Educational Technology: Instructional Design and Development - Term Paper Example

Educational Technology: Instructional Design and Development Educational Technology: Instructional Design and Development Introduction Educational technology is the study and ethical practice that involve facilitation of the process of learning and improvement of performance through creation, usage and management of suitable technological processes and resources (Ciccomascolo & Sullivan, 2013). E-learning, which is closely associated with educational technology, addresses the use of modern technology including computers and related software in the facilitation of learning. Learners and educators utilize educational technology at home, at school and in other environments, as the phrase includes the material tools such as machines and hardware used in networking, as well as theories such as instructional and learning theories making educational technology a critical part of current society today. Educational technology depends on a wide range of defining policies and approaches, along with skills and assessments. Examples of these dimensions of methodologies are material features such as learning based on the internet and educational psychology attributes that include media psychology and learning theory, along with instructional theory. Instructional design involves the creation of instructional experiences that enhance the acquisition of knowledge as well as skills in an effective and engaging manner. The process mainly entails determination of prevailing status and requirements of the learner, definitions of objectives of the instruction and creation of interventions that will support in the transition. In an ideal setting, the process is guided by the process of teaching along with adult learning theories that have been tested and may occur in a variety of set-ups. The result of this instruction can be observed directly and measured scientifically, or fully assumed and hidden. There are numerous instructional design concepts and models; however most are founded on the ADDIE model that includes five distinct components. As a discipline, instructional design is associated historically and structurally with cognitive and physical psychology. Origin of Instructional Design Numerous instructional design concepts have undergone development over the past half a century. Even though the particular blend of processes every so often differs between the instructional models, the majority of the models include instructional problems, along with the designs, developments and assessment of the instructional measures and the materials required to address these issues. A history of instructional design procedures goes as far back as the Second World War. As the war progressed various psychologists and educators with training and expertise in conducting experimental research were required to study and come up with training materials for the military services. The people tasked with this endeavour, greatly influenced the characteristics of the materials used in the training that were created, constructing majority of the work they did on the instructional principles associated with research and theory in regard to instruction and the behaviour of humans. Domains of learning outcomes Three main domains of learning exist which are supposed to be acknowledged by all the teachers who should utilize them in the construction of lessons. These domains include cognitive, affective and psychomotor where every domain has a taxonomy associated with it. The classification linked to cognition is usually denoted as Bloom’s Classification regardless of the fact that David Krathwohl was among the authors who came up with this work. The other taxonomies are the affective domain associated with David Krathwohl as well as the psychomotor that is linked to Anita Harrow. Most of the veteran teachers are not aware that the cognitive domain that was initially developed in 1956 went through huge revisions in 2001. In the original work on the cognitive domain, behavioural objectives were separated into subsets that were organized into taxonomies and arranged based on their difficulty, from the simplest to the most complex. Among the main changes that were included to the new domain is that the two uppermost types of cognition have been reversed, and therefore the domain includes, remembrance, understanding, application, analysis, evaluation and creation. The affective domain can also be divided into an order that is concerned with feelings and emotional state, that is organized form the simplest feelings to the most intricate ones. This hierarchy includes reception, response, value, organization as well as characterization. Finally, the psychomotor domain is associated with particular and discrete functions as well interpretive movements which have always been focused on encoding information physically. When using this domain in support of the cognitive and affective function, it is important to refer to it as physical as referring to it as psychomotor creates the meaning that a clear educational intention exists in regard to the occurrence of growth in the psychomotor domain. The teachers should try their best to develop more holistic lessons through utilizing all the domains in learning tasks. This blends assists then in the creation of a more holistic learning experience while attaining several learning styles and modalities. Instructional Design models Instructional design theories and models seek to guide learners in their learning efforts so that the needs of the learners alongside those of the organization can be addressed. They allow a particular method of executing the instructional design processes for detailed instructive advantages (Reigeluth & Carr-Chellman, 2009). Many different instructional design models refer to the process which is developed on the basis of varying situations and set-ups. The instructional models are supposed to provide educational and training institutions with design procedures, management recommendations and teamwork partnership choices with designers, technicians, and customers (Gibbons, 2013). The Dick and Carey methodology is among the greatly influential instructional design system-oriented models and, similar to other concepts, its structure includes the key attributes of assessment, design, progress, implementation and appraisal. This model is more intricate in nature where the methodology founded on the five key elements is divided into additional phases with varying terminologies. It is vital for designers to conclude with products that contain accomplished goals and results that are measurable. This practice is employed in numerous industries and administration scenarios as well as in computer assisted guidelines and demonstrates the essential practice of design (Dijkstra, Schott, Seel, Tennyson & Seel, 