there was one computer for every 50 students. By 2000 there was one computer for very 6.6 students. These figures represent access to a computer not assignment to students.

A 1999 study by the National Center for Educational Statistics, Teachers' Tools for the Twenty-First Century, reports that almost all public school teachers (99 percent) had access to computers somewhere in their schools. The actual use of computers in schools is difficult to assess since teachers may use them to create lesson plans, search the Internet for resources, communicate with other staff, or have students create documents using word processing and spreadsheet software.

Reports show that the use of computer in higher education is lower than K-12 education due to limited budget resources. However, 75% of colleges in 2001 did see the value of using a course management system for all online courses. About the same percentage of college students during this time own computers.  Most of the computers owned by students are desktops but laptops are on the increase due to increasingly available wireless services.

As the 21^st Century begins, computers symbolize educational technology in education-based research. The title of articles and the focus of research projects reveal a very strong emphasis on the number of computers in schools and how many of them have access to the Internet.  Unfortunately, other elements (like design and evaluation) of the instructional technology process are not emphasized at all when all the focus is on computers, applications, and the Internet. A more comprehensive view of technology is needed and a good place to start is to discuss current trends like technology literacy for teachers and the progress of distance education.

Chapter 3:Television and Video

Gustavo Cortez

Chapter 3 states that television and video use has decreased since there are other new trends that are being used in classrooms. One of the new trends that are available in classrooms is the use of video streaming. This type of streaming has become one of the most used because of its wide availability in the internet. Video streams can be found in many video streaming websites. Another new trend is the use of video conferencing. This type of conferencing can be done between different people in two or more locations. This type of conferencing can be done between two people in two places or between one person and several other people at different locations. Broadcast television is another trend currently being used which is available through a subscriber use of cable television. This trend is widely used at homes and also by schools. It can be watched as it occurs or can be seen at a later time if it is previously recorded. Many schools have subscribed to the use of educational cable channels that are copyright-free and can be recorded and shown the best time for the instructor and learner. Many distance educational courses are offered only on videotape and is widely used by many learners. Currently the use of television in classrooms has not decreased the use of computers in classrooms. Chapter 3 states that television still is an important factor in distance education and will be continued to be use as the years pass by.

Chapter 4: Advocacy

In the last decade, there has been a push for educational technology in higher education, the government, and the business and industry sector.  Many states have tried to pass legislation to provide schools the funds to purchase more technology for teachers and students. The U.S. Department of Education’s estimates states funding for educational technology is over eight billion dollars since 1995. Employers and commercial organizations have increased their support for educational technology training which makes the cause more legitimate. U.S. Department of  Education, The CEO Forum on Educations and Technology, and The President’s Information Technology Advisory committee are several organizations that have conducted studies and outlined similar goals for developing students 21^st century skills:
1. All students and teachers will  have equitable access to information technology

2. All teachers and related professionals will use technology effectively to help students meet educational objectives and include 21^st century skills.

3. Establish partnerships involving government, university and industry to increase investment in research and development of the next generations of technology applications for teaching and learning.

4. Develop 21^st century standards.

Even though there is great momentum in the advocacy for educational technology in all sectors, some teacher organizations are worried the movement might be hijacked by a “corporate” mindset of profits instead of providing the best educations possible.  A study by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) cautions that the current ideas for educational come from the corporate sector and focus on product standardization, tight personnel control and cost effectiveness. However, many of the resolutions adopted by AFT and the National Education Association (NEA) did not address the topics of educational technology.  Any resolutions the organizations did consider had more to do with hardware, and teacher preparation.  There is agreement on the issue of access and effective use of instructional technology by teachers and students.  There is support from all the sectors of education and the private industry to have equitable access to technology for students.

Chapter 6 New delivery system (Summary by Marni Saenz)

Technology has advanced greatly since "wireless connectivity" has been introduced.  Wireless (hand held) devices include paging systems, cordless phones, cell phones, garage door openers, graphing calculators, and hand held computers.  Through the years each of these devices have seen improvements with new upgrades that prior versions did not have.  Walter S. Mossenberg believes that the day of personal computers are coming to an end, and that the new technology like laptops, PDAs and smaller devices will "interact" with the personal computer, but that the users will no longer be "tied down."

Universities and schools have help catapult the laptop into a realm where they are more readily available to students as well as tied into their infrastructure.  There are five ways that laptops are tied into the infrastructure of schools:

1. Each student has their own laptop, whether it be at school or at home.

2. Teachers share a school purchased classroom set or COWS (computers on Wheels)

3.In any classroom students may or may not have a laptop to use.

4. Each class is assigned so many laptops for students usage.

5. There is some combination of the above.

Even thought Eli tells how far the laptop has come, he still talks about uncertainty with the costs, security, technical support, and equability being the obstacle laptops will face to see if they take off in the future like he projects. 

