Professional Publications:
Well Gran,
Becoming an educational technologist is like beginning a career in any other serious profession. We have our own career paths, professional organizations, standards of ethics and behavior, unique skill set, research projects, trends, and of course, our own professional publications. Journals and newsletters designed for us; people who work at teaching teachers how to use technology to teach students.
Gran, resources available to the educational technology professional are immense. Covering areas from research to implementation, and all the stops on the ed tech highway in between. The internet (not surprisingly) is the place for edtech professionals to seek out and find the tools they need. I can’t name every single journal or publication, because it would take too long, so I’m picking and choosing publications that seem to serve the broadest range of edtech professionals; and look to have staying power. Publications with some longevity that look like they are here to stay. References and resources I’ll be able to count on for the rest of my career.
From professional journals aimed at researchers and academic theorists, like the
Journal of Technology in Education, to important general publications like T.H.E. Journal (Technology Horizons in Education), the emerging education technologist can select from a huge variety of resources. Some choose to address a narrow specialization, like instructional development, or delivery systems. Some are aimed at a certain age group, like K-12 (From Now On) or higher education (The Chronicle of Higher Education). Still others are directed toward different levels of technologists, like managers of institutions (Campus Technology), managers of ed tech systems, or teachers of technology. Still others, like ADL Community, are aimed at those ed techers that are immersed in a particular more narrowly focused area of the field, like Advanced Distributed Learning. Another niche is occupied by journals directed towards educators serving students with a particular type of technology need, like the Journal of Special Education Technology, directed at educators using technology to improve learning for kids with special needs. How beneficial a publication is dependent on how closely it is tailored to the interests and needs of the technologist it claims to serve and how selectively the technologist reading it has been in choosing their resource materials.
Below, please find five journal web sites that will be of assistance in the future as we go bravely forth into the new (to us) world of technology education. I included a sixth site, because; while it is not as strictly defined, a professional publication, it is an excellent resource.
1. T.H.E. Journal: (Technology Horizons in Education) http://www.thejournal.com THE Journal claims to be ‘the first’ magazine to cover educational technology. Publishing since 1972, THE Journal is a monthly online and hard copy publication that covers a broad range of edtech topics, including hardware, software, theory, and research. Another hard copy only publication (Educational Technology Magazine) claims a history beginning in 1961, but is hard copy only, so didn’t qualify as a web resource, and I was unable to judge for myself, the quality of the content.
2. ADL Community: http://adlcommunity.net/ A web-based publication/ site dedicated to the concept of Advanced Distributed Learning. A quote from the site explains the concept. The goal is to provide “access to the highest-quality learning and performance aiding that can be tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively, anytime and anywhere.” Our classmate, Robbe Addis is well-versed in this area, and its bunk mate ‘SCORM’.
3. Journal of Educational Technology & Society: http://www.ifets.info/ A quarterly e-publication published by the International Forum of Educational Technology & Society. Publishes academic articles on issues relating to the interaction between technology developers and the educators who use technology to teach.
4. The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/ Directed at college educators, this is not strictly a journal for education technologists, but it offers entré into the world of the collegiate educator and publishes articles in the ed tech field and trends in education as a field of study and research, as well as job listings for college level education technologists.
5. From Now On: http://fno.org/ An online educational technology journal that provides references aimed at the K-12 educator and ed tech professional. A little amateurish in design, it does provide reviews on ed tech web sites that lists a lot of really fine ed tech resources.
6. Encyclopedia of Education Technology: http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/ This is an extra, because I think it would be of value to anyone trying to understand what education technology is. An e-publication of the San Diego State University Department of Education Technology. Defines terms, provides resources, and definitions of terms used by education technologists across the entire spectrum of technology used for education purposes. It is not a ‘professional journal’ per se, but it is an excellent resource and defines terms and the origins of a great many ed tech theories and techniques.