Section I-Defining the Field

According to Chapter 1, the definition of Instructional Design and Technology has changed through the years.  My definition has changed as well, and before reading this chapter, I would have said that “educational or instructional technology was any media used to facilitate learning in the classroom.”  My definition was shaped by my experiences as an art teacher, and I probably never gave one thought to the design aspect of educational technology. In reality I used technology in my instruction everyday with no thought of any systematic process.  I recently read a paper that suggested we often make the mistake of focusing on the technology first, and then design ways to use it within our lessons.  The reverse should be true, and that is to consider learning goals first, and then decide if and when the technology can enhance instruction.  After reading the chapter, my definition has shifted from focusing on the media and instructional delivery, to focusing on the end product, namely student performance.  The newest definition is the most relative to today’s educational environment, stating that “the goal of the field is to improve (or facilitate) learning and performance” (p.6).  I understood this to mean that although technology makes tasks and activities easier and more engaging, the ultimate goal of instructional design and technology should be to help students achieve learning goals.  By researching and reading the materials this semester, I hope to achieve a better understanding of instructional design and technology so that I may improve my own teaching practice.

I taught an art lesson about the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio.  At the beginning of the lesson I gave the students a historical background on the phenomena and showed them examples of artists’ works that were inspired by these sequences and patterns.  I also showed them many examples of the Fibonacci sequence and how it appeared in nature, such as the Nautilus shell or flower petals. I then required the students to search for samples of these patterns in nature and art and then design a presentation that included their findings as well as personal sketches that incorporated Fibonacci’s sequence. 

My lesson included aspects of Instructional Design characteristics 1, 2, 3 and 4—it was mostly student centered (except for my introduction), was goal oriented, and included meaningful performance because it required them to apply the knowledge they attained. I also evaluated their performance by completing a rubric that assessed each step of the project.  I believe I fell short in the last two characteristics—data collection (comparing what they know/don’t know) and team effort.  Many students enjoyed the project, but became frustrated when attempting to create Fibonacci-inspired designs.  If I had been more careful to listen and require student feedback earlier in the project, the lesson could have been more successful.  I also failed at team effort because the lesson could have been enhanced by a math teacher’s expertise in helping students with the mathematical aspects of the lesson to strengthen the relationships between math and art.

 I see Reiser’s reasoning for excluding teachers, textbooks and chalkboards because these three methods of instruction are not the “physical means” of instructional delivery and are what he states are the most prevalent method used in our educational system. I also agree with the Reiser & Gagne definition that instructional media is any physical means in which instruction is presented to learners. Students can attain knowledge in any number of ways including instructor to learner, media to learner and learner to learner.  A teacher is by definition, a form of instructional media, but serves a purpose in the learner-centered classroom that goes beyond this definition, and that is the role of “facilitator” of learning. The chalkboard and textbook here appear to be representations for all other media, including e-books, projectors and tablets, so I believe they should be included in the definition of instructional media.

The chapter gives an account of the history of instructional media and instructional design separately, but I don’t believe that the sole purpose of ID is to incorporate media, rather to improve overall performance, with or without media.  On the flip side, Reiser states that there is an “obvious overlapping between these two areas,” and that “many instructional solutions arrived at through the use of ID processes require the employment of …instructional media” (p. 27).  Consequently, ID&T as a field is the combination of two closely linked practices and it has become more appropriate to use the term instructional design AND technology.