Difference+between+Educational+Technology,+Instructional+Technology+and+Information+&+Communication+Technology

//**By Shweta Saha and Sweta Upadhyay**// = = = __What is Educational Technology?__ = covers the processes and systems of learning and instruction, educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability. Educational Technology includes, but is not limited to, software, hardware, as well as Internet applications and activities. = = = __**What is Instructional Technology?**__ =
 * Educational technology** (also called **learning technology**) is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources."[|[1]] The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, [|instructional theory] and [|learning theory]. While instructional technology

= = Instructional technology is "the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning," according to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Definitions and Terminology Committee.
 * It is a part of educational technology. It also covers the processes and systems of learning and instruction, educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability.
 * It is the use of a variety of teaching tools to improve student learning. We usually think of computers and computer software when we think of instructional technology, but instructional technologies are not limited to computers in the classroom.
 * It describes all tools that are used for teaching and learning such as: cameras, CD players, PDA's, GPS devices, computer-based probes, calculators and electronic tools we have yet to discover.Students and teachers use computer software and Internet resources to locate, process, and present information, learn and assess their skills.

Students can locate information from millions of sources using a computer, online encyclopedias, databases, and the Internet. Computer-based tool software, such as spreadsheets and databases, help students organize and report information. Students create professional-looking products as they report information they have learned using word processing and presentation software. Students use computers as electronic tutors to improve skills such as reading and math. Teachers use computers and other instructional technologies to present information they want students to know. They also use computers to assess students' learning and identify and report students' learning needs.

= __**Information and communication technologies in education**__ = __**WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ICT?**__
 * ICT are only a part of a continuum of technologies, starting with chalk and books, all of which can support and enrich learning.
 * ICT, as any tools, must be considered as such, and used and adapted to serve educational goals.
 * Many ethical and legal issues intervene in the widespread use of ICT in education, such as ownership of knowledge, the increasing exchange of education as a commodity, and globalization of education in relation to cultural diversity.

= Purpose = The purpose of ICT in education is generally to familiarise students with the use and workings of [|computers], and [|related social and ethical issues]. ICT has also enabled learning through multiple intelligence as ICT has introduced learning through simulation games; this enables active learning through all senses = = = Categories = ICT in education can be broadly categorized in the following ways
 * ICT as a subject (i.e., computer studies)
 * ICT as a tool to support traditional subjects (i.e., computer-based learning, presentation, research)
 * ICT as an administrative tool (i.e., education management information systems/EMIS)