TRENDS AND ISSUES IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY--Chapter1-2

• With the definition and history of instructional design and technology being introduced elaborately in the first two chapters, I started to draw my own mind map of this ever-changing field and noticed some interesting points which I would like to share. 

                           

• Defining a dynamic industry is never an easy job and IDT is no exemption as new technologies are constantly developed and different individuals focus on different aspects of it. In the early approved definition of IDT, it is “media” which drew the attention of the insiders at first. Beginning with the educational movie, the focus of IDT in the first half of 20th century shifted from visual instruction to audiovisual instruction. Since the 1960s, scholars saw instructional technology more as a process to address problems than mere tools. Based on this transition, the 1970 definition indicated the important idea of systematic instructional design which in 1994 was clarified as design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation such 5 domains. The 2008 AECT definition draws my attention in that it shed light on “ethical”, “facilitate” and “improve performance”. The focus on professional conduct, learners' active roles in it and the application of knowledge in real word expressed in the previous three words or phrases refresh my understanding of the field.

            

• Instead of going through every detail of the second chapter, I would like to talk about a topic I’m impressed with, which is the comparison between unsuccessful trials of early visual/audiovisual technologies and the much better job done by computers and other mobile devices facilitated with internet in transforming instructional activities. The author has summarized the reasons for the early failure which mainly lie in the limitation of tools and the resistance of teachers. PC, tablets, smartphones and related applications, however, seems have no boundary. Online courses, games, simulated tests… They can be used in various instructional scenarios. The only limitation is designers’ imagination. Since these information technologies get deeply involved into our daily lives and make plentiful things so much easier, teachers have no reason to resist them. What we can learn from the previous lessons is to design from a long-term perspective and an authentic way and to think carefully about teachers’ attitudes toward the transformation.