2012). ADDIE Model The ADDIE model is a generic method that is utilized by instructional designers along with training developers consisting of five phases that include: Analysis, design, development, implementation, as well as development. It represents a flexible recommendation for the creation of efficient tools to support training and performance (Morrison, 2011). Majority of the other simulations are simply variants of the traditional ADDIE model whose every level has an associated result that feeds to the consequent level. Analysis phase In this phase, the problems that exist in the instruction is clarified through the establishment of instructional objectives and goals, and evaluation of the learning environment along with identification of the skills that the learner already possesses. During this phase, the audience and their attributes must be established; the behavioural outcome should be identified, and the options for delivery should be explored. Design phase This level addresses the instruction goals, the evaluation tools, exercises and variety of methods as well as preparation of lessons. This phase is supposed to be systematic and particular through establishing a practical and orderly approach of identification, development and evaluation of the planned strategies that are needed for the achievement of the objectives of the project. Development phase In this stage, the developers come up with an assembly of the content assets that were established in the design phase. Programmers work towards the integration and development of technology while the testers carryout debugging procedures (Rothwell, Lindholm & Wallick, 2003). The project then goes through review and revision based on the feedback that is obtained. Implementation phase A procedure that will train the facilitators as well as the learners is created during this phase. The training that the facilitators will go through is supposed to include the curriculum of the course, the learning outcomes, and means of delivery as well as the assessment processes (Rothwell, Lindholm & Wallick, 2003). The learners preparation should instruct them on newer devices as well as their registration. In this phase, the manager of the project is supposed to certify all the materials needed for learning applications are functioning in the correct way. Evaluation phase This phase has two parts which are formative and summative, where formative evaluation exists in all the stages of the ADDIE process while the summative evaluation entails testing that focuses on criterion-related referenced objects that are particular to domains. They also used in identifying and provision of opportunities for response from the people who use this process. The role of technology to promote learning Among the initial technologies in education were the illustrations that appeared in books in the seventeenth century as well as slate boards that existed in classrooms in the eighteenth century. The educational technologies of the twentieth century are lantern-slide as well as opaque projectors and motion pictures which, demonstrate a considerable advancement from the technology that existed in the previous centuries. In the 50s, programmed instruction was developed as the pioneering technology in education which was created with the aim of meeting educational needs. Educators have continued to acknowledge the significance of technology and debated the manner in which they can execute commercial technology to be used in education with every advancement in technology that has taken place. Regrettably, educators have attempted to use technologies to teach their learners in a similar manner to the way teachers had done before. Therefore, material has always been recorded in technology, and the same phenomenon has been utilized to disseminate the material to the students. The students were always supposed to learn this information that was disseminated by the technology in the same way they learnt from the information that came from the teachers. Technology was supposed to provide lessons to the learners in the form of instructions that they can understand. The advent of technology associated with the modern computer in the classroom set-up has adhered to the same manner of utilization. Prior to the introduction of the first computers in the 80s, mainframe computers used to be employed in delivering drills along with practices as well as basic lessons in giving instruction to the students. When the microcomputers were introduced to the classroom, the perception that was developed was to use them, in the same way, that they were used before. The most popular usage of these form of computers was in drills and practices, and this has remained the case up to the present time even though other learning aspects have been included into the usage of the computers. Conclusion In regard to instructional design and development, the processes involved are linear, and each process does not have the ability to function alone. A systematic approach to the process of instructional design is efficient and practical as it puts emphasis on the goals of the learners and the outcomes before the planning and implementation phase. There is also a calculated connection between the instructional strategy and the outcomes that are expected from learning when the suitable conditions are provided by the instruction. The process of instructional design and development is also important as it is replicable and realistic, and numerous learners can use the products associated with it in various occasions and settings. For this reason, it is recommended that more effort and time be dedicated to evaluating and revising during the design of the product. The people who take part in the design and development of the instruction often include an instructional designer and a line-up of specialists such as a manager, content professionals, media producers as well as evaluators. The team typically collaborates and cooperates with the aim of delivering a practical and applicable product. An instructor who possesses specific expertise may also be the leader of a stand-alone team. References Ciccomascolo, L., & Sullivan, E. (2013). The dimensions of physical education. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Dijkstra, S., Schott, F., Seel, N., Tennyson, R., & Seel, N. (2012). Instructional design . Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Gibbons, A. (2013). An architectural approach to instructional design. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Morrison, G. (2011). Designing effective instruction. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Reigeluth, C., & Carr-Chellman, A. (2009). Instructional-design theories and models. New York: Routledge. Rothwell, W., Lindholm, J., & Wallick, W. (2003). What CEOs expect from corporate training. New York: AMACOM. Read More