1 DEFINITION22 FACILITATING LEARNING163 IMPROVING PERFORMANCE494 CREATING1435 USING2016 MANAGING2517 PROCESSES2708 RESOURCES2899 VALUES31710 A HISTORY OF THE AECTS DEFINITIONSOF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY34211 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY36212 IMPLICATIONS FOR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS404AFTERWORD428Contributors4371 DEFINITIONDefinition and Terminology Committee of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology The DefinitionCONCEPTIONS OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY have been evolving as long as the field has, and they continue to evolve. therefore, todays conception is a temporary one, a snapshot in time. In todays conception, educational technology can be defined as an abstract concept or as a field of practice. First, the definition of the concept: Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological process and resources. Elements of the DefinitionEach of the key terms used in the definition will be discussed as to its intended meaning in the context of the definition. Study. The theoretical understanding of, as well as the practice of, educational technology, requires continual knowledge construction and refinement through research and reflective practice, which are encompassed in the term study. That is, study refers to information gathering and analysis beyond the traditional conceptions of research. It is intended to include quantitative and qualitative research as well as other forms of disciplined inquiry such as theorizing, philosophical analysis, historical investigations, development projects, fault analyses, system analyses, and evaluations. Research has traditionally been both a generator of new ideas and an evaluative process to help improve practice. Research can be conducted based upon a varity ofmethodological constructs as well as several contrasting theoretical constructs. The research in educational technology has grown from investigations attempting to “prove” that media and technology are effective tools for instruction, to investigations formulated to examine the appropriate applications of processes and technologies to the improvement of learning.Important to the newest research in educational technology is the use of authentic environments and the voices of practitioners and users as well as researchers. Inherent in the word research is the iterative process it encompasses. Research seeks to resolve problems by investigating solutions, and those attmpts lead to new practice and therefore new problems and questions. Certainly, the ideas of reflective practice and inquiry based upon authentic settings are valuable perspectives on research. Reflective practitioners consider the problems in their environments (e.g, a learning problem of their students) and attempt to resolve the problems by changes in practice, based upon both research results and professional experience. Reflection on this process leads to changes in the considered solution and further attempts to identify and solve problems in the environment, a cyclical process of practical reflection that can lead to improved practice (Schon, l990).Current inquiry problem areas are often determined by the influx of new technologies into educational practice. The history of the field has recorded the many research programs initiated in response to new technologies, investigating how to best design, develop, use, and manage the products of the new technology .However, more recently, the inquiry programs in educational technology have been influenced by growth and change in major theoretical positions in learning theory, information management, and other allied fields. For example, the theoretical lenses of cognitive and constructivist learning theories have changed the emphasis in the field from teaching to learning. Attention to learners perspectives, preferences ,and ownership of the learning process has grown. These theoretical shifts have changed the orientation of the field dramatically ,from a field driven by the design of instruction to be delivered in a variety of formats to a field which seeks to create learning environments in which learners can explore-often assisted by electronic support systems-in order to arrive at meaningful understanding. The research emphasis has shifted toward observing learners active participation and construction of their own path toward learning. In other words, interest is moving away from the design of prespecified instructional routines and toward the design of environments to facilitate learning.Ethical practice. Educational technology has long had an ethical stance and a code of ethical practice expectations. The AECT Ethics CommitteeP3has been active in defining the fiel