Inbook,
What is Technology?
chapter 3, page 35-57. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, (2016)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118736494.ch3
Abstract
Summary Research in learning technology makes many claims about technology's effects, but rarely asks what technology is. This is a dangerous oversight; it leaves people with inadequate accounts of the role of technology, and people risk simply cataloguing a series of outcomes without really understanding what is happening or why. This chapter explores this issue by relating work in the field of learning technology to traditions of research where theories of technology are better developed. It explores the philosophical foundations of the field that provides an opportunity to step back from the problem. This enables people to stand back from specific fashions-whether they be for iPads or massive open online courses (MOOCs), Facebook or CDs-and ask why people think that any of these things is being considered as a learning technology in the first place. The chapter also provides accounts of the current field of learning technology research.
