Foundation: The first class I took in the Instructional Technology program was the ETEC 500 class. It was an introduction to what we would be doing throughout this program. It also allowed us to start our ePortfolios. I learned what Instructional Technology and Instructional Design (ID) are, and how they incorporate many different aspects of technology into education. This could be anything from hardware devices to software programs. Instructional Technology is an educational program that helps instructors, trainers, and other individuals create effective learning environments that engage the learners in whatever topics that are being taught.
Instructional Technology (IT) is defined by The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) in this way, "Instructional technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning" (AECT, 2008). This field of study encompasses the theory and practice of instructional design, while utilizing the knowledge of traditional educational technology. IT incorporates learning theories, to help people solve problems, by developing workable instructional solutions. It also is a field within education, which is improving how teachers are delivering their material to their students in a variety of ways to better reach them. That is to say, instructors now realize with so many different learning styles, the teacher must incorporate many different teaching methods within one classroom. The one or two ways of teaching, as in the past, with lecture and/or writing on the chalk, or white-board, is not efficient now. It is also being discovered that many students learn and retain more by being directly involved in their own education with hands-on activities.
The field of Instructional Technology has evolved partly because technology is ever changing, and has a history dating back many decades. Yet, the most noteworthy advancements have occurred since World War II, when the United States military started to use training films to educate many of their personnel quickly. The result was effective. In the 1950s, instructional television began, where instructors could give lessons to people without the students being in a regular classroom. The disadvantage to this was that it was one-way communication, from the instructor to the students. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, college degrees were being offered in the field of Instructional Technology. The idea of using the term, systems approach, in this field, in conjunction with IT and ID was getting recognized in the 1980s. As the personal computer became common in the mid-1990s and beyond, plus the Internet being available to the masses, distance learning took on a whole new meaning. The instructor could now interact with learners who were enrolled in these classes. Pictures and short videos were added to the material exchange. More information could flow in both directions, faster, easier and more efficiently (http://www.indiana.edu/~idt/shortpapers/documents/ITduring20.html).
The IT field has evolved because of learning theories that have helped shape the understanding of teaching methods and how students learn. This is the understanding on how people grasp, then process information, thereby retaining it for future use. That new knowledge is then used in problem solving and critical thinking techniques, to incorporating personal attitudes or having their environment influence their decisions. The three main theories are Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. A few of the best known individuals who were involved with these learning theories are: B.F. Skinner who began studying under Edward L. Thorndike and soon branched out on his own. Skinner is known for his work in Behaviorism. He coined the term reinforcement. He called his approach Operant Behavior which deals with both positive and negative consequences. This became known as Operant Conditioning. And, Skinner proved that conditioning can be done in a positive way through reinforcement (Skinner, 2016). Jean Piaget "...disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment" (Piaget, 2015). Piaget, as a psychologist, studied children and discovered that their thinking was very different than that of adults. His theory was concerned about children as learners versus learners of all ages; he was interested in the child's development versus how they learned or what behavior was involved in each situation. He realized that there were subtle development stages, which appeared through qualitative differences versus subtle increases and changes in the understanding of the concepts, ideas and behaviors. According to Mark Guzdial from Stanford University, "Constructivism, the cognitive theory, was invented by Jean Piaget" (Guzdial, 1997). Guzdial goes on to say, "Constructionism is more of an educational method which is based on the constructivist learning theory" (Guzdial, 1997). Constructionism is a term that was invented by Seymour Papert who was a student of Piaget's. Seymour Papert, a professor at MIT, is well known for his work in constructivist learning theory. He felt students learned through their involvement within their studies, along with projects and activities, which they worked on either individually, or in teams. Papert is also known for these three contributions: 1) child development and wanting children to use computers in the classroom, 2) artificial intelligence, and 3) computational technologies for education. He considered himself a constructivist constructionist (Papert, n.d.).
A brief summary of the 3 major learning theories that influence education.
Behaviorism is considered to be a stimulus-response principle which is based on external stimuli that is used for teaching. Those who practice this approach believe that the learner will learn to respond accordingly. This learning theory uses observation, thus it is easy to understand, and is employed in education. Depending on how it is used, it can have positive or negative outcomes. Much is based on habits, rather than memory. Those people practicing behaviorism determine what questions will get the answers they are seeking, create practice situations for students, and manipulate stimuli to illicit desired responses from students. (http://www.bfskinner.org/behavioral-science/definition/)
Cognitivism is considered to wake up the mind to learning, which leads to understanding of the process of gathering knowledge, and then organizing that information. Thus, retaining that information to use later, and creating problem solving solutions by applying critical thinking, rather than just responding to stimuli. The learning environment also plays an important role as to how students learn. The learners do not need to receive this information in a formal manner. It should be organized and presented in a meaningful way. The followers of this theory are interested in how the learning is understood, and knowledge gained from experiences. (https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html)
Constructivism is a concept of the learners being personally involved in their own education. The students are acquiring new material from experience, then, deciding to add or delete this new information to what they already know, and use it accordingly. This is building a broader base of knowledge to draw from in the future. These learners are always experiencing and creating new things, and are not drawing from only memory. They are designing new ways to accomplish their goals. (http://www.papert.org/)
Reflection ETEC 500 was my first IT program course. It introduced many of us to creating webpages, which I had done previously. I learned about the four areas of IT, and how they were integrated. I was introduced to many new terms as I progressed through this class. That information has helped me throughout the entire program and my teaching career. I attached my final paper from ETEC 500 to display some of the major things I learned in this preparatory class which gives me a strong base from which to draw in the future. EDUC 605 was the last class I took. It covered the history of education from ancient times to current practices. I found similarities and difference throughout history, and compared these in my final paper on "Teaching and Learning Methods Throughout the Ages". I created a PowerPoint presentation to use when I presented my paper to this class.