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Today's technologies come and go at an alarming rate, and the length of time any one technology, either software or hardware, exists before being supplanted by a newer technology is growing ever shorter. For anyone working within the field of instructional technology, this rapid replacement rate of technologies can hold immense implications for both the development and delivery of educational systems. We here define the concept of technology transience, contextualize the concept over the historical time frame, and present schemas for the measurement of technology transience. We conclude by describing how technology transience is impacting the field of instructional design, the specification of 21st century skills, and the 21st century's model of education. Open questions for additional research into technology transience are provided.
A HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR TODA Y'S PERSPECTIVES ON TECHNOLOGY
T echnology has stood the test of time. Or has it? Does technology endure, or is it rapidly replaced? This question is in part one of semantics: disagreements as to the meaning and scope of the term technology> have long ago forced the educational world to develop definitions for derivative terms such as "educational technology" and "instructional technology." Beyond these semantics, though, it is of note that both terms-each unfortunately often imprecisely interpreted-play an important enough role to
employ the word ("technology") to help convey their meaning. In the modern vernacular, the term technology typically refers to hardware and software (most frequently, programs, hardware, and communications systems associated with computers, television, and mobile technology). However, it remains important to remember that the word technology originally arose from the Greek word ré/vt] ("technë," an applied art or craft), combined with Àôyux ("logia," meaning the study or use of). Tkyyr\ and Xóyia thus j oin together to refer to a systematized treatment of some type that expands beyond hardware and software (Amirault & Branson, 2006).
History provides us with many examples of the early and evolving understanding of the concept of technology. In the High Middle Ages, for example, the term "technology" might easily have referred to the systematic approach used to integrate one component of the university curriculum (e.g., the portion of the trivium covering the art of grammar within the larger curriculum based on the Seven Liberal Arts.1 Dasgupta (1996) has...