ETEC 561 01W Learning and Technology - Section 1 - Defing the Field

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 1^st 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 3^rd 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.