History of instructional technology

Instructional technology was born as a military response to the problems of a labor shortage during WWII in the United States. There was a definitive need to fill the factories with skilled labor. Instructional technology provided a methodology for training in a systematic and efficient manner. German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

With it came the use of highly structured manuals, instructional films, and standardized tests. Thomas Edison saw the value of instructional technology in films but did not formalize the science of instruction as the US military did so well. Originally a standardized test was simply a standard test – of academic achievement or of knowledge in a specific academic or vocational domain. ... Jump to: navigation, search Thomas Alva Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an inventor and businessman who developed many important devices. ...

Definition

(From [1])

The definition of instructional technology prepared by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Definitions and Terminology Committee is as follows:

Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. ... The words Instructional Technology in the definition mean a discipline devoted to techniques or ways to make learning more efficient based on theory but theory in its broadest sense, not just scientific theory. ... Theory consists of concepts, constructs, principles, and propositions that serve as the body of knowledge. Practice is the application of that knowledge to solve problems. Practice can also contribute to the knowledge base through information gained from experience. ... Of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation ... refer to both areas of the knowledge base and to functions performed by professionals in the field. ... Processes are a series of operations or activities directed towards a particular result. ... Resources are sources of support for learning, including support systems and instructional materials and environments. ... The purpose of instructional technology is to affect and effect learning (Seels & Richey, 1994, pp. 1-9).

Instructional technology today

Instructional technology is a continually growing field of study and practice utilizing technology as a way to solve educational challenges. For example, many universities are embracing instructional technology methods to help increase enrollment while decreasing overhead costs. Other IT tools provide the opportunity for students to interact with experts in the field, even if they are not located physically close to each other. A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ...

However, while instructional technology promises many solutions to educational problems, resistance from teachers and administrators to the use of technology in the classroom is not unusual. This reaction can arise from the belief - or fear - that the ultimate aim of instructional technology is to reduce or even remove the human element of instruction. Instructional technology enthusiasts would counter with the claim that human interaction will always require human teachers and facilitators.

Educational technology designed with the tenets of constructivism in mind in fact foregrounds "the human element." In such cases, teacher-student and student-student interactions become just as significant as the conventional and increasingly outmoded model of teacher-student transmission. Constructivism, an area of learning theory, is an approach to teaching, which values developmentally appropriate practices where the learning is child-initiated, child-directed and where the teacher plays a supporting role in the learning. ...

Either way, the role of computers in education - the role of machines in the transfer of knowledge - raises many issues for students of ethics. Jump to: navigation, search Ethics is the branch of axiology – one of the four major branches of philosophy, alongside metaphysics, epistemology, and logic – which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. ...

The degree to which instructional technology is used as tool to enhance student-teacher interaction versus a tool to increase and enhance student-content interaction is a contentious issue. Value of mentoring; role modelling and community (socially supported by the technology) is balanced by restrictions in time and place access. Human interaction seems to be valued differently in different learning contexts and by different individuals and cultures. Anderson (2004) proposes that one form of interaction can be substituted for another in many learning contexts.

However, evidence based on the growth of human interaction simulators like ELIZA and ALICE suggest a time where human interaction can be successfully simulated as well. The future of cognitive expert systems will be the ability to achieve and maintain statefulness or consciousness at a low computing and build cost. ELIZA is a famous 1966 computer program by Joseph Weizenbaum, which parodied a Rogerian therapist, largely by rephrasing many of the patients statements as questions and posing them to the patient. ... Jump to: navigation, search Look up ALICE and Alice in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An expert system is a class of computer programs developed by researchers in artificial intelligence during the 1970s and applied commercially throughout the 1980s. ...

Areas of focus

Within the field of instructional technology, there are many specific areas of focus. While Instructional Technology can apply to the military and corporate settings, Educational Technology is instructional technology applied to a school setting (including charter schools, public schools, online and home schooling environments). Razavi(2005) advocate that educational technology cover instructional technology. It include instructional technology and the field study in human teaching and learning. So educational technology is broader than instructional technology. Instructional technology itself is consisted from two major parts. One is teaching technology and another is learning technology. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... In the United States, a charter school is a school that is created via a legal charter. ... The term public school has two contrary meanings: In England, one of a small number of prestigious historic schools open to the public which normally charge fees and are financed by bodies other than the state, commonly as private charitable trusts; here the word public is used much as in... Homeschooling (also called home education) is the education of children at home and in the community, in contrast to education in an institution such as a public or parochial school. ...

Human performance technology has a focus on corporate environments. Learning Science is the area of focus dealing specifically with learning methods and theories. Autodidacticism is another word that can describe instructional technology when it is used independently. Jump to: navigation, search Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) is self-education or self-directed learning. ...

Prominent figures in instructional technology

For people of the same name, please see Richard Clark. ... Edgar Dale (1900-) US educationist who developed the famous [Cone of Experience] theory. ... Robert M. Gagné (1916 - 2002) is best known for his Conditions of Learning. Gagné pioneered the science of instruction during WWII for the air force with pilot training. ... Phil Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was a United States singer, songwriter, jazz musician and actor. ... Roger Schank is president and CEO of Socratic Arts, and a leading visionary in artificial intelligence. ...

Related links

Areas of interest and growth are educational animation, content management systems, e-learning, distance learning, instructional design. Educational animations are animations produced for the specific purpose of fostering learning. ... Jump to: navigation, search A content management system (CMS) is a computer software system for organizing and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and other content. ... Jump to: navigation, search Typical Managed Learning Environment with a navigation menu and online community building tools. ... Distance Learning is learning carried out apart from the usual classroom setting; in an asynchronous setting. ... Jump to: navigation, search Instructional design, also known as instructional systems design, is the analysis of learning needs and systematic development of instruction. ...

See also (standards and specifications) : SCORM INTASC Standards SCORMTM stands for Shareable Content Object Reference Model. ...