M. Spector, D. Merrill, J. Elen, M. J. Bishop (eds): Handbook of research on educational communications and technology

The article provides a review of the latest (fourth) edition of the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology, edited by Spector, Merril, Bishop and Elen. Approaching the Handbook for its contextual relevance, the author provides a retrospective analysis of the book’s evolution from its first version, dated 1996, to its current form. The author points out a role of external factors in this process and highlights the book’s features that contribute a holistic shift of the field from “instructional” to “educational technology.” Building up on the two well researched domains of the field, instructional design and learning theory, the author explores the Handbook’s capacity for linking educational technology with its social realities as the way to dissolve the existing dualities and disconnects within the field. Copyright © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.