Foundation

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What is Instructional Design & Technology?

Instructional Design & Technology is a field of study that helps learners understand new materials from a wide range of different subjects under the guise of using different mediums such as (audio, video, written and more). IDT creates platforms and tools that enables learners to understand new topics while aligning with the needs and desires of an organization, school or private entity. With the diverse skills of an IDT specialist they can create a multitude of things to teach a specific learner a specfic subject matter. Usually IDT's would work with SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) to make sure that the topic that needs to be learned is properly explained and presented.

Brief History of IDT

1920s - Bobbit said "Educate individuals according to their capabilities (Bobbitt 1912, p.269). Curriculum should be based on clear objectives and executed systematically. Coherence ensures smooth transition to next topic.

1940s - Miliatary was using technolgoy to help train their solidiers. In 1946, Edgar Dale developed the "Cone of Experience" that shows a learner's progress by observing, listening and reading. (Peck, 2024)

1950s - Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning that goes from remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and implemntating. In 1954, BF Skinner got into the notion of taking complex topics into smaller and more digestible materials. He also brought the aspect of self pacing and plenty of questions to learners and giving immediate feedback.

1960s - Gagne changed Instructional Design with the process of the 9 steps for instructional learning. Those steps include gaining intention, informing learners of objectives, stimulating recall of prior learning, presenting stimulus, providing learner guidance, and more. Micheal Scriven developed a device to analyze the effectivess of materials before finalizing the material.

1980s - Development of the Personal Computer and ID being used outside of schools and in businesses. Also at the school of Illinois the development of PLATO became known for brining a diverse amount of topics to be done for online learning. Thomas Gilbert comes up with the Human Performance Technology/Improvement which deals with how people are performing in the workplace. He also gets into how performance behavior differs and that their accomplishments can be measured by their performance. (Central Reach, 2020)

2000s - The growth of the internet, eLearning & Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Canvas & Blackboard. Wide spread learning to the world and engineers with computers. Also the advent of gamification into the aspect of learning. eLearning becomes more of a prominent space for education. ACET creates the latest defintion for IDT.

2010s - The expansion of Social Media and devics to connect the world. The learning theory of Connectivism shows up with learners, students and people are able to discuss their ideas and things which they have learned via social platforms as Facebook, blog sites and more. Also during this time the SAM model was introduced which was to help with other ID models through presentations. (Timetoast)

2020s - Had many Tech Trends. As of the end of 2024 and into 2025 the biggest tech trend has been all about A.I. , it's use (ethically) , job replacement, accessiblity and more. The A.I. field is growing rapidly with new uses and ideas for A.I. ChatGPT and other LLMs have become more of a search engine than Google (Cohen, 2023).

Another big talk has been about robotics. This goes hand in hand with aritifical intellgience. This state has become closer to a reality with Telsa relasing their Tesla bot at the later quarter of 2024. Boston Robotics are creating robots that can do backflips and dance.

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Key Learning Theories

Behaviorism - This learning theory uses the process of rewarding learners for demonstating what they learned. Punishment is also done for those who did not demonstrate learning. Benefit to this learning theory is that it gives a clear and objective measurement of a learners progress. Some people may think that this learning theory is the most barbaric out of the four and to a degree I do agree. However, I also think that it might be the most effective for all age groups of learners but especially for the younger ages that would recieve treats or more play time for answering the right question.

Constructivism - This learning theory is where learners can build on top of the knowledge with which they already know. Here the professor or educator acts as a facilitaor or guide in this learning theory. Knowledge is also shared amongst teachers and students. The students and teacher share their ideas amongst one another as opposed to traditional teaching models where the teacher knows everything and teaches without any input from the students. One could easily state that this is a progressive way of thinking and teaching. It also brings humility to the teacher by establishing that they do not know everything but are willing to listen to their students and hear their opinions.

