International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

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Classroom instructional technology (CIT) includes the pedagogical tools and methods that allow educators to communicate instructional messages that achieve instructional goals and facilitate learning outcomes at all educational levels in classrooms around the world (→  Learning and Communication ; Pedagogy, Communication in ). Over the past three decades, researchers have studied both the challenges and the opportunities associated with the potential of CIT to enhance effective delivery of instruction in the classroom. Researchers have also aimed to understand how pedagogical tools are used to enhance student learning. When integrated appropriately into the teaching and learning process, CIT functions to enhance knowledge sharing, student engagement and collaboration, and classroom interaction, and ultimately to support learning (→  Classroom Student–Teacher Interaction ). Studies also demonstrate, however, that CIT is least effective and can be detrimental to student learning when it is not intentionally integrated into a meaningful instructional strategy, and when it does not further a specific educational goal ( Kadiyala & Crynes 2000 ). There is no single or universally accepted definition for CIT but the term can be broadly understood from a combined teacher–student perspective as “the way teaching is done and how learning is accomplished.” Technology is often used ... log in or subscribe to read full text