Evaluating Educational Technologies

285 Chapter 24 Evaluating Educational Technologies: Historical Milestones Laurie Ruberg Center for Educational Technologies®,Wheeling Jesuit University, USA Manetta Calinger Center for Educational Technologies®,Wheeling Jesuit University, USA Bruce C. Howard Center for Educational Technologies®,Wheeling Jesuit University, USA ABSTRACT Our team of researchers reviewed published results from the last 15 years to compile a list of the characteristics of effective educational uses of technology. All the studies considered technical, administrative, and learning features, while more recent investigations emphasized administrative characteristics necessary to support No Child Left Behind reporting. Recommended characteristics have evolved over time as expectations for technology integration have shifted from a focus on technology skill development to integrated use of technology as part of effective teaching and learning practices. Technology literacy is now considered as an integrated component of curriculum support and professional development. A timeline of relevant historical milestones in the evaluation of educational technologies illustrates how the understanding of and expectations for effective use of educational technologies has progressed to keep pace with advances in technological affordances. INTRODUCTION In an effort to improve student learning, educators, administrators, and researchers over the years have sought to identify the disparities across policy, curriculum, teacher professional training, student learning needs, and classroom environments. What followed were their recommendations for closing the gaps through the promise of new emerging technologies. In the last 15 years nearly every school district has completed several phases of major computer purchases, upgraded their bandwidth, and conducted professional training on the use of technology. In this chapter we review the most relevant educational technology reports and studies of the last 15 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-936-6.ch024 Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Evaluating Educational Technologies years to gain perspective on their results and the evolution of the educational technology environment. The studies from 1993 through 2002 share a common feature—they include, either implicitly or explicitly, specific criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of technology or for identifying the technology features necessary for use in formal or informal education environments. For example, such criteria might include cost, ease of use, or impact on student learning. More recent studies reflect a shift in focus away from evaluation of the technology (ISTE, 2002) to a perspective that examines how integrated use of a given technology (or system of technologies) improves teaching and learning processes (ISTE, 2008). Our analysis includes only reports and studies that issued multiple recommendations. Each study represents a major effort or relevant perspective to our current objective of establishing design principles and metrics for choosing and using educational technologies. We briefly describe the context of each report and list its recommendations. Additionally, we provide a much longer timeline of relevant historical milestones in the evaluation of educational technologies. See Figure 1. REVIEW OF MAJOR EFFORTS IN EVALUATING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES CEO Forum on Education and Technology (1996-2001) The CEO Forum on Education and Technology was founded in 1996 and committed to a fiveyear partnership between business and education leaders to assess and monitor the progress toward integrating technology in America’s schools. The forum published annual School Technology and Readiness Reports. A few of the reports focused on topics such as teacher preparation programs and professional development, but evaluating and 286 assessing the role of technology in education were the focus of several of the annual reports. The last report, Key Building Blocks for Student Achievement in the 21st Century (2001), culminated a five-year study that assessed varying aspects of assimilating technology into U.S. classrooms. This report identified four critical elements of effective technology implementation in American schools: connectivity, hardware, content (to allow integration of technology into the curriculum), and professional development. The investigation reported several other key findings, most importantly that educational technology can improve student achievement. Assessments of scores in basic skill areas showed increases in proficiency in all areas. Eleven percent of the gain directly correlated to the technology implementation in the basic skills and computer education classes begun 10 years earlier. Interestingly, the study also found that achievement tests were based primarily on accessed state standards, and these standards generally emphasized lower order skills. The study recommended that standards be updated to reflect the need for preparing students with the technology skills needed for the 21st century environment. The Milken Family Foundation (1997, 1998) The Milken Family Foundation is a private organization whose goal is “to discover and advance inventive and effective ways of helping people help themselves to…lead productive and satisfying lives.” The foundation works toward this objective primarily thorough education and medical research initiatives. Its report, A Call for a National Research Agenda (1997), is brief and, at first glance, seemingly outdated now more than a decade later. However, the essay implored the United States to outline a national agenda researching the benefits of educational technology in America’s classrooms. The agenda had four tasks: (a) catalog 11 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/evaluating-educationaltechnologies/38407?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Books, InfoSci-Educational Technologies, InfoSci-Educational Technologies, Library Science, Information Studies, and Education, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Educational Science and Technology, InfoSci-Select. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/library-recommendation/?id=1 Related Content Distance Education Experts and the Distance Education Ecosystem: An Analysis on Learner and Educator Perceptions M. Banu Gundogan (2015). Identification, Evaluation, and Perceptions of Distance Education Experts (pp. 211-230). www.igi-global.com/chapter/distance-education-experts-and-the-distance-educationecosystem/125414?camid=4v1a Improving Evaluations in Computer-Supported Learning Projects John B. Nash, Christoph Richter and Heidrun Allert (2005). Encyclopedia of Distance Learning (pp. 10481053). www.igi-global.com/chapter/improving-evaluations-computer-supportedlearning/12231?camid=4v1a Modeling Social Influences in a Knowledge Management Network Giacomo Franco, Paolo Maresca and Giancarlo Nota (2012). Intelligent Learning Systems and Advancements in Computer-Aided Instruction: Emerging Studies (pp. 1-16). www.igi-global.com/chapter/modeling-social-influences-knowledgemanagement/61959?camid=4v1a Cooperation between a Distance Teaching University and an On-Campus University: The Creation of a Dual-Mode University Louise Bertrand (2013). Global Challenges and Perspectives in Blended and Distance Learning (pp. 115123). www.igi-global.com/chapter/cooperation-between-distance-teachinguniversity/75647?camid=4v1a