division/committee report
Name of Division or Committee: Definitions and Terminology
Summer Report: XFall Report:
Date Submitted: July 7, 2015
Name and title of person submitting report: Nancy B. Hastings, Committee Chair
Email: Phone number: 850-474-3013
Responses to the following items need to be entered on this form and sent as a .doc email attachment to the AECT President and Executive Director. The Summer Report will be due one week prior to Summer Leadership meeting and the Fall Report is due one month prior to the annual convention.
Mission
The mission of AECT is to provide international leadership by promoting scholarship and best practices in the creation, use, andmanagement of technologies for effective teaching and learning.
Vision
We seek to be the premier international organization in educational technology; the organization to which others refer for research and best practices.
Outcomes
1. AECT is internationally recognized and valued by policy makers and stakeholders as experts in improvement in
teaching and learning.
2. AECT members are actively engaged professionals and leaders in the field and within the organization.
3. AECT is dynamic, sustainable, and responsive to change as an organization.
The members of the Definition and Terminology Committee voted to undertake three major initiatives in 2014. These initiatives included beginning to work on an updated definition of the field, continuing to work on the Encyclopedia project with the intent of publishing a second edition to the 2013 work edited by Rita Richey, and developing an interactive, editable version of the existing Encyclopedia to be housed on the AECT website. It quickly became obvious that this was too much work to accomplish simultaneously and the committee therefore put their work on hold for much of 2014 to allow the Committee Chair to work with the AECT Executive Board to develop a formal charge, prioritizing these projects. That direction was provided just prior to the 2014 Convention. Per the Executive Board, the committee was directed to focus on the Definition project and discontinue work on the two projects related to the Encyclopedia of Terminology.
Describe your progress in meeting your outcomes in terms of specific actions you have taken or are taking
After receiving this charge from the Board, our first task was to address committee membership. An email was sent to all current members explaining the direction received and asking if they were interested in continuing on the committee. Several stepped aside, indicating that their primary interest was in the Encyclopedia project. This was likely beneficial as it allowed us to right-size what had become a very large committee. Current membership is as follows:
- Nancy Hastings
- Tara Bunag
- Tim Boileau
- Gayle Davidson-Shivers
- Jason Underwood
- Michele Jacobsen
- Kathryn Ley
- Wendell Johnson
- Bettylynne Gregg
The committee has held two synchronous meetings and communicated via email this year. The output of those meetings was the development of a list of key terms we believe are critical to any definition of the field and an understanding of who the definition is being developed for and why. This seems like a simple point but it was actually one that resulted in a significant amount of debate. We also developed a timeline which has not been adhered to. My hope is that we will pick up our efforts again in the fall, meeting electronically in September and October and in person in Indianapolis as we begin to move forward with the project. Those meetings will include the development of a new timeline and project plan to insure that we make steady progress towards achieving our goals.
Describe special activities the Division/Committee has undertaken or is planning and talk about how they address the three AECT outcomes (or strategies in the current strategic plan):
As was noted above, we have been somewhat non-productive in recent months as we finalized our membership and focused our efforts on initial brainstorming, followed by much debate, regarding the Definition project. Moving forward we will meet monthly in September and October, twice at the Convention in Indianapolis and then bi-weekly thereafter. We do not have a defined timeline at this point but our major tasks, in order, are as follows:
- Develop timeline
- Review previous decisions regarding key components of the definition
- Revisit the most recent definition to identify key differences that support moving forward with plans to develop and disseminate a revised definition.
- Draft definition and vet through committee
- Revise definition and vet through Executive Board and Board of Directors
- Revise definition and vet through membership
- Revise definition and begin dissemination efforts
What is needed from AECT to support Division/Committee plans?
The following is a list of items we will need from AECT to support our efforts.
- Two Committee Meeting sessions to be scheduled during the Convention in Indianapolis. These have been scheduled for Thursday and Friday mornings in past years.
- Access to the Executive Board, Board of Directors and Membership to vet the proposed definition as it is drafted and revised.
- Support to facilitate dissemination of the definition upon completion. We anticipate this including publication in Tech Trends and a book to be published through Springer (similar to 1994 and 2008).
- We would also welcome direction regarding our membership. If the Board believes we need additional persons with certain levels of expertise in the field and/or standing in AECT please advise.
Summer Report: What is the proposed budget for 2015? Please attach the proposed division budget
Not applicable at this time.
Fall Report: What revenue or expenses have been incurred by the Division/Committee?
Fall Report: Identify any changes to the Summer Report and how they may have affected the Division/Committee.
Summer Report: Attach proposed division budget.
Fall Report: Attach the current division year-to-date budget figures.
Robert Branch - AECT President –
Phil Harris - AECT Executive Director -