ABSTRACT
What are learning technologies? As Ursula Franklin (1999) pointed out, technologies are not simply tools to be used in achieving a goal. They are systems that guide our actions; we may not recognize it, but technologies shape us while we shape them. A definition of technology as mere hardware and software is increasingly inaccurate – and not only for previous media such as print, radio, and television. It is even more limiting when discussing the latest digital technologies involving multiobject repositories, virtual rooms, and hypermedia environments. My understanding of technology has been shaped by the writings of McLuhan, Innes, Grant, and Franklin (Goyder 1997). They considered it to be the creative application of the known to achieve different goals or resolve particular problems. For them “technology includes the notion of tool use, associated techniques, use of knowledge and materials, and social effects” (Haughey 2000a: 122). In terms of learning technologies, Liz Burge and I used this broad notion of technologies to guide our work with this book.
