New Millennium Research For Educational Technology

Research to indicate unique pedagogical benefits of technology in education flourished until the mid-1980s, when criticism of the premises and methodologies of studies made educators question the usefulness of so-called “media research.” Currently, increasing costs of maintaining technology infrastructure and evidence of low use of technology by teachers has generated new urgency for research to help provide a rationale for specific uses of technology to support teaching and learning. The new National Educational Technology Plan currently under development by the US. Department of Education provides an ideal opportunity for articulating a plan for meaningful research. This article describes topics and issues on which new research should focus and offers guidelines for research methods to address previous criticisms and provide results to guide future use of technology in education.