Week 1

Before I started my Master's program at Athabasca University, I had a small knowledge of Instructional Design.  I defined Instructional Design (ID) as the methodology of designing and developing learning materials and experiences for learners and instructors.  As my college has been promoting the use of the Universal Design of Learning framework (UDL), I assumed that the UDL framework was part of the process of instructional design to ensure that ID provides meaningful content that could engage diverse learners. 

Reading all the definitions of the field in the first week of the MDDE 619 course, I agreed with Kulhmann (2008, as cited in Power, 2019) who defined the instructional design as the process of establishing clear learning goals, and then creating a plan, environment, and resources, that engage learners with meaningful content and clear and purposeful activities. This definition shows us that there are a lot of factors that we need to consider in the instructional design to create the instructions that support and facilitate successful learning which includes goals, objectives, learners' characteristics, instructional materials and activities, and assessments. Those factors are related to each other.  It is not only about putting information in front of learners; it is about pulling all content together to design courses that are focused and meaningful for learners. 

The right instructional design will create an empowering learning environment for learners. 

Instructional Technology (IT) and Educational Technology (ET) are important elements that have to be included in the ID process.  Instructional Designers often use IT and ET as a method for developing institutions.  In this digital era, technology is part of education.  All instructors use technology and mentioned that technology mediates all formal education (Dron, 2022). Digital technology is used to facilitate and enhance learning. When I read Twenty Years of Edtech by Weller (2018), I was surprised that a few education technologies have existed since almost twenty years ago such as OER (Open Educational Resources).  It is very interesting to know about the shift of technology in education. 

The first week of reading in this course has shifted my understanding of the foundation of ID in the digital age.  The process involves many factors that are related to each other to make sure that we create a course that can accommodate all the academic needs of diverse learning.  Additionally, these first-week readings have opened up my eyes to the educational and instructional technology that is used to facilitate the learning that can help in achieving the course outcomes, matching the instructors’ teaching model, and “best used” by the diverse learners’ needs (Dron, 2022).  Therefore, we, all stakeholders who are involved in the ID process, need to choose and use technology intentionally. 

The role of instructional design, instructional technology, and educational technology has shifted the role of instructors as more of a “guide on the side” than a “sage on the stage”.   The instructors’ role is more to support learners’ learning, not delivering content.