Thank you

In 2015 modern technology relates with ICT , moodle, online teaching, smart board etc

This is a very interesting question Ahmad.

It might be useful first to decompose the question.

Firstly we have the tern “modern”.

Secondly the term “technology”.

Modern might be taken to mean one of two things. It may be “new” e.g. a device or system which has recently been invented or it might mean that a technology is “new” to a particular context. For example the use of GPS devices in teaching geography might be considered as “using modern technology” but in a wider context than the school GPS is not a recent development.

Let’s also consider the term “technology”. If I ask people to tell me a new technology, almost always they tell me about a new “device” e.g. a smartphone or tablet device…..or more recently “smart watches!”. Now these are examples of “modern technologies” but they are “devices” which are best thought of as a subset of “technologies”. Technology in its broader sense encompasses systems, processes and institutions too.

Now this has very interesting implications for the way we think about the way modern technologies are adopted by schools in that according with our definition then “the school” is itself a “technology”. So – when we discuss the way schools adopt or reject a particular device e.g. mobile phone we are actually looking at how one technology interacts with another.

The school as a “technology” has components and processeses e.g. its roles, power structures, organisational elements in terms of space and time i.e. timetable and classrooms and other physical features. These elements are “coupled” as are the cogs in a clockwork mechanism, they have some “slack” between the gears but the mechanism as a whole has inertia and integrity.

Now a “device” piece of “technology” has affordances both intended and unintended – basically it can do things it was designed to do….and is often found to be able to do things it was not intended to do (both useful and otherwise).

If we bring these two idea together we have the notion of “modern technologies and schools” as two technologies being introduced to each other. The dominant technology is the school so the degree to which a “new technology” “fits” is related to the degree to which the affordances of the device “mesh” with the mechanisms of the school – rather like the degree to which two sets of gears intermesh.

Where the affordances of the technology map to the organisational mechanisms of the school then the technology is rapidly adopted and adapted. For example the affordances of the interactive whiteboard are closely mapped to the processes of classroom teaching as showing and telling and, being controlled by the teacher, thus aligned with the power structure of the classroom. The smartphone on the other hand has a host of affordances which do not map the schools processes and roles e.g. it is owned and controlled by pupils, it can allow their attention to stray and becomes a “third party” in the teacher – pupil relationship and can interrupt the process and flow of a lesson where pupils are following instructions given by the teacher. As such the smartphone is largely rejected (often banned) by schools.

So – a “modern” technology might be a new device which has been invented and by accident or design maps to the technology of the organisation of school.

Or

A “modern technology” might be a device or system that has been recently adopted where the organisation of the school has changed in order that the affordances of an “old” technology now matches the needs and processes of the institution.

Hope this helps your thinking on the issue.

Thank you very much Ramachandran Manickam.

Thank you very much also to Adrian Mee for the informative answer.

Actually I'm asking this question because I have read in "Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: Fall 2008, First Look" (see attachment, p.2) this definition of technology:

"The questionnaire instructed schools to answer the survey using fall 2008 information and provided the following definitions to be used when answering the survey.

Technology: Information technology such as computers, devices that can be attached to computers (e.g., LCD projector, interactive whiteboard, digital camera), networks (e.g., Internet, local networks), and computer software. We specifically are not including non-computer technologies such as overhead projectors and VCRs."

It's means there are things that can be considered as technology in past, but not longer now.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010034.pdf

The advancements of technology has made some revolutionary effects on education. Availability of e-books, online lecture notes,  e-learning materials including lecture videos, etc, have made knowledge explosion in the academic field.  This created new dimensions to teaching and learning processes. The traditional class room process has become less important.  This is useful for distance learning process and is advantageous for working people to learn without affecting their profession.

Some of the interesting article in regard are the following.

1. http://www.mmiweb.org.uk/publications/ict/emerging_tech03.pdf

2. http://elearnspace.org/Articles/HETL.pdf

3. http://www.ifets.info/journals/16_2/3.pdf

4. http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/SU10_3EofEducation%28Students%29.pdf

5. https://education.alberta.ca/media/823917/etreport.pdf