Calling All Explorers, Adventurers & Navigators of Our EdTech Ecosystem!

Sometimes it's overwhelming to consider all of the different pieces of educational technology that are available to educators and students. On the Innovation & Learning Technology (ILT) team, we know what it's like to feel as though you are faced with never-ending ice-covered mountains, caves, valleys, and monster fortresses of technology that you must journey through. (Apologies, it's -35 degrees outside and I've was stuck indoors watching the LOTR trilogy all weekend). 

Let's continue with this analogy. Imagine that you are an explorer of new worlds. Your purpose is to help identify new species, and learn about how newly discovered organisms interact with one another other, as well as those that are already known. You wander along many pathways, intrigued by random sightings and interesting tidbits, which you note in your digital journal (or online PLN), and share with your fellow explorers.

In ILT, we consider educators and students to be explorers of educational technology. We consider edtech as an ecosystem with a diversity of organisms that serve different purposes. In our educational context, we want you and your students to place yourselves at the "top" of the food chain, not in a way that makes you superior to other beings, but in an approach that emphasizes that edtech serves the user, not the other way around. 

What are your thoughts on the ecosystem of educational technology? (Here's a link to a post that uses a a generic inquiry example to explore aspects of the digital learning ecosystem that includes D2L, CORE, Web 2.0 tools, Google Apps, Iris and more.) How do you navigate it? What analogy might you use to describe how students and educators interact with technology and each other? Post a comment. We want to hear from you!