History of the Field of Instructional Design

By luke.scherzer

  • The First School Museum Opened in St. Louis

    As Saettler has indicated, (1968) these museums “served as the central administrative unit[s] for visual instruction by [their] distribution of portable museum exhibits, stereographs, slides, films, study prints, charts, and other instructional materials” (p. 89). Saettler, P. (1968). A history of instructional technology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

  • Keystone View Company Published "Visual Education"

    This publication came at a time where there was increasing interest in using media in the school. They referred to these methods as "visual instruction," and "visual education." The Keystone View Company named their publication Visual Education, which was a teachers guide to lantern slides and stenographs.

  • First Catalog of Instructional Films were Published

    In the United States, the first catalog of instructional films was published in 1910. Later that year, the public school system of Rochester, New York, became the first to adopt films for regular instructional use (Reiser, 2018). Reiser, Robert A.; Dempsey, John V.. Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology: Tren Iss Ins Desi PDF_All _4 (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (Page 9). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

  • Thomas Edison a Proponent for Visual Instruction in the School System

    Thomas Edison stated, “Books will soon be obsolete in the schools.... It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. Our school system will be completely changed in the next ten years” (Saettler, 1968, p. 98). Saettler, P. (1968). A history of instructional technology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

  • The Merging of The Department of Visual Instruction (DVI)

    Created in 1923, the Department of Visual Instruction (DVI) is now called the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). This organization has been a cornerstone for the field of instructional design and technology.

  • Creation of the Division of Visual Aids for War Training

    Organization produced over 457 training films. It was said by many training directors that these films were shortening the duration of training without interfering with training effectiveness (Saettler, 1990)
    Some devices included, overhead projectors, slide projectors, audio equipment, and simulators for flight training (Olsen & Bass, 1982; Saettler, 1990).

  • Growth of the Audiovisual Instruction Movement in World War II

    The Army Air Force produced over 400 training films and 600 filmstrips, and from 1943-1945 there was an estimated 4 million showings of training films to the US personnel (Reiser, 2018) Reiser, Robert A.; Dempsey, John V.. Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology: Tren Iss Ins Desi PDF_All _4 (What's New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (Page 10). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

  • Psychologists and Educators Called Upon to Conduct Research and Develop Training Materials for the Military Services

    Gagné, Briggs, and Flanagan, worked using instructional principles to enhance the the training materials using theories and research on instruction, learning, and human behavior (Baker, 1973; Saettler, 1990). Baker, E. L. (1973). The technology of instructional development. In R. M. W. Travers (Ed.), Second handbook of research on teaching. Chicago: Rand McNally. Saettler, P. (1990). The evolution of American educational technology. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

  • The Federal Communications Commision set aside 242 TV Channels for Educational Purposes

    These TV stations main focus was on the presentation of instructional program (Reiser, 2018). Hezel (1980) explains, "“The teaching role has been ascribed to public broadcasting since its origins. Especially prior to the 1960s, educational broadcasting was seen as a quick, efficient, inexpensive means of satisfying the nation’s instructional needs” (p. 173). Hezel, R. T. (1980). Public broadcasting: Can it teach? Journal of Communication, 30, 173–178.

  • The Programmed Instruction Movement

    in 1954 B.F. Skinner wrote an article called, "The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching." in this article Skinner stated that, "such materials, called programmed instructional materials, should present instruction in small steps, require active responses to frequent questions, provide immediate feedback, and allow for learner self-pacing,"(Reiser, 2018, p.13)

  • The Popularization of Behavioral Objectives

    In the early 1960s, Robert Mager wrote, "Preparing Objectives for Programmed Instruction," (Mager, 1962). Popularizing the the use of objectives by describing the process of writing objectives with a description of desired learner behaviors, conditions of performed behaviors, and standards of judged behaviors. (Reiser, 2018) Mager, R. F. (1962). Preparing objectives for programmed instruction. Belmont, CA: Fearon.

  • Robert Glaser and the Creation of the Criterion-Referenced Measures

    Robert Glaser coined the term criterion-referenced measures (1963; Glaser & Klaus 1962) explaining that these measures could be used to determine student entry-level behavior and the amount of behaviors learned from a behavioral instructional program (Reiser, 2018). Glaser, R. (1963). Instructional technology and the measurement of learning outcomes: Some questions. American Psychologist, 18, 519–521.

