The first three chapters of your book define the IDT (Instructional
Design and Technology) field and provide a history of how it has evolved over
time. In you blog for this week, reflect on the following:
1. How do the
definitions in the first chapter compare to your own definition of
instructional or educational technology? What experiences or other
influences have shaped your definition? How has your definition changed from
examining the definitions in the first chapter of this book?
As I am
an ole school student (I was in 1st grade in 1963), I remember the
days of overhead projectors and 8mm films being used in class. I would not have describe these teaching
tools as Instructional or Educational Technology at the time. However after
reading section one, I would definitely describe them as early forms of
Instructional or Educational Technology.
As a lifetime student and an Information Technology specialist, I have
seen some of the progression that has changed the definition of Instructional
Technology. From overhead projectors that the teacher would write on a thin
piece of film to explain a math problem, to the use of Tablet computers where the
math lesson is streamed to individual students. When I first started
researching this program, I really had no clear picture of what
Educational/Instructional Technology was.
A past friend of mine was the director of the Educational Media
department at one of our colleges. But I
didn’t equate that to the term, Educational/Instructional Technology. I now
have a clearer, more distinct understanding of what Instructional Technology
actually is. The Educational Media
department that my friend was the director of was more about storing and
checking out the different forms of media that was used by the instructors
(i.e. overhead projectors, film projectors, televisions, etc.). I now know that Instruction Technology is not
just media, but more about designing processes that use of different
technologies to enable more effective learning.
2. Next, think of a
lesson or unit of instruction that you have developed. Or if you haven’t ever
taught or developed instruction, think of one that you have received. How does
that lesson adhere or fail to adhere to the six characteristics of
instructional design? How would you redesign it to better adhere to the six
characteristics.
I recently attended a course on the basics of a document
imaging software program that I manage.
Although it was a fairly basic and had a lot of good information, it did
not thoroughly adhere to the six characteristics of instructional design. The course was designed to be student
centered meaning that the purpose of the course was to give the attendees a basic
understanding of how to use the software.
I can say that there was a specific goal which was to acquaint the
attendees with the software. However,
there was no specific level of performance that we (the attendees) had to demonstrate
after attending the week long course.
Therefore, there were no measureable outcomes to validate what we had
learned. The course was basically a “live”
instruction book that covered a little bit of all of the aspects of the
software without any feedback from the attendees. So basically, the same thing was taught from
one class to the next. There may have
been some correction to the lesson plan, but the class I attended didn’t ask
for feedback. This was a small company,
so there was no team effort that I could detect in the instruction design. There was one instructor who taught all of
the classes. I think the first thing I
would have done different was to hire an outside firm to design and conduct the
classes. A firm that specializes in
designing classes that using the six characteristics of Instructional Design. 3. In the 3rd chapter, Reiser distinguishes instructional media from instructional design, excluding teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks from the definition of instructional media. Why? Would you consider teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks instructional media? Is the purpose of instructional design to incorporate media into instruction?
I think in his discussion, Reiser excluded teachers, chalkboards
and textbooks from the definition of instructional media to show the diverse developmental
history between Instructional Media and Instructional Design. The different developments in Instructional
Media have had its ups and downs. Some
forms of Instructional Media have been adapted for short periods (such as
Instructional Television) where as other forms of Instructional Media (such as
computers) have continued to prevail.
However, teachers, chalkboards (and new forms) and textbooks (and new
forms) have always been and should always be an integral of the learning
environment. At this point, I think that
it is not the purpose of Instructional Design to incorporate media into
instruction but more so to design instruction so that media it used effective
in instruction.
