The Evolution of the Field of IDT

  • 1st School Museum

    The first school museum opened in St. Louis, Missouri in 1905. The museums were made for additional resources for learning instead of being a part of the curriculum. Teachers had the right to choose what was in the curriculum.
  • The Beginning of a Movement

    The "Visual Education" Movement dates back to beginning as early as 1908. Schools began to use films or motion picture as a part of their instruction.
  • An Original Film

    One of the first documented films of instructional technology dates back early on in the twentieth century.
  • Period: to

    The Visual Instruction Movement

    The advances in the media that included the radio created the time of the Visual and Audiovisual Instruction Movements.
  • Period: to

    The Audiovisual Instruction Movement

    During the Audiovisual Instruction Movement, three professional organizations came together as one and formed a new organization that we know today as the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. The movement had similar results to the Visual Education Movement.
  • Period: to

    The Introduction of Instructional Design

    During World War 2, professionals conducted tests on people who were joining the military to determine what program would be best for them to train in. With successful results, the professionals created procedures that could be used for more than just military use.
  • Period: to

    Audiovisual Usage in World War 2

    During World War 2, audiovisual devices were a key component to the training of civilians who were either helping the military or working for different industries. Without the increase of the American efficiency, who knows what the war would have looked like.
  • Period: to

    Growth in Communications

    Large steps were taken in the advancement of audiovisual communications through a variety of theories.
  • Period: to

    Taught by the Television

    Many advancements were made in the television world at this time. Originally, it was found that educational broadcasting would be cheaper and efficient. They were wrong and little growth was made after several trials and errors.
  • Period: to

    The Programmed Instruction Movement

    B. F. Skinner was the one who discovered that taking small steps to learning would allow for the learner to pace themselves and allow them to learn material more efficiently.
  • Period: to

    The Popularization of Formative Evaluation

    Although there were multiple researchers who used this process, it wasn't until the programmed instructional materials were tested while being developed. After the Author Susan Markle used this, she critiqued the evaluation and generated new techniques that are still being used.
  • Behavioral Objectives Gone Viral

    Behavioral objectives were first noted early in the twentieth century. It wasn't until the 60s when Robert Mager wrote a book that eventually sold over a million copies on the use of behavioral objectives.
  • Period: to

    The Field is a Process

    The Field of IDT was viewed as a process. This lasted for multiple decades
  • The Criterion-Referenced Testing Movement

    Although others had made significant discoveries, Robert Glaser was the first to call it criterion-referenced. This allowed people to determine what level of instruction they had tested into.
  • Robert M. Gagne's Discoveries

    Robert M. Gagne wrote a book that described five domains of learning outcomes, nine events of instruction, and the importance of hierarchical analysis. Gagne said that one needed to have skills in each category in order to master one of the categories.
  • The Basis for the Information Processing Theory

    Atkinson & Shriffin created the basis for the Information Processing Theory
  • Period: to

    The Widespread of Instructional Design

    Many organizations, businesses, and even countries started to see the importance of the design process and started to use the approach. A journal was also created in the 70s for new instructional programs and designs.
  • Period: to

    The Information Processing Theory

    After Atkinson & Shriffin introduced their theory, many others expanded on the theory.
  • Period: to

    The Birth of Computers Used for Education

    Computer-assisted instruction dates back to the 50s through the 70s, but it was not seriously introduced into education until the 80s. After the personal computers released, nearly half of the elementary schools in the United States were using computers for educational purposes. Towards the mid 90s, the computer usage slowed down significantly.
  • Period: to

    Delayed Instructional Design Improvements

    While some businesses and industries were making minor improvements to instructional design the education industry was not getting much out of instructional design improvements. Part of this reason was due to the interest in the use of personal computers.
  • Period: to

    The Human Performance Improvement Movement

    During this decade, there were many improvements on designs of giving feedback to improve performance at work. These designs help people learn from real-life situations. People also started to use computers to support these systems.
  • Period: to

    Taking a New Approach

    The beginning of the twenty first century has made significant improvements to instructional design. The more recent changes have been through social media and the access to connect to many more ideas right in the palm of your hand. This has shown that the older designs are being pushed out as they are not as efficient.
  • Period: to

    Major Advancements

    The Internet was a trigger to the advancements of technological visuals. As the Internet grew and mobile devices came about, the majority of businesses and educational institutions utilized these advancements and adopted more and more technology as a part of their instruction as the years continue and more advancements are made.
  • Period: to

    The 4C/ID Model

    Van Merrienboer, Kirschner, & Kester developed a model for complex learning with the purpose of reducing the cognitive load.
  • A More Recent Definition

    The Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT) created an updated definition of the field that is currently being used.