Chapter 7 Professionsl Development for Teachers (Summary by Michaelina Hernandez)

When I started working as a Principal's Secretary in 1984.  I remember one of my responsibilities was to make sure that teachers had an opportunity to attend a session on technology.  In chapter seven it talks about how teachers will have barriers regarding lack of  skills and confidence.  In order to promote the use of technology in education the companies offer teacher trainings  and support in  order for the school districts to purchase their technology equipment.   The companies that sell software and hardware like Dell, Apple etc. office trainings .  The state also offers funding for teacher training in various formats.   There was an article  "Internet Access Booms in Schools" published in USA Today, 6 September 2001 states, that teachers in the Norwest Independent School District in Dalles, Texas have to master computer skills in order to receive pay raises under a new rule adopted by the school. board.  Brownsville Independent School District offers technology training for teachers to learn how to use grade speed.  The gradebook for teachers is used electronically .  There is an educational nonprofit organization (NetDay) reported that 84% of teachers believe that a computer and access to the internet has improved the quality of education.  I believe this is true because elementary students are being trained to used the computer as early as 1st grade.  Teachers are becoming more literate when it comes to technology even in creating their curriculum on a daily basis.  Funding for the new generation of technology is also being given to the school districts for Professiona Development sessions.

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Chapter 2 (Internet Access and Use): Leonel Yanez

According to Chapter Two Internet Access and Use in the year 2001, the use of the internet was starting to progress where student and teachers used the new technology to access for information on line. The use was unlimited during that period of time where student could gather necessary information with a click of a button, other activities also include commerce, hobbies, personal correspondence, research, and education. Around 73% of the kids ranging from 12 to 17 had some type of access to the internet for gathering information. However, since then numbers have increased not only here in the United States but around the world. With this new type of technology it also gave education a boost for what was to come up in near future, enabling teachers to correspond with students in ways that was unheard of during the 80’s to the 90’s. Enabling students to interact with other students through email, and the through the use of thread discussion, and other communications methods. With this new rapid growth of technology it also gave teachers a new set of tools to use in education to better teach. Since the year 2001 internet access in schools have increased, allowing teacher for example to connect with other school, and other students around the world from the United States to other countries through web stream enabling their student to interact with other students without ever leaving the class room. Online classes are rapidly becoming a new source of education since the year 2001, allowing student from miles away to attend a class necessary for them to get their education. New ways for students is to interact through live classrooms, where student can gather with other teammates and discuss projects or show projects. The upcoming year’s new technologies and new methods will appear to educate our children, and teachers will have to learn the latest technologies necessary to educate our children from the use of online course to through support groups through online. No matter what both students, and teachers are now just tapping into the world of education where information is just a click away.

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Chapter 6 (New Delivery Systems): Carlos Ireta

     New Delivery System of today’s technology has grown so much over the past years.  Lets recall 10 years ago how things were done.  Classrooms we taught with chalk and a blackboard, notes had to be handwritten, and in order to apply for something you would have to fill out the application by hand.  Know a day’s classes are taught not only with digital media but even online, in addition know students take notes with their laptops or even record the class audio.  Laptops and wireless communications have integrated a simpler way to communicate and to stream like processes.  For example, couple of years ago here at work we has the students come in person to fill out the applications and know they complete and submit the applications online. As Eli states in this chapter laptops have been integrated into schools and universities in many different ways.

     “Laptop computers are integrated into technology infrastructure of schools and universities in at least five specific ways: (1) each student has his or her own laptop for use at home or in school, (2) a school- purchased classroom set is shared among teachers, (3) in any given classroom, there are students with and without laptops, (4) each classroom is permanently assigned a few laptops for students to share, and (5) some combination of the above models (Rockman at al. 1998)”.

     Last but not least, technology will continue to impress us with more sophisticated ways to simplify or lives, but remember that every innovation has it cost and is not inexpensive.

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Chapter 8: Education Reform (Summary by Jessica Pettyjohn)

The eighth trend is based on Education Reform. According to Donald Ely (2002), “More than ever, reputable organizations perceive the use of instructional technology in schools, colleges and the public sector as a vehicle for educational reform.”

Whenever educational reform is called for, many people look to technology as a vehicle for reformation.  For example, because technology has created solutions in the private sector, industrial field and business world, reformers automatically assume that technology can create the same results for education.  One of the comments Ely examines is “Technology is the answer! But what was the question?”

Technology cannot solve any issues in educational reform if the educational program itself is not critically analyzed. Every time a new technology is introduced to education, it is proclaimed as a radical new tool that will change education. For example, in 1913 Thomas Edison commented that books would become obsolete due to the usage of motion pictures. The trends have been the following: instructional television in the 1950’s, programmed instruction in the 1960’s, and microcomputers in the 1970’s.

To help educational reform in the United States, the U.S. Department of Education created six Regional Technology Centers (R*TECs) in 1995. Realignment created ten centers in 2000. These centers created a technological support system for educators, school districts and state educational programs. Currently, all states are required to have a technology plan for education. Most technology leadership applications came from the U.S. Department of Education in the past. Teachers and schools of higher education are very open to educational technology reform.