Role of Technology in Education
The Role of Technology in Quality Education
Quality education is a universal goal. It is common to hear arguments that instructional technology will be the key to educational quality as we enter the new millenium (cf. Fiske and Hammond, 1997). Investment in educational technology is urged upon policy-makers as the path to educational quality (Mergendollar, 1996). In fact, enthusiasts for educational technology argue that quality has and will continue to increase rapidly, creating a "new educational culture" (Connick, 1997). Whatever problems exist are seen as ones which can be handled through better administrative and technological planning - that is, technology believers perceive no intrinsic obstacles to total quality assurance using information technology in higher education (ex., Roth and Sanders, 1996).
Other voices question educational technology as a panacea. Cardenas (1998), for instance, has written on the problems associated with technology in the college classroom in terms of issues such as poorly functioning equipment, over-promotion of technology-based learning to students, and lack of quality in courses delivered by technology. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reported on critics of educational technology who say students choosing online courses are not getting the education they pay for, and question whether universities should be providing such instruction (Guernsey, 1998). The American Federation of Teachers and other faculty organizations have also raised serious cautions about web-based education (Mingle and Gold, 1996) and have even gone on strike over it.
The unruly growth of online distance education is the basis of these concerns. One has only to look at popular books like, The Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools: Earning Your Degree without Leaving Home (Phillips and Yager, 1998). This work profiles 195 accredited institutions that offered graduate degrees via distance learning as of 1997-98. It
Quality education is a universal goal. It is common to hear arguments that instructional technology will be the key to educational quality as we enter the new millenium (cf. Fiske and Hammond, 1997). Investment in educational technology is urged upon policy-makers as the path to educational quality (Mergendollar, 1996). In fact, enthusiasts for educational technology argue that quality has and will continue to increase rapidly, creating a "new educational culture" (Connick, 1997). Whatever problems exist are seen as ones which can be handled through better administrative and technological planning - that is, technology believers perceive no intrinsic obstacles to total quality assurance using information technology in higher education (ex., Roth and Sanders, 1996).
Other voices question educational technology as a panacea. Cardenas (1998), for instance, has written on the problems associated with technology in the college classroom in terms of issues such as poorly functioning equipment, over-promotion of technology-based learning to students, and lack of quality in courses delivered by technology. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education reported on critics of educational technology who say students choosing online courses are not getting the education they pay for, and question whether universities should be providing such instruction (Guernsey, 1998). The American Federation of Teachers and other faculty organizations have also raised serious cautions about web-based education (Mingle and Gold, 1996) and have even gone on strike over it.
The unruly growth of online distance education is the basis of these concerns. One has only to look at popular books like, The Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools: Earning Your Degree without Leaving Home (Phillips and Yager, 1998). This work profiles 195 accredited institutions that offered graduate degrees via distance learning as of 1997-98. It
References: Alexander, Edith E. and Dianne Jeffries (1997) Distance learning in joint public affairs and visual information training. Paper presented at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (19th, December 1-4, 1997). Alic, John A. (1997). Knowledge, skill, and education in the new global economy, Futures, 29(1): 5-16. Barnard, John (1997) Bergeron, Bryan P. (1996). Competency as a paradigm for technology-enabled instruction and evaluation. Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems, 10(2): 22-24. Blakeley, J. A. and J. Curran-Smith (1998). Teaching community health nursing by distance methods: development, process, and evaluation. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 29(4): 148-153. Blumenstyk, Goldie (1996) Cardenas, Karen (1998). Technology in today 's classroom: It slices and it dices, but does it serve us well? Academe, 84(3): 27-29. Carnwell, R. (1998). Community nurses ' experiences of distance learning: Implications for autonomy and dependence. Nurse Education Today, 18(8): 610-615. Clinton, President Bill (1996) Connick, George P. (1997). Issues and trends to take us into the twenty-first century. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 71(7-12). Cravener, P Davis, Byron L. and Edward L. Kick (1996). Human capital issues in the use of information technology in education. Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Summer): 169-180. Davis, Stan and Jim Botkin (1994). The monster under the bed : How business is mastering the opportunity of knowledge for profit. New York: Simon & Schuster. Day, R., and L Degnan, Edward J. and John W. Jacobs (1998). Dual-use technology: A total community resource In Proceedings of the Families, Technology, and Education Conference (Chicago, IL, October 30-November 1, 1997). DeLoughry, Thomas J. (1995). Will higher education thrive or wither in cyberspace?: High level administrators meet to debate on future of university higher education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 41, No. 20 (Jan 27): pA22(1). Denning, Peter J. (1996). The university 's next challenges. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 39, No. 5 (May): 27-31. Denning, Peter J. (1997). Skewer the stereotype. Educom Review, 33(3): 30-34. E309M Project (1995). "Social impacts", a web document dated Spring 1995 at the URL: ...ouzie/309mprojects/project4/virted/web_page_final/social.htm (accessed 4/17/96). Eddy, John, John Burnett, Donald Spaulding, and Stan Murphy (1997) Educom Review (1999). The future of learning: An interview with Alfred Bork. Educom Review, 34(4): 24-27, 48-50. English, T., A Ewell, Peter and Jane Wellman (1997). Refashioning accountability: Toward a "coordinated" system of quality assurance for higher education. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States. Policy Papers on Higher Education. Farrington, Gregory C. (1999). The new technologies and the future of residential undergraduate education. Educom Review 34(4): 38-44. Fiske, Edmond and Bruce Hammond (1997). Identifying quality in American colleges and universities. Planning for Higher Education, 26(1): 8-15. Garson, G. David (1987). Academic microcomputing: A resource guide. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Garson, G. David (1995). Computer technology and social issues. Harrisburg, PA: The Idea Group. Guernsey, Lisa (1998) Hall, Brandon (1996). Lessons in corporate training: Multimedia 's big payoff. New Media, Vol. 6, No. 4 (March 11, 1996): 40-45. Hamilton, Kendall and Susan Miller (1997). Internet U - no ivy, no walls, no keg parties. Newsweek, Vol. 129, No. 10 (March 10): 12. Katz, Richard N. et al. (1999). Dancing with the devil: Information technology and the new competition in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Johnstone, Sally M. and Barbara Krauth (1996). Balancing equity and access: Some principles of good practice for the virtual university. Change 28(2): 38-41. Jonassen, David H Keller, F. S. (1968) "Goodbye, Teacher . . ." Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1: 79-89. Keller, F Martin, Randy , ed. (1999). Chalk lines: The politics of work in the managed university. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Mergendoller, John R. (1996). Moving from technological possibility to richer student learning: Revitalizing infrastructure and reconstructed pedagogy. Section 4: Grading the policymakers ' solution. Educational Researcher, 25(8): 43-45. Mingle, James R. and Larry Gold (1996). Should distance learning be rationed? Educom Review 31(4): 48-50, 52. Modiba, Maropeng (1997) Noble, David F. (1997). Digital diploma mills: The automation of higher education. Http://www.journet.com/twu/deplomamills.html. Accessed 2/27/98. Written October, 1997. Reprinted in summary form in Educom Review, Vol. 33, No. 3 (May/June, 1998):22-25. Norman, Donald A. and James C. Spohrer (1996). Learner-centered education. Communications of the ACM, 39(4): 24-27. Pakkiff, Rena M Pasnik,Shelley (1997). Channel One online: Advertising not educating. Washington, DC: Center for Media Education. Report, 15 pp. Phillips, Vicky and Cindy Yager (1998) Plasschaert, A.J., J. G. Cailleteau, and E. H. Verdonschot (1997). The effect of a multimedia interactive tutorial on learning endodontic problem-solving. European Journal of Dental Education, 1(2): 66-69. Rickard, Wendy (1999). Framing the issues: What 's next on the NLII 's agenda? EDUCOM Review 34(4): 34-37. Ringle, Martin (1996). The well-rounded institution. Educom Review, Vol. 31, No. 3 (May/June): 30-32. (Part of a special Educom symposium on "Why Technology?".) Rose, Gillian Roth, Brenda F. and Denisha Sanders (1996). Instructional technology to enhance teaching. New Directions for Higher Education, 94: 21-32. Shields, Mark A Stevens, L. (1977). Educational technology in the teaching of dentistry: the importance of objectives. Aust.Dent.J. 22(5): 378-381. Tait, Alan, ed. (1997). Perspectives on distance education. Quality assurance in higher education: Selected case studies. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada: Open Learning Agency of British Columbia. Townsend, Tony (1998). Supporting all students for success: An Australian design. Paper presented at the National Centre for Education and the Economy Conference (San Diego, CA, January 10-11, 1998). Van Dusen, Gerald C West, Thomas W. (1996). Learning technology. Educom Review, Vol. 31, No. 3 (May/June): 34-35. (Part of a special Educom symposium on "Why Technology?".) Western Cooperative for Educational Communications (WCET) (1997) Wheeler, Ron (1996). Rx for social studies. Social Education, 60(5): 313-14. Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction (1998). Wisconsin 's model academic standards for information and technology. Literacy. Bulletin No. 90002. Madison, WI: Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction. Zuniga, Etter and Barbara Krauth (1996). Quality assurance in distance education. Policy Insights (April). Boulder CO: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, report, 5 p. Endnotes