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What is Instructional Technology? - A personal reflection By Paula Christopher

Describing Instructional Technology (IT) is a lot like herding cats – it can probably be done but it won’t be easy. It has been a difficult question for educational researchers and technologists to answer. Few other fields have such a difficulty in self-definition. Everyone can readily define such fields as psychology and biology, but the IT field is so new that no one has a definite answer. The term instructional technology is further confused because it is often used interchangeably with the terms educational technology and instructional design. The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) (1994) defines IT as "the theory and practice of design, development, utilization management and evaluation of processes and resources for learning." Silber (1970) describes IT as "the development . . . of instructional systems components (messages, people, materials, devices, techniques, settings) and the management of the development . . . in a systematic manner with the goal of solving educational problems." According to Tickton (1970), "instructional technology is a way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and non-human resources to bring about more effective instruction." The U.S. Commission on Instructional Technology (1970) defines IT as ". . . the media born of the communications revolution which can be used for instructional purposes along side the teacher, textbook, and blackboard. . . . a systematic way of designing, implementing and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction." Good definitions but I feel that IT is more, much more. In refuting the United States concept, technology is not just media. Technology doesn’t increase

understanding of individual learning – media is simply a form of mass communication. Information is not instruction. IT is more than computers, projectors, VCRs and monitors, cart-pushing, thermofax transparencies, filmstrips and all those other artifacts of the 1950s and 60s by which many administrators and faculty still seem to stereotype the field. It is a complex field that is equally concerned with the processes of learning as it is with the products that support learning (Albright, 1995). The word technology is used by some to mean hardware – the devices that deliver information and serve as tools to accomplish a task – but those working in the field use technology to refer to a systematic process of solving problems by scientific means (Ely, 1999). Instruction is the process of imparting knowledge or teaching (Webster, 1989). Therefore, IT should refer to the use of technological processes for teaching and learning but I think there is still more. At the foundation of IT is instructional design, the process of planning instruction. Instructional design seeks to answer three questions: Where are we going, how will we get there, and how will we know when we arrive? (Beattie, 1999). Instructional design is a process technology completely independent of any hardware or software. What does IT encompass? Well, those cats you were herding just had kittens. As soon as you think you know every aspect, something new pops up. Currently, IT includes theories, traditional media, computer-based training, games and simulations, multimedia, distance education, electronic performance support systems, virtual reality and more is being developed. IT can be found in schools, businesses, corporate training departments, even on the web. IT can teach information, train for new skills, change attitudes. IT has many facets but, at the heart, it is a systematic way of turning information into wisdom. Where did the notion of IT come from? Technology in the classroom has been around for a long time in the form of blackboards, pencils, slates and more recently movies, radio, overheads and even newer technologies. During the years of the Second World War, mass training became essential to the war effort and the learning process began to be studied. With this study, theories and models of learning began to take shape and a new profession, the Educational Technologist, began to appear. This was a person with intimate knowledge of technology and learning theory. A person with the skills to analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate educational programs using appropriate technology required for the job (Jones, 1999). What is an instructional technologist? It is someone who enjoys learning; understands learning theory; communicates well; is flexible; can see the "big

picture;" has an inquiring mind; has developed good problem-solving and analytical skills; can manage people, time and money; is well-versed in learning delivery techniques; has a technical knowledge of the inner workings of a computer; and above all is creative - in short – Superman and Wonderwoman. Besides leaping tall buildings with a single bound, what does an instructional technologist do? Anything and everything. Some design instruction and produce instructional materials. Others manage instructional services or learning resources collections. To sum, what is Instructional Technology? IT is the pursuit of knowing how people learn and discovering the best method to teach the learner. IT is objects – tools, machines, instruments, weapons, appliances – those physical devices of technical performance. IT is knowledge – the know-how behind technological innovation. IT is activities – what people do including their skills, methods, procedures and routines. IT is a sociotechnical system, the manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination. IT is a process that begins with a need and ends with a solution. IT is not computers, not document cameras, not whiteboards. It’s the people using these tools, what they do with them and how they do it. Think of IT as baking a cake - both involve ingredients that, when carefully blended together in the hands of an expert, result in a product that is pleasing to the senses, tempting to the palate, and entirely digestible.

References Albright, M.J. (1995). Reaffirming Instructional technology as an Imperative for Higher Education as We Approach the Third Millennium. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Educational Media Institute, South African Association for Research and Development of Higher Education, Cape Town. Beattie, S. (1999). What is Educational Technology? BiblioTech. 1(1) Available online http://www2.augustana.edu/library/Newsletter1/index.htm . Commission on Instructional Technology. (1970). To improve learning. A report to the President and the Congress of the United States. Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office. Jones, B.W. (1999). A Differentiating Definition of Instructional Technology and Educational Technology. Available online: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Campus/7941/trmpprh.html

Seels, B.B. and Richey, R.C. (1994). Instructional technology: The definition and domains of the field. Washington, D.C: AECT. Silber, K.H. (1970). What field are we in, anyhow? Audiovisual Instruction, (15(5), pp. 21-24. Tickton, S.G. (1970). To improve learning: An evaluation of instructional technology. New York: R.R. Bowker Company. Webster’s Dictionary (1989). Edited by Patterson, R.F. and Litt, D. Miami, FL, P.S.I. & Associates, Inc.