Historical Evolution of the Field (revised)

  • Instructional Media

    Pre 20th century – Teacher chalkboard and textbook is how the instruction was presented to the learners.
  • School Musems

    “served as the central administrative unit[s] for visual instruction by [their] distribution of portable museum exhibits, stereographs [three-dimensional photographs], slides, films, study prints, charts, and other instructional materials”
  • Period: to

    Profesional Organizations

    Five national professional organizations for visual instruction were established, five journals on visual instruction, more than twenty teach training institutions began to offer courses.
  • Increased Visual Materials

    This period marked the inscrease of visual materials such as films, pictures, and lantern slides. Known as the visual instruction movement
  • Ralph Tyler

    Ralph Tyler directed an evaluation of the progressive education movement. His eight year study led him to believe that curriculum and instruction should be based on evidence from emperical research. He came up with the four elements for curriculum and instruction:1. Identify the purpose 2. Select learning experienes 3. Organize these experiences 4. Evaluate the effectiveness
  • Merging of National Organizations

    Merging of three national professional organizations for visual instruction became Department of Visual Instruction now called the Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
  • WWII Approaching

    • With WWII approaching, the growth of audiovisual instruction slowed in the schools, AV was used extensively in military services and industry for instruction
  • Origins

    Origins of instructional design procedures were traced to WWII, large number of psychologist and educators were conducting experimental research and development training for military.
  • Motion Picture

    Motion picture projector was on of the first media devises used in schools.
  • Television

    Television became a medium for delivering instruction
  • Cognitivism

    Cognitive theories stress the acquisition of knowledge and internal mental structures, focus on the conceptualization of the students' learning processes.
  • Behaviorism

    Behaviorism focuses on the importance of the consequences of those performances and contends that responses that are followed by reinforcement are more likely to recur in the future.
  • B. F. Skinner

    B. F. Skinner’s article “The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching” discussed his ideas concerning requirements for increased human learning and desired characteristics of effective instructional materials.
  • Robert Mager

    Robert Mager recognized the need to teach educators how to write objectives through “Preparing Objectives for Programmed Instruction”
  • Period: to

    Instructional Technology was view as a Process

    Number of leaders in the field started discussing it in a different way, not just equating it with media but discussing it as a process. Finn said it should be viewed as a way of looking at instructional problems and examining feasible solutions
  • The 1963 Definition

    The first definition to be approved by the major professional organization within the field of educational technology. It was produces by a commision established by the Dpeartment of Audiovisual Instruction. It stated that the field was not simply about media.
  • "The Conditions of Learning"

    In “The Conditions of Learning”, Robert Gagne described five domains of learning outcomes (verbal information, intellectural skills, psychomotor skills, attitudes, cognitive strategies)
  • Early Instructional Theory

    Application of instructional models began to thrive and the term instructional design was used more widespread than ever before.
  • The 1977 Definition

    The association for Educational Communication and Technology adopted a new definition of the field. The definition read: Educational technology is a complex integrated process involving people, procedures, ideas, devices, implementing, evaluating and managing solution to those problems, involved in all aspects of human learning.
  • Interest Grew

    Widespread interest in computer use as an instructional tool
  • Human Performance

    Human performance improvement movement, emphasis on job performance, business results and a non-instructional solution to performance problems thus has broadened the scope of instructional design.
  • Constructivism

    Constructivism was the new kid on the block. Constructivism is a theory that equates learning with creating meaning from experience. Both learner and environmental factors are crucial to constructivism. Very few learning models at this time used the ideas of constructivism.
  • The 1994 Definition: Beyond viewing the instructional technology as a process

    The new definition of instructional technology was that Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning.
  • Surveys

    surveys revealed schools in the United States possessed an average of one computer per nine students.
  • Internet Use Rises

    increased use of the internet as a means of presenting instruction to the learner- major influence on the field of instructional design
  • Modern Days

    In recent years technologies such as computers, mobile devices, social networking and internet have become everyday devices for gaining new skills and knowledge
  • The Latest AECT Definition

    AECT produced a book the presented a new definition stating educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.
  • 1970 Definitions

    In 1970 Commission of Intructional Technology produced a report entitled To Improve Learning. In this two definitions were constructed. First related to the older view of instructional technology while the second offered instructional technology as more of a process.