With respect to education , media are the symbol systems that teachers and students use to represent knowledge ; technologies are the tools that allow them to share their knowledge representations with others . Unfortunately , it is common for practitioners and experts alike to confound the meanings of media and technology in education , and they are often used synonymously . The following quote from the Fifth Edition of the Encyclopedia of Educational Research ( Mitzel , 1982 ) illustrates the problem :
First , although most educators are comfortable enough to use the term “ media ” and expect others to understand its meaning , it lacks a commonly accepted definition . Instead , there is a general , somewhat vague understanding that it refers to various audio and / or visual communication technologies which have come to be used by educators . Books and other print materials are , of course , media too , yet it is usually understood from the context – including the present context – that they are not part of the topic under discussion . ( Seibert & Ullmer , 1982 , pp . 1190-1191 )
The confounding of media ( a symbol system ) with technology ( a delivery system for media ) is unlikely to go away in popular discourse about education any time soon , but the distinction between media and technology must be clarified as unambiguously as possible if their impact is to be understood . The following quote from the Sixth Edition of the Encyclopedia of Educational Research ( Alkin , 1992 ) clarifies this distinction :
Computer-based technologies cannot be regarded as “ media ,” because the variety of programs , tools , and devices that can be used with them is neither limited to a particular symbol system , nor to a particular class of activities ...... In this light , “ the computer ” is in fact a “ multifaceted invention ” of many uses , a symbolic tool for making , exploring , and thinking in various domains . It is used to represent and manipulate symbol systems – language , mathematics , music – and to create symbolic products – poems , mathematical proofs , compositions . ( Salomon , 1992 , p . 892 )
Salomon ’ s ( 1992 ) important distinctions between media as symbol systems and technologies as tools or vehicles for sharing media will be used throughout this report . However , many , if not most , of the research and evaluation studies that are cited in this report are not informed by this distinction , an inconsistency that is frustrating , but inevitable . Even people who prepare dictionaries are uncomfortable with the term “ media .” For example , the American Heritage College Dictionary contains this note :
The etymologically plural form media is often used as a singular to refer to a particular means of communication , as in This is the most exciting new media since television . This usage is widely
2