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Instructional Technology is the art and study of building a learning system and also building a feedback mechanism into the learning system in such a way that the system is sensitive to the dynamics of each individual’s learning experience as well as the whole of everyone’s experience and is built in such a way that the system is ever improving in its effectiveness and delivery of the subject matter.
At the very basic level, a method or style of delivering information to a student or audience is devised and then put into action. The delivery technique and audience are then monitored in some way so as to determine the effectiveness of the delivery process. This feedback data then gives the designers of the delivery mechanism a way to measure the effectiveniss of the process and a chance to improve upon the process by introducing new elements and/or eliminating ineffective elements of the delivery method and try again, and again.
It is an art because human beings are complex creatures and we do not fully understand every aspect of our own learning capacities. As such, we must constantly call on our intuitive nature to be creative in building a better working model of how we learn and then build a system that is based on this model.
It is a study because we are able to draw on the scholarly works of others around us in our pursuit of a more perfect teaching methodology. We are able to measure and evaluate results and share our analysis with others, thereby increasing the chances that a newly contrived system will prove to be better than the the system it replaces.
The term, "building," implies that a plan of action was carefully crafted (or thought out) and then executed step-by-step until you reach (or exceed) your intended goals of the development process. In other words, the learning system wasn't just created in a flash. This is where the "study" plays its primary role in shaping the outcome of the project. On the other hand, every single detail is rarely thought through before execution of the plan and there's bound to be inspirations and improvising as the building process gets underway that can ultimately result in a better executed plan than if there is little or no flexibility in the construction process. Herein lies the gist of the artistic element alluded to by the definition.
The development of a system is ongoing and cyclic. It never stops growing, or when it does, it dies. The feedback mechanism built into the system will ensure that the system never stands still. Hopefully, the feedback garnered will keep driving improvements and refinements to the system ever forward. The feedback mechanism is an integral part of the system and is not a separate entity/system in of itself, for it connects the intended results of the system with the actual results of the system and gives the observer a way of measuring the differences between expectation and reality and ultimately working newly acquired understanding back into improving the system.
Defining a system is a little bit tricky for me as I have certainly abstracted it to a high degree in my every day thinking simply because of my background in computer science and habitually conceptualizing, designing, and developing new software systems on a daily basis.
A learning system can be any collection of methods for teaching a new subject to another. This includes everything from traditional classroom setting to self-teaching methodology one has developed for him/herself. I tend to think of learning systems on two different levels. The first level is macro level, which focuses on generic or broad scopes, such as the K-12 educational system, college educational system, Instructional TV, the classroom setting, and Computer Based Training, etc.. The second level is the micro level where you take each one of these "macro level systems" and you look at their distinct implementations. For example, in the classroom, you can have an instructor who simply lectures to the class from behind a podium, or an instructor who uses all the chalkboards in the classroom to give a lesson without erasing anything in order to show the students how a problem evolves from conception to completion, or you can have a professor who teaches solely by class participation consisting of a lot of questions and answers solicited from the attendees.
Learning systems are not necessarily limited to just settings where people are intentionally there to learn something new. For example, a good architect and industrial designer will build key elements into a building to help people navigate through the maze of floors and hallways. Doors often have two styles of handles on either side; one cues you to push the door open while the other to pull the door open. How is it that we know that rooms 101, 102, 105 are all on the first floor while rooms 401, 402, and 405 are on the fourth floor? The occupants certainly learned from this system and instantly recognize when an architect failed to stick to "the system." The designers of buildings found a way to study the people inhabiting their buildings and improved their designs to solve specific problems and then consistently applied the new solutions as they built new buildings.
If you can teach one, you can hopefully teach two. If you can teach two and three, then you should be able to teach the whole of your audience. Again, in looking at the audience, one must consider the micro and the macro of things. For you certainly cannot teach the whole audience if you cannot reach even one individual in your audience. Then again, just because you can teach the one, doesn't mean the methods being utilized are appropriate for everyone in the audience. Careful analysis of each individual's learning trek as well as stepping back and looking at the big picture will eventually lead you to developing generalized, but effective concepts that will maximize your potential for reaching every member of the audience.
There are two ways to look at the adaptability of a system. From one standpoint is the ability to consistently apply a particular pedagogy or method of delivering information to many different subject matters. However, a system's inability to adapt for a wide range of content does not necessarily indicate a poorly conceived system. A system that is highly effective in teaching one to program a computer should not be considered a poor system because the methodology does not lend itself to also teaching one how to draw. Conversely, if the system couldn't be adapted to train a programmer in a number of different languages or hardware platforms, then the adaptability of the system might be suspect.
The second standpoint for judging adaptability of the system is the ability to change the system for the better when it fails to be effective in delivering the subject matter. In the past, one learned to type by typing on a typewriter, usually with instructor led drills and timed sessions. Additionally, a great deal of attention was paid to avoiding errors altogether and mistakes were tallied and affected your final scores quite adversely. Nowadays, typewriters are non-existent and computers are widespread and allow users to very easily correct mistakes, so emphasis is more focused on attaining speed and efficiency with less penalties given to errors. Accordingly, the system for teaching typing as well as evaluating the typing pupil has changed, but the methodology of drilling until one learns all the keys on the keyboard and measuring output in words per minute has not changed much, if at all over the years.
I am sure everyone majoring in IT has struggled with coming up with a really short answer to explain to your friends and family just what Instructional Technology is. This is what I have probably told the last four or five people and it seems to click for them:
"You take technology and instruction and you take the art of education and marry them together in such a way that overall learning experience is greatly improved for the students."
I guess the question now is, what exactly clicks with folks when I tell them this?
Instructional Technology is a systematic way of designing, developing, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific goals and objectives, based on research in human learning and communication, and employing a combination of human and non-human resources.
University of Georgia - Instructional Technology Department
http://it.coe.uga.edu/program.htm
The field of instructional design and technology encompasses the analysis of learning and performance problems, and the design, development, implementation, evaluation and management of instructional and non-instructional processes and resources intended to improved learning and performance in a variety of settings, particularly educational institutions and the workplace. Professionals in the field of instructional design and technology often use systematic instructional design procedures and employ a variety of instructional media to accomplish their goals. Moreover, in recent years, they have paid increasing attention to non-instructional solutions to some performance problems. Research and theory related to each of the aforementioned areas is also an important part of the field (Reiser, in press).
Robert A. Reiser ETR & D Vol. 49 No. 1, 2001 pp53-64
http://www.aect.org/pdf/etr&d/4902/4902-04.pdf
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