Instructional Design Models and Learning Theory Progression

The world appears to be dominated by the footprint of digital technology. With the increased interest in learning, collaborating, and expanding online education offerings for adult learners, instructional design plays a major role in the institution's ability to keep pace. This paper will discuss the history of instructional design and technology in the adult learning environment. This paper also discusses the role of social media in instructional design and technology and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of technology within the adult learning space.

History of Instructional Design and Technology

The origins of instructional design began in the early 1900s. Reiser (2001) identified two critical points that propelled the nation into this technology, WWII and the launch of the Sputnik. Both events required an immediate response by the American armed forces, which in turn meant that training thousands of military personnel at once, the training had to be flexible to meet the global nature of the force but adaptable to meet the rapid evolution of war. There are many key figures of the past that were instrumental to the field of industrial design; they include John Duey, Robert Gagne, Leslie Briggs, B.F. Skinner, and John Flannagan (to name a few). These pioneers of this model recognized the immediacy of the challenge and took into account the value of the old-school chalkboard, film, and television. They understood that these teaching and learning methods all had limitations that could be overcome with the advent of instructional models that are adaptable to the needs of military members.

As the popularity of instructional design grew, various behavioralists, cognitive psychologists, constructivists, and learning theorists added to the body of knowledge. Robert Major was instrumental in the objectives-based learning space, Robert Glaser was critical across the criteria-based measures space. Michael Scriven was heavily involved in the formative and summative evaluation space. Benjamin Bloom was the creator of Bloom's Taxonomy which is heavily relied upon in today's educational instruction. Reiser (2001) noted that in the 70s, a rise in instructional design across many sectors and academia instructional improvement centers were constructed to facilitate media to improve instructional quality. In the 80s, Reiser (2001) identified that because there was an increased interest in front-end analysis and business solution initiatives, the use of instructional design practices increased. The 70, the 80s, and the 90s saw the advancement of instructional design technologies in business environments because employees wanted more training without losing the employees to colleges. Also, the life of the micro-computer and cloud-based instructions became more popular as society began to tap into the thing called the "