Perceptions and Opinions of Educational Technologists Related to Educational Technology

International Forum of Educational Technology & Society. Athabasca University, School of Computing & Information Systems, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada. Tel: 780-675-6812; Fax: 780-675-6973; Web site: http://www.ifets.info

Y

13

Opinions; Educational Technology; Definitions; Educational History; Foreign Countries; Intellectual Disciplines; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; Comparative Analysis; Surveys; Electronic Learning; Computer Uses in Education; Distance Education

Canada; Indonesia; Nigeria; Poland; Turkey; United States

1436-4522

Perceptions related to "educational technology" have been continuously changing throughout the century. At this point, educational technology seems to be a confusing or an incomprehensible concept for most people. Perceptions of professional educational technologists in the relevant field can provide individuals who build their career in the relevant area with various perspectives. Also practices related to educational technology and relevant opinions of professionals can provide a guiding outline for the research activities being conducted in the field. This research was conducted to reveal how educational technology is perceived as a discipline, and how opinions about applications of educational technology in various countries differ. A total of 71 professionals from 12 universities in six countries participated in this research, implemented through survey method. Results support the idea that functions of the educational technology in various areas are mostly related to learning-teaching processes, and learning resources. Professional opinions on current status of the discipline reflect that there are no considerable differences related to the problems being experienced among different countries. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)

As Provided

14

2009

EJ846702