Before making any assessment of new technologies and their educational application, it seems necessary to initially specify what we are referring to when we speak of “new technologies”, given that it can be difficult to try to express what is considered a novelty in absolute terms. Although using the qualifier “new” may perhaps provide the reader with a rough idea of ​​the type of technologies we are referring to (those whose development has been more recent), this also implies facing the need to specify what technological advances or technologies they may be considered recent enough to be included in this taxonomy.

Taking these considerations into account and situating ourselves again in the context of developed societies, it seems to be possible to affirm that, when reference is currently made to new educational technologies, media such as video or conventional television are no longer given special consideration, that a few decades ago had a great role in the field of study of educational technology. New technologies today basically include the study and application of digital technologies and telecommunication systems; that is, multimedia computers and peripherals such as scanners, printers, digital cameras, etc., and computer networks, whose greatest exponent is the Internet network. These media have not only exponentially expanded and improved our ability to manage, process and communicate information and knowledge by themselves, but have also assimilated practically all the other resources that are now integrated into them.