  • First Definition for the Field of Instructional Technology

    The first definition for the field of instructional technology was established by the Department of Audiovisual Instruction. The definition focused on the design process using messages in a series of steps. The steps used in 1963 were planning, production, selection, utilization, and management. These steps followed a definition that was mostly based on learning rather than instruction.

  • The Five Domains of Learning Outcomes

    In the book Conditions of Learning, written by Robert Gagné he came up with the five domains of learning outcomes. Verbal information, intellectual skills, psychomotor skills, attitudes, and cognitive strategies.

  • CIT Defines the Field of Instructional Technology as Media Born of the Communication Revolution

    The Commission on Instructional Technology focused its definition of Instructional Technology to improve learning in schools. They wanted to see the potential benefits and problems caused by using media to instruct in the classroom. The Commission on Instructional Technology stated that, "instructional technology is media born of the communications revolution which can be used for instructional purposes alongside the teacher, textbook, and blackboard." (p. 21)

  • Instructional Technology Defined as a Process

    The Commission on Instructional Technology constructed another definition for instructional technology as a process stating, "It is a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the whole process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research on human learning and communication, and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction." (p. 21)

  • Flourishing of Instructional Design Process in Business, Education, and the Military

    in 1975, multiple branches of the U.S. military incorporated instructional design models to enhance training materials (Reiser, 2018). Instructional improvement centers were created to assist faculty in using media and instructional design procedures for their classes. Business and industry started to train their employees using the instructional design approach (cf. Mager, 1977; Miles,1983). Mager, R. F. (1977). The “winds of change.” Training and Development Journal, 31(10), 12–20.

  • Adding to the Definition of Instructional Technology

    This new definition included the importance for a systematic design process. An analysis phase of the planning process was implemented for the first time and emphasized that the learning resources were equally distributed between people, materials and devices. Meaning that instruction was not only the use of media.

  • Computers in Schools

    Computers used for instructional purposes were in 40% of all elementary schools and more than 75% of all secondary schools in the US (Center for Social Organization of Schools, 1983). Center for Social Organization of Schools. (1983). School uses of microcomputers: Reports from a national survey (Issue no. 1). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Social Organization of Schools.

  • The Emergence of Cognitive and Constructivist Learning Theories 1977-1990s

    These changes were being caused by technological advancements, for example the microcomputer, interactive video, CD-ROM, and the Internet. These new communication technologies paved a trail to the idea of distance learning as well as collaborative learning.

  • The Field of Instructional Technology Defined Using a Constructivist Approach

    The AECT defined instructional Technology as, "the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning" (p. 1). This constructivist approach described the these domains as a "wheel-like visual," where the domains are the perimeter connected to theory. There emphasis on this definition is to show that the field of instructional technology is an area of research and study.

  • Educational Technology Defined to Facilitate Learning and Improve Performance

    The AECT presented a new definition that stated, "Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources"(p. 1). The AECT implemented this new definition to emphasize ethics to promote the AECT Code of Ethics (Association for Educational Communcations and Technology, 2007). As well as to facilitate learning instead of causing or controlling learning.

  • Training in Business and Industry Using Technology Grows Tremendously

    In 2004, 26% of all business and industry training was done using technology, by 2014 that percentage had risen to 41%
    (ASTD Research, 2008; ATD Research 2015a). ASTD Research. (2008). 2008 state of the industry report. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training & Development. ATD Research. (2015a). 2015 state of the industry report. Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development.

  • The Use of Smartphones for Schoolwork

    64% of college students have said that they use their smartphones to do schoolwork about 2 to 3 times a week. 41% of kids in grades 4-12 have reported using smartphones for school work as well (Pearson, 2015b). Pearson. (2015b). Pearson student mobile device survey 2015: National report: Students in grades 4–12. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

  • Referring to the Field as Instructional Design and Technology

    Instructional Design and Technology, a new term created by Robert A. Reiser and John V. Dempsey to "emphasize the need to improve human performance in the workplace via non instructional, as well as instructional, methods has been dubbed the performance improvement movement." (p.4) They believe that the use of media and systematic instructional design procedures are the major components.