Education technology

WHAT IS EDTECH AND
WHY SHOULD IT
MATTER TO YOU?
By Helena Lazaro
Education Technology (also known as
“EdTech”) refers to an area of
technology devoted to the development
and application of tools (including
software, hardware, and processes)
intended to promote education.
Put another way , “EdTech is a study
and ethical practice for facilitating
learning and improving performance
by creating, using and managing
appropriate technological processes
and resources.”
Although this developing field may
sound like a specialized niche, its
potential implications are far-reaching
and affect many segments of the
population. Read on to find out if
you’re among those most likely to
benefit from the advancement of
EdTech, and how you can contribute to
its growth.
For Educators and
Educational
Institutions…
Caleb Clark, educator and EdTech
expert, summarizes the importance of
EdTech this way : “Geeks can’t teach,
and teachers can’t geek.” What exactly
does he mean by that?
The great tech minds tasked with
creating the data-driven processes and
applications that facilitate learning
may understand solution-
implementation–but they can’t stand in
for educators when it comes to
disseminating knowledge.
Conversely, strong educators aren’t
necessarily equipped or inclined to
deal with all the technology available
to them and develop ways to apply it
to their discipline. They will be the first
to tell you that there are enough
challenges in their day-to-day work
without our asking them to become IT
experts, as well.
Services like Alma and Engrade
provide one-stop solutions for teachers
and schools, while illustrating just how
far EdTech can take us. If developed
and applied correctly, educational
technology has the potential to
become truly industry-changing for
educators–streamlining time-consuming
processes (like lesson planning,
reporting, and record-keeping) and
simplifying communication–with even
farther-reaching implications for
educational institutions themselves.
EdTech Magazine cites the capacity of
this technology for providing
institutions with “a very clear
understanding of any number of points
of reference — student progress,
budget performance, alumni snapshots;
the list of possibilities and insights truly
is limitless.”
For this reason, the future of education
relies on an ongoing dialogue between
educators and educational institutions,
and professionals in the tech world.
For Technologists and
Designers…
For tech professionals, this means a
growing and ongoing need for
development in the area that
is able to scale as evolving devices and
technology multiply avenues for
information delivery. And that’s a tall
order in a landscape where these
elements are developing almost more
quickly than they can be understood
and applied to the field of education.
Not surprisingly, the current rate of
EdTech development is leaving
gaps. The recent Software &
Information Industry Association’s
2014 K-20 vision survey revealed a
“high desire for more technology
integration–and need for more
support–at all educational levels.”
The annual survey, which polls nearly
1,000 educators across every tier of
K-20 education, was released in June
during the International Society for
Technology in
Education’s 2014 expo and indicated
that “the ideal level of technology
integration is significantly higher than
current levels.” EdTech Magazine
highlighted several findings from the
report, including the following pain
points :
The majority of K-12
respondents do not feel
“highly prepared” for
online, summative
assessments: 42 percent
say they have adequate
bandwidth, and 36
percent say they have
enough devices and
other hardware for
students.
Three-quarters of K-12
respondents say
technology integration
is highly important, but
their current levels and
ideal levels of
integration do not
align: Only 22 percent
say their schools are
already highly
integrated.
These findings signal a need for
technological and professional
development on every level of EdTech,
and the presence of unique career
development opportunities.
For Career Seekers…
While a number of job-seekers wish to
find work that is simultaneously
fulfilling and profitable, the two don’t
always seem to go hand in hand (just
ask a teacher).
However, the dramatic increase of
venture capital investment in
Education Technology promises just
that.
Forbes remarks, “Whereas teachers
generally top out at around $80,000
(and only if they get masters/doctoral
degrees), education entrepreneurs have
shown that making money and doing
good are not always misaligned.”
Whether you’re embarking on a new
career or seeking career guidance, the
promise of the growing educational
technology field delivers enticing
opportunities to apply your skills in an
environment with true global impact.
For Everyone Else…
At the risk of over-evangelizing the
importance of Education Technology, it
can be said that the successful
development of these tools will impact
every aspect of our future. Accessible,
effective solutions for
superior education empower students
and teachers to focus on the task of
learning. They can do more with the
resources they have, improving the
quality of education available to young
people around the globe, and better-
equipping them for the future.
These are our imminent engineers,
architects, and doctors–the leaders of
social and political movements to
come. Making sure they have the best
means available in order to prepare
them for these roles ensures a brighter
future for all living creatures, and for
the planet itself. The next generation
faces no shortage of challenges–it’s our
job to see that they face no shortage
of support in order to overcome them.
Want to prepare for a career in
educational technology? Try out 12-
week Web Development Immersive.