Customer Reviews

The Educational Technology Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide : Process and Products for Learning

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Hackbarth, S. (1996). The educational technology handbook: A
comprehensive guide: Process and products for learning. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

This excellent handbook by Steven Hackbarth strives to help pre-service
and in-service K-12 teachers improve the quality of their instructional
efforts by initiating applied research on instructional strategies and
media in their own classrooms. It is a timely, vigorous, and convincing
attempt to integrate educational technology with classroom practice.
The Handbook truly is a comprehensive guide, as its title allows. Each
chapter contains a thorough list of resources: references, source
materials (free and otherwise), home study courses, an annotated
bibliography. Hackbarth also includes illustrative examples, such as a
helpful letter from an Eastman Kodak representative responding to a
request by the author for further information comparing two types of
cameras. Further, study items and suggested activities pay off the
content matter of each chapter. The Handbook offers a 24-page source
list for supplementary books, media publishing houses, and other media,
with popular software titles and with addresses, phone numbers, and
Internet/Web addresses when applicable. It even includes a "start-up
checklist" of suggestions and resources for becoming an active
educational technologist.

The Handbook also provides a strong background on instructional design
and learning theory. As the notes and references concluding each chapter
attest, the author has a scholarly and well-balanced perspective which
he conveys in clearly understood terms. For example, in a discussion of
integrated learning systems (ILSs), Hackbarth notes that one condition
of success (according to ILS research) is that the educational process
be simulated accurately. He wonders whether any complex social system
can be simulated accurately, and follows this musing with a paragraph on
how differently theorists in the fields of education and psychology view
the learning process. For those readers who appreciate his arguments and
want to know more, an annotated note at the end of the chapter gives an
even more in-depth look at the issue, proffering excellent quotes from
leading, contemporary theorists and references for those who wish to
consult the primary source. I found myself deliberately seeking out
Hackbarth's chapter notes as a section in themselves, for he couples
theory with much useful, practical information on finding,
understanding, and evaluating the wealth of products that can enhance
the learning process.

The Handbook is divided into two sections: the first examines
instruction as a systematic process, while the second looks at products
to support learning. Each "product" chapter offers practical guidelines
for development, use, and evaluation of media. Advice is offered for
integrating those media into the larger universe of computer-based
learning, interactive learning environments, and the Internet. In a
recent article in Educom Review, Lewis Perelman, author of School's
Out (1993), asserted that the marketplace is calling for people who can
manage work environments "where knowledge represents the key factor of
success." Hackbarth's chapter on the Internet recognizes the power of
the Internet as a classroom tool for knowledge management, earning him
extra credit in my book. Teachers need to understand that to be able to
search for relevant, useful information efficiently and effectively is
to possess a marketable commodity. Hackbarth discusses how the Internet
can open up the world to students, not just because they can become
sophisticated procurers of information, but also because they can
explore and learn about so many content areas. Hackbarth also describes
the benefits and dangers of Internet travel, with respect to the
problematic tasks and decisions school technologists must face. Further,
he gives his opinion on the issues of freedom "to cruise," and again
wins my respect and extra credit:

"Why shouldn't we encourage our students to have as much fun on the Net
as we do? Let them cruise in a spirit of high adventure, and chat with
the expectation of (supervised) meetings. And let them err, as Neil
Postman has suggested... and err again, just like the rest of us,
including the best of historians, theologians, philosophers, and
scientists throughout history (p. 265)."

I would almost think such an admonition to teachers unnecessary. Of
course students should be allowed to cruise the Net, making mistakes and
learning as they go! But my own son's school experiences, fueled by
teacher inexperience and fear of memory errors, system crashes, and
viruses, have suggested to me that there are probably many practitioners
who need to hear Hackbarth's advice.

Delightful captions for chapter illustrations are just one example of
the pleasing voice the author uses to complement his thorough treatment
of the subject. I found myself wanting to meet the man who can so
reassuringly reveal the confusions of a novice. On first entering an
America On-line chat room, the author had signed on with the
ID 'HackbarthS':

"During my first evening of interacting 'live' with diverse people across
the country I found myself among the few with a recognizable 'handle.'
As the exchanges about current news events and issues heated up, my
support for a Clinton Administration peace overture was greeted with
'Let's hope so Barth.' I began regretting my naivete- me, a global
village idiot!" (p. 257)

In the writing and editing process, Hackbarth asked for and received
plenty of feedback on his manuscript from researchers, faculty,
teachers, and other practitioners in the field. Benefiting from the many
voices who contributed their thoughts and experience to this book as
well as from his own impressive range of experience, the author has
provided us with a well-rounded perspective (and a well-grounded
research base) into the processes involved in utilizing technologies to
support and enhance learning and teaching, and the products that help
practitioners achieve those ends. If even half of all teachers read and
used this book, our field of educational technology would truly be a
part of the educational system, and the system an integral part of us.

Jeannette S. Berkley (jbn0@lehigh.edu)

Instructional Designer

Doctoral Student, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA