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The Birth of Distance Learning
Isaac Pitman provided shorthand instruction via correspondence using newly established penny post in London, England. Students worked independently on course material. Interaction between faculty and students was limited to one-way communications. (Matthews,1999). -
The School Museum
In 1904 the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held in St. Louis, Missouri with education serving as the main theme. The public schools of St. Louis created an educational exhibit which had over 70,000 students to come to visit the exhibit. From this event, the School Board was persuaded to set up an educational museum which opened on April 11, 1905 (Parezo & Fowler, 2007). -
Visual Education
Instruments such as Magic Lantern Projectors and Stereroscopes, found their way into the classroom with the Visual Education package offered by the Keystone View Company's. In 1905 Keystone View Company began its Educational Department, selling views and glass lantern slides containing transparencies on film to schools throughout the country. Hundreds of educational sets were marketed to teach geography, social studies, science, history and reading (Reiser, 2001). -
Department of Visual Instruction
The NEA (National Education Association) establishes the DVI (Department of Visual Instruction). DVI was formed at a time of rapidly increasing interest in the potential of visual media—particularly slides and motion pictures—in schools, colleges, and university extension divisions. The membership included mostly school people eager to liberate instruction from the bonds of "verbalism" (Reiser, 2001). -
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World World II- Visual Instruction
World War II slowed AV instruction for schools, but accelerated production of instructional films for training. Films to inform the masses and boost morale were also made as short films. Over 400 training films and 600 film shorts were made for the war effort (Rieser, 2001).
See training video at link https://youtu.be/72tzsu82_fQ -
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Post World War II
Audiovisual material played a major role in training people for industry after the war. Research in this area, giving form to instruction as a system and new form of instruction, through communication.This audiovisual mass communication and programmed learning helped to pave the way for TV-education (Rieser, 2001).
See post World War II video at link https://youtu.be/Oa2UgA-2FhE -
B F Skinner
BF Skinner introduces his concept of operant conditioning in the journal, The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching. Skinner states that effective programmed instruction materials should have discrete steps, frequent overt responses, immediate feedback, and allow for learner self-pacing. Furthermore, his concept of operant conditioning seeks to show learning through learner behavior (Skinner, 1984). -
Benjamin Bloom
Benjamin Bloom publishes the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which includes the three main domains of learning - cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. In his work, Bloom provides a hierarchy of various cognitive outcome types, matching objectives with learning outcomes. This taxonomy serves a major influential role in the formation of systematic design of instruction (Krathwohl, 2002). -
Robert Mager
Robert Mager publishes his book, “Preparing Objectives for Programmed Instruction”. Through his book, Mager popularizes the use of learning objectives. He describes how to write objectives including desired behavior, learning condition, and assessment (Reiser, 2001). -
The Overhead Projector
The overhead projector was created and changed the way instruction was given in the classroom. The use of the plastic sheets that could be erased and reused safe time and money for teachers and schools. The use of overhead projectors in education/school setting went well into the 21st century (Kidwell, Ackerberg-Hastings, & Roberts, 2008). -
Robert Glaser
Robert Glaser was the first to use the term criterion-referenced measures. These could assess student entry-level behavior and determine the extent of learning behaviors an instructional program was designed to teach. The use of criterion-referenced tests for these two purposes is a central feature of instructional design procedures (Reiser, 2001). -
Robert Gagné
Robert Gagne wrote the first edition of "The Conditions of Learning" describing five domains of learning outcomes, and each domain's set of conditions to promote learning. Gagné indicated that within the intellectual skills domain exists a hierarchy or sequence of prerequisite learning steps. With it came task analyses for learning and instruction. This process remains a key feature in many instructional design models (Gagné, 1972). -
Component Display Theory
Adopting an information-processing-based approach to the design of instruction, David Merrill developed Component Display Theory (CDT). Merrill believed that instruction is more effective when it contains all necessary primary and secondary forms. The theory suggests that each objective and learner would benefit most from an appropriate combination of presentation forms (Merrill,1983). -
Instruction Centers Develop on College Campuses
Academically, instruction centers were established to promote instructional design methods and media use. The knowledge base of instructional design as a systems approach has grown in organization and depth. This growth justified the creation of graduate programs in many universities, across several countries (Reiser, 2001). -
ADDIE
The ADDIE model, developed by Florida State University, became quite popular, undergoing a few revisions to a more streamlined state. The model set out to explain the processes involved in instructional systems development (ISD) program for military inter-service training. The developers saw that ADDIE could also be applied to any inter-service curriculum development activity (Gagne, Wager, Golas, Keller, & Russell (2005). -
Computers on the Rise in Schools
By this point in history, 40% of elementary schools and 75% of secondary schools had purchased computers for their school. Early in the decade, computers were valued for providing highly motivational skills practice and for enriching the curriculum with the subject of "computer literacy". Computer-using teachers, although twice as numerous at this point, still only rarely provide a computer-centered classroom where students used computers for a large fraction of the time (Becker, 1991) -
Cognitive Load Theory
Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) begins to make its presence known (with empirical support for use in presentations) and shall have a stronger influence in instructional design in the 1990s. CLT shows how an individual's brain remembers long term information. The design was planned to reduce the amount of stress inflicted on our long term memory (Paas, Renkl, & Sweller, 2003). -
Cutting Edge Advances in Instructional Media
During the mid 1990s instructional media was advancing with new technology. We began to see the development of microcomputer, interactive video, CD-ROM, and the Internet. The development of the internet serves hold the instructional technology torch for distance learning and online degree programs (Reiser, 2001). -
Pebble in the Pond Model
Pebble in the Pond is an instructional design method proposed by M. David Merrill. Designed for problem-based learning, the model is perceived as a series of cocentric circles at whose heart lies the problem to be solved. Radiating outwards are the steps ('ripples') to be taken in the design of a unit of instruction (Merrill, 2002). -
Association for Educational Communications and Technology's (AECT) New Definition of the Field
For decades, AECT has been the oldest professional and academic body of educational technologists in the world. AECT has maintained a definitions and terminology committee through the decades that monitors these conceptual issues. AECT newest definition reads as "Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources" (Richey, Silber, & Ely, 2008).
