Week 1, Section 1: Defining the Field

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?

          1. My initial thoughts and ideas of what instructional or educational technology is, is when the district, schools, and teachers provide the students with various methods and tools to help better their learning experiences. The students are provided with technology as a visual aid tool for a more hands-on approach to learning. Technology can be incorporated into as many subjects as possible because with the different technology tools that are available, it makes learning more exciting and more interesting for the students. Google defines educational technology as the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. According to the text, there has been an evolution of names and definitions to what we know now as instructional technology. The text describes instructional technology as the use of instructional media, such as film, pictures, and lantern slides, that is presented to the learners. During the 1960s and 1970s, people in the education field started to think instructional technology was viewed more as a process. According to Finn (1960), instructional technology should be viewed as a way of looking as instructional problems and examining feasible solutions to those problems. And Lumsdaine (1964), indicated that educational technology could be thought of as the application of science to instructional practices (Reiser & Dempsey, 2012). As time/years went on, more research was done and more educators came forward with what they thought the term meant, and eventually came up with new, more in depth definitions that included different learning theories and more up to date technology. In 2008, the AECT committee came up with a definition that sums up all of the previous definitions from over the years that many people have used. The definition I presented at first, “Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological process and resources,” is the latest definition that we associate with in the school systems. To me, I was on the right path as to knowing what educational and instructional technology was overall. However, I learned that there were many definitions a long time ago and it took a lot of research and professionals to get to the definition we know now. My definition hasn’t changed from one thing to another, I just was able to build more on to what I knew from all of the background information.

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.

          2. I did a lesson while I was student teaching with 4^th graders. Most of my lessons dealt with grammar rules and punctuation. I normally did my lessons the same way: I would introduce the lesson, give a small lecture, a small lecture with video/interactive (and sometimes an interactive review of the lesson/topic), then followed by a hands-on (group) activity, and then finish off with an independent work assignment. I believe for the most, my lessons followed the six characteristics of instructional design. My lessons were focused more on what the students got out of the lessons and what they did or did not understand. The goals I set for the classes were majority met by the students and the teacher (me). The performance that I looked for was engagement, paying attention, asking questions, and on task, which I got that every time. I assumed that the students would have a better understanding of certain grammar and punctuation rules by the end of the lesson from the different methods of instructions that I gave them, and then I would check for understanding by the independent work. I would have liked to incorporate more interactive and self-correcting tools than I used. If a student asked me a question, I would ask them what they were thinking and why and then guide them to an answer. I don’t understand what it means by team effort, exactly, but I probably could have improved in that area. Most of my lessons were done by me, and at the end, I got critiqued by mentors and principals for their feedback. So, if I had to redo the lessons, I would add in more interactive tools and more members for support of guidance.

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?

          3. I think Reiser excluded teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks from instructional media because every physical means of instructional delivery, from the live instructor to the textbook to the computer and so on, would be classified as an instructional medium…and the three primary means of instruction prior to the twentieth century-the teacher, chalkboard, and textbook-have been categorized separately from other media ((Reiser & Dempsey, 2012). Instructional design focuses on a set of guidelines or process to meet the learning goals and needs of the learner. Instructional media is a part of the instructional design and can be used as a tool in the instructional design. Teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks, in this case, aren’t the types of visual aids the students use as a method of learning and they are so common from way back when we thought of school from decades/centuries ago, that’s what we thought about. When I first hear instructional media, I would not consider teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks as instructional media because of the times we are in now, chalkboards and textbooks aren’t really used anymore unless a textbook is online. Teachers don’t lecture as much, they use visual aids as instructional videos and more. I don’t think the whole purpose of instructional design is for incorporating media into instruction, but it should be a tool or guideline for instruction. Instruction, to me, should have a rubric, and one of the guidelines should be to include some type of media into the lesson.

Reference:

Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. V. (2012). Defining the Field. In Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (pp. 1-34). Boston: Pearson.