Week 8 - Module #9: History of IT
This week's readings have given me the opportunity to know more about the history of instructional technology. As an educator, I have experienced many of those changes and the challenges of implementing technology in class. I have worked in places where teachers had a lot of support with the use of new technologies, and I have worked in other ones where teachers had to learn by themselves.
"Since its inception, the field of educational communications and technology has been characterized by changes in technology and radial shifts in its underlying paradigms" (Molenda, 2008, p. 18). The history of instructional technology is full of changes and adaptations that have happened very fast. This particular field has been evolving more in the last few years. The pandemic has brought a variety of teaching and learning scenarios that have helped reinvent the instructional technology field.
According to Bonk and Wiley (2020), "Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the field of learning technologies is the way it obsesses over technologies while devaluing or even ignoring problems faced by learners around the world" (p. 1606). During the pandemic, instructors and learners have faced more challenges related to the correct use of the technology in class and to the idea of continuing teaching effectively. Last year, I saw more colleagues learning how to use different devices in synchronous and asynchronous scenarios. Some of them were very frustrated with the idea of learning more about how to use other technologies. I feel that it was easy to forget that technology is just a tool to improve student's learning experiences, and it is not the main component of a teaching and learning experience.
Instructional designers are going to continue having an essential role in education and online classes. The internet and the pandemic have increased the development of more online courses for students in different educational systems. According to Reiser (2018), "there has been significant growth in online learning in higher education, business and industry, and K-12 schools" (p. 16). There is a need for more instructional designers in the educational field and other fields. This field will continue adapting to new technologies and contexts. Instructional designers will need to keep finding effective ways of supporting educational experiences.
Bonk, C. J., & Wiley, D. (2020). Preface: Reflections on the waves of emerging learning technology. Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D), 68(4), 1595-1612. DOI 10.1007/s11423-020-09809-x. Available: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11423-020-09809-x.pdf and http://publicationshare.com/28
Reiser, R. A. (2018). A history of instructional design and technology. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed.) (pp. 8-22). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. (see also video interview with Dr. Reiser (22:24): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8TKA7ta7gU).
Molenda, M. (2008). Historical foundations. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. V. Merriënboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 3-20). New York: Taylor & Francis Group. (see also video conference with Dr. Molenda (53:28): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BigNdMiyHbI
From personal experience, I see staff members become objective to new learning and technologies. I recently worked with an librarian on developing a canvas course for my student workers. The course was to give them a rundown on how to work at the Public Service Desk and it covered everything; so I decided to add the other staffers and faculty as students too, just so they can have a clear understanding of working at the desk. However, some were upset, but this was approved by the library dean, and they felt like why do they need to learn about the desk workflows program and why do they need to be in a canvas course? I explained that when I trained them on desk operations that they told me they didn't remember; so I told them the canvas course will help a lot when I am off work or when there is no student worker available to help them. They are required to work the desk if I am on vacation or simply out of the office and there are no students to cover. The objection to learning new things from technologies and sort forth has always been a problem, and I just wish people would take advantage of the new resources.
ReplyDeleteHi Claudio,
ReplyDeleteI like the point you brought up regarding technology resources for educators. Some educators do not have the support to purchase them whereas others do not have the support on how to use the resources. Learning how to use technology on one’s own can be exciting or frustrating for some. I agree on how the pandemic has required people to change their teaching method of delivery through technology.
The point you made on the focus of technology to be used as a tool to increase the learners experience is spot on. It can be easy for some to forget that technology is a tool and not a solution for a quality experience. For example, Zoom is great for learning, but using the functionality within Zoom is when learning can be enhanced as long as it is met with the learning objectives.
The combination of access and effective utilization has emerged as a common theme of the last couple of weeks' learning materials and blog entries. As instructional designers/technologists, we need to master new media and technologies as well as learning and pedagogical theories and methods that remain important regardless of 'the latest and greatest'. Seems easy right? Meanwhile, educators are often trying to keep their heads above water as they create and execute their teaching plans and activities. At least in K-12 education, teachers have in-service training, but there is a lot to keep up with. No wonder that resistance can often form amongst the rank-and-file as new technologies emerge. Combine that with shoe-string school budgets and traditional classroom lecture starts to look like the most attractive option. That leaves us the challenge of being detectives, ambassadors, cheerleaders, etc. for educational interventions that work.
ReplyDeleteHi Claudio,
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of history, so I usually skip those history-related articles. However, to understand better the role and influence of technology on teaching, we need a little history, because as always there are lessons to be learned from history. Thanks for sharing your opinions!