Connectivism - The learning theory where people learn through digital platforms and channels like social media, videos and blogs. The benefits to this is that it is very collaborative which can help develop communities and friendships. Another benefit is that it helps develop a diverse set of knowledge, learning and perspectives. Connectivism believes that learning is done socially and not indiviudually. And with this theory it utilizes the community aspect with the digital platforms that are before us. This learning theory is also very beneficial for connecting people with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs and sharing them amongs one another. This could more than likely give insight to different perspectives and points of views.

Cognitivism - a learning theory that reflects on how a person organizes, stores, recieves and retrieves information. (Feder, 2024) Psycholoigist Jean Piaget could be regared as the father of cognitive learning theory. He started his movement in the 1930s with the methods being used on infants and toddlers. A big way that cognitvisim is used in education is to see how students/learners absorb and store information up to how their mind problem solves. Ways that this can be done is by asking questions to the students about what they thought about their current lesson.

Key Voices

Robert M. Gagne

A key figure in ID with his invention of the Gagne 9 steps which address ways for how a student learns.

Those steps are gain attention, inform leaners of objectives, stimulate recall of prior learning, present stimulus, provide learner guidance, elicit performance, provide feedback, assess performance, and enhance retention and transfer. (Miner, 2016)

In cumulative learning states that a child progresses their learning from one point to the next, because they learn in an ordered fashion building what they know upon the next. (Richie 1996)

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Benjamin Bloom

The man behind the famous learning theory called Bloom's Taxonomy. Many educatorswho have heard of his learning theory probably never knew his first name, Benjamin. He was an educational psychologist who contributed greatly to learning theories.

Bloom's Taxonomy goes from remember (being able to recall), understand (being able to explain), apply (being able to implement the info), analyze (being able to organize the info), evaluate (being able to critque and check) and create (being able to produce from the info). (Armstrong, 2010)

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B. F. Skinner

Harvard Professor who came up with the learning theory Behavorism that deals with the reward or even punishment system.

Creator of the Skinner Box, which is an enclosed appartus that has a key where an animal needs to use it in order to get results (Cherry, 2024).

image source: Verywell Mind

Educational Philosophy

My educational philosophy is that everyone should have access to education and technology. In today's era the two seem to go hand in hand. Technology is everywhere and it is used by nearly everyone on the planet. There are places that are without access to technology which seems weird to us in the United States but there are even children in the US that don't have access to techonolgy or even the internet. So access to technology and education is a mandatory right for everyone whether that is through the school, church, library or any community organization.

Here is my complete paper on the matter:

Final Assignment Prep

Reflection

Learning more than I thought I would learn and I came in not knowing what this program was going to be or what IDT even is. I remember writing about wanting to learn how to make a mouse cursor bigger cause I didn't know how. I was a bit ashamed and thought it was easy. Now I know how and can show you how, well at least on a MAC. Knowing about the history of IDT one doesn't realize how important video and audio was to IDT, but it was paramount. As a matter of fact it still is. The unusal thing is that we use audio and visuals so much in the 21st century that we don't even think about it as a tool for learning or as a foundation for IDT.

How to Make a Bigger Cursor:

Step 1

Click the apple icon in the top left and go to "Systme Preferences

Then click on the accesibiity icon

Step 2

Next scroll down and click on the "Display" icon

Step 3

Lastly in display click on the "cursor" button then you can change the cursor size at the bottom.

References:

Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/.

Central Reach (2020) .The Story of Tom Gilbert

https://centralreach.com/blog/the-story-of-tom-gilbert/

Cherry, K. (2024, May). The Behaviroal Psychology Theory That Explains Learned Behavior. Very Well Mind.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-skinner-box-2795875

Harshita, J. (2024, March) Curriculum Development Model By Franklin Bobbit

https://prepwithharshita.com/curriculum-development-model-by-franklin-bobbit/2/

Miner, A. (2016). Using Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction to Enhance Student Performance and Course Evaluations in Undergraduate Nursing. NIH.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4598645/#:~:text=Gagne%20suggested%209%20events%20of,and%20enhance%20retention%20and%20transfer.

Peck, D. (2024, June). The History of Instructional Design

https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/history-of-instructional-design

Richey, R. The Legacy of Robert M Gagne. ERIC.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED445674.pdf