Educational Technology Research That Makes a Difference: Series Introduction

In a field as complex as educational technology, conflict is common; consensus is not. Yet there is widespread agreement on at least one point: We need a more organized and persuasive body of evidence on technology's benefits to classroom practice. Criticism of educational methods has accelerated in recent years, and the cost and complexity of implementing technology-based teaching strategies make them a favorite target. In the last decade, a diverse and growing collection of critics (e.g., Cordes & Miller, 1999; Cuban, 2001; Oppenheimer, 1997, 2003; Stoll, 1995) has been steadily making the case for reducing or eliminating the use of electronic technologies in teaching. At the same time, technology’s advocates have acknowledged an increasing need for research that could address these concerns and make a strong case for technology's pedagogical contributions.

[1]  D. Berliner.  Comment: Educational Research:The Hardest Science of All , 2002 .

[2]  Kathryn I. Matthew.  A Comparison of the Influence of Interactive CD-ROM Storybooks and Traditional Print Storybooks on Reading Comprehension , 1997 .

[3]  Richard E. Clark,et al.  When researchers swim upstream: reflections on an unpopular argument about learning from media , 1991 .

[4]  C. Cordes,et al.  Fool's Gold: A Critical Look at Computers in Childhood. , 2000 .

[5]  Todd Oppenheimer,et al.  The Computer Delusion. , 1997 .

[6]  Carl F. Kaestle,et al.  The Awful Reputation of Education Research. , 1993 .

[7]  Frederick Mosteller,et al.  Research news and Comment , 1995 .

[8]  A. Collins,et al.  Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning , 1989 .

[9]  G. Knezek,et al.  New Millennium Research For Educational Technology , 2003 .

[10]  Larry Cuban,et al.  High Access and Low Use of Technologies in High School Classrooms: Explaining an Apparent Paradox , 2001 .

[11]  Madhabi Chatterji,et al.  Evidence on “What Works”: An Argument for Extended-Term Mixed-Method (ETMM) Evaluation Designs , 2004 .

[12]  R. Clark.  Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media , 1983 .

[13]  R. Clark.  Evidence for confounding in computer-based instruction studies: Analyzing the meta-analyses , 1985 .

[14]  R. Kozma.  Learning with Media , 1991 .

[15]  Carl F. Kaestle,et al.  Research News and comment: The Awful Reputation of Education Research , 1993 .

[16]  Howard B. Lee,et al.  Foundations of Behavioral Research , 1973 .

[17]  E. Rogers.  Diffusion of Innovations , 1962 .

[18]  Jerry Rosted.  Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway , 1995 .

[19]  Lynne Schrum,et al.  A Proactive Approach to a Research Agenda for Educational Technology , 2005 .

[20]  M. D. Roblyer,et al.  Technology and the Oops! Effect: Finding a Bias against Word Processing. , 1997 .

[21]  Larry Cuban.  Oversold and Underused , 2001 .

[22]  Seymour Papert,et al.  Information Technology and Education: Computer Criticism vs. Technocentric Thinking , 1987 .

[23]  M. D. Roblyer.  If Technology is the Answer, What's the Question? Research to Help Make the Case for Why We Use Technology in Teaching , 2004 .

[24]  R. Clark.  Media will never influence learning , 1994 .

[25]  A. Schoenfeld,et al.  Improving Educational Research:Toward a More Useful, More Influential, and Better-Funded Enterprise , 2003 .

[26]  Fn Kerlinger,et al.  Foundations of behavioral research (2nd ed. , 1973 .