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Much of the initial content for this website is based upon our work and research into education issues in Australia and Indonesia. However, it is hoped that the information will be relevant generally, and especially for other developing countries. We have been working mainly in the areas of school development and education technology. We use the example of the language laboratory below to raise some important technology issues. Some of our recent work has caused us to seriously question the role and effectiveness of education technology. Is education technology important, how can we know?.

This question has actually bothered us since our initial research into Language Laboratories at the Ministry of Education, Indonesia in 1998. Despite rigorous searching, we only managed to find relatively little evidence of 'measured benefits' for students from using the technology, and this raised a question that has intrigued us ever since, why wasn't there more data available?

Language laboratories have been in existence since about 1919 (Ralph Waltz) and widely utilized in Western countries since about 1946 (Hocking, 1967), and many companies are still marketing language laboratories today (2008). Why does it appear that little scientific ("measured") research has been carried out into their effectiveness. Most of the "evidence" that we did manage to find on the Internet back in 1998 was rhetorical, and the source of much of this evidence was from manufacturers, technologists and technology departments in universities or other technology-based institutions.

However, as an education technologist working closely with professional language teachers since 1977, it become evident that the ability of many teachers to maximize the technology was a serious issue. From our studies into applications of the language laboratory we found that with groups of more than 20 students the role of the teacher in the learning process is greatly diminished and 'teacher monitoring' becomes relatively ineffective. This raised the question of its suitability for use in most public primary and secondary schools.

Comments from native-speaker teachers in a survey in Jakarta at a high-profile technology-based institution in 1986 indicated that many EFL teachers did not believe that the language laboratory was an effective use of their students' class time. Are they perhaps more useful for non native-speaker teachers?

Perhaps the language laboratory is more suitable for use as a Self-Access Facility. During lunch-breaks and free lab-times at the University of Queensland during my period there (1988-1993) the labs were also utilized in this way. However, this raises the question, why have a lab at all, why not just provide individual student units?

After 89 years the benefits (or otherwise) relating to use of language laboratories are still open for discussion. Have language laboratories helped generations of students, do we know? How can we know if our modern education technologies are really effective without more scientific 'measurement' of the benefits?

One question that needs to be asked is "Do we want to know?" Do institutions that have committed hundreds of thousands of dollars for education technology really want to evaluate their technologies, and perhaps discover that they have made a mistake? Education is a very competitive "business", and while I deplore the concept of education being a business, it is. Education is one of world's biggest industries, and continual growth is virtually guaranteed. Like any business, competitiveness is a key issue. How can institutions be seen to have a competitive edge? Is education technology perhaps viewed as 'marketing leverage' by some institutions, or as an opportunity for 'career advancement' by some teachers and academics?

My personal experience is that sometimes just questioning the benefits of technology in education is viewed in the same light as questioning whether the world is flat. Why, and what are the implications for educators who are interested in evaluating education technology?

We are based in Jakarta, Indonesia and we are continually attempting to answer questions about language laboratories, computer laboratories, e-Learning, utilizing the Internet for learning and programs for use with the technologies.

We are very pro-technology, however, we are also striving to establish that the technologies are benefiting our students, especially in regions where budgets are limited or based upon international loans. The ceaseless questioning, evaluation, analysis and critique of education technologies are crucial good practices that benefit everybody.

As a result of some recent analysis of the main factors contributing to quality education (especially for developing countries), the role and importance of education technology has become even more of a concern over recent months. This is because of the exceptionally high levels of hype about the benefits of technology in education which appear to be dominating education decision making, perhaps at the cost of more basic issues that are proven to enhance the quality of education. One of my more recent concerns is:

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"We need to be relentless in measuring and assessing the impact that technology has on education and on academic achievement. We need evidence that teaching and learning are improved as the result of technology." (Ref: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory)

Computers and the Internet have for some time been accepted as essential tools for both communication and business in Indonesia. However, now, because Indonesia is in the process of educational reform they have become an even more important educational issue especially for the "Year 2008 Teachers" (see survey).

This is not a commercial site and we invite all stores, businesses and companies dealing in; computers, audio-visual equipment, learning laboratories, Internet Service Providers (Indonesia), Internet accessories, etc. to send information about their products via this form so that they can be promoted to interested parties in the Indonesian education sector. With School Based Management (SBM) schools are now encouraged to buy locally so we would like information from all regions in Indonesia.

Links to useful technology homepages and personal written contributions (papers) can also be e-mailed to us for inclusion on this site.

We are very interested in new and innovative applications of technology to learning and teaching equipment (audio-visual aids). So, if you are in possession of any information that you would like to pass on please leave a message here.

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