This is a continuation of the conversation started earlier.
This link looks like a good starting point – it lists a lot of important considerations related to the evaluation and selection of media.
Sadly, much of it is out of date. It lists computer software as one thing, and digital technology can’t really be lumped together as one thing anymore.
Instructional Media
Instructional Media: Selection and Use
Craig L. Scanlan, EdD, RRT, FAARC
The digital world has changed radically since 2003.
Things that have happened since 2003:
World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment Inc., 2004)
Second Life (Linden Lab, 2003)
Facebook
Google became a verb
touch screens on phones, and now, almost everything
netbooks
tablets
..,.
The list is very long.
It’s hard for people to fully appreciate the magnitude of the change. This is the first time in history that the world in which our teachers grew up is radically different (technologically speaking) from the world in which their students are growing up. There have always been changes, and there were always things teachers could point to and say “We didn’t have those in MY day.” but never before have there been such fundamental changes to the ways we can learn and to the choices for learners.
Part of the result of this monumental change is that much research that’s been done in the area of educational technology is stale. Almost everything written about computers and education before, say, 2003 needs to be viewed very carefully, as much of it is simply irrelevant now.
It is hardly “the first time in history that the world in which our teachers grew up is radically different (technologically speaking) from the world in which their students are growing up.” The author must be very young not to know about the introduction of hand-held calculators, or TV, or personal computers, or the internet.
I grew up when television was just starting. The impact of television on my both my formal and informal education is nothing compared to what’s happening now. Same thing with personal computers.
The average age of teachers is about 50. That means that the average teacher grew up with the same technology as I did – which was BEFORE personal computers and calculators became widespread, and long before the internet was really viable outside of universities and large corporations. The internet is little more than 10 years old; less if you measure it in terms of widespread access and use.
I did my first degree in computer science. Most teachers were trained in faculties that were far behind the leading edge of either technology or education.