Chapter 1 - “What Field Did You Say You Were In?” explores a century of definitions given to the field of Instructional Design and Technology and the evolution over the past one hundred years. The field started early in the Twentieth Century with a Visual Instruction Movement and progress throughout the decades of the Twenties, Thirties and Forties with the addition of audio recordings, radio broadcasting and motion pictures. The use of visual instruction led to the definition of “the enrichment of education through the ‘seeing experience’”. This definition included a variety of visual aids not necessarily tied to technology such as excursions, flat pictures, models… but did include slides and motion pictures. The field again experienced change with the introduction of television in the Fifties.
1960s and 1970s the idea formed that instructional process was not so much identified as media, but as a process to solve instructional problems. One of these definitions was “the design and use of messages which control the learning process” with the emphasis on learning. The idea of it being a process – determining instructional problems and examining feasible solutions. Focused on the “design and use of messages which control the learning process” Steps identified planning, production, selection, utilization and management. Definition placed an emphasis on learning rather than instruction
The Seventies saw the field defined as a produce of the “communications revolution which can be used for instructional purposes”. This decade also saw the progression that instructional technology was “more than the sum of its parts.
In this decade we see the realization of the potential and the importance of integrating technology into instruction on a larger scale. Research was a component of this definition
In 1977 the definition included complex, integrate, people, procedures, organization for the purpose of analyzing problems. This emphasizes the systemic importance of the field and the inclusion of analysis.
The Nineties definition moved beyond the process. The field was influenced by the microcomputer, internet interactive video and CD-ROM. This gave way to new and innovative instructional delivery systems of distance learning. The definition focuses on five domains of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation. The definition also emphasizes that it is a field of research and study
In the latest AECT Definition we see the word ethical including used as well as creating. Another new addition is that performance improvement is a goal.
The definition used in this text is comprehensive “encompasses the analysis of learning and performance problems, and the design, development, implementation, evaluation, and management of instructional and noninstructional processes and resources to improve learning and perforamance in a variety of settings, particularly educational institutions and the workplace…” The definition also includes research and a systematic instructional design procedure. It is interesting the term “ethical” is not included in this definition.
Focuses on systematic processes and the use of technological resources and the influence human performance technology, emphasis on improving performance in the workplace
In my workplace Instructional Technology is a department which provides training on technology. It also supports non Career and Technology courses such as Computer Science. The field itself is critical to education. The use of technology is systemic. All records are input and maintained on computers. All lessons are expected to have a technology component. Also, there is great care to make sure the use of the technology meets ethical standards. We are always looking for new ways to reach and engage the learners of the Twenty-first century. My personal defintion woud be: Instructional Technology is an essential instrutional component to differentitate and deliver instruction to a consumer who expects multiple representations of information and immediate feedback. It is the vehicle to engage the learners of the twenty-first century.
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