APPRECIATIONS: Through a lens, darkly

Abstract

“WHAT PRICE educational technology now?” This was the pessimistic title of an article contributed by Geoffrey Hubbard, Director of the Council for Educational Technology, to the 3M magazine Tape teacher, last September. Hubbard outlined a bleak future for educational technology if expenditure cuts forced education authorities to cut back on what are often regarded as “audio visual frills”. The article argued that educational technology is concerned with not only the efficient utilisation of audio‐visual equipment, but with the best use of all resources in the effective implementation of the curriculum. Nevertheless, it is easier to argue for savings in expenditure by pruning capital‐intensive projects usually associated with resource‐based learning than to prove that educational technology can help teachers make the best use of scarce resources. Current popular attitudes, favouring a return to “traditional” education, make it even more likely that the former argument will prevail. Librarians not working in the educational sector may also find themselves under pressure to decrease spending on non‐book materials in favour of books.

Citation

(1977), "APPRECIATIONS: Through a lens, darkly", Library Review, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 39-44. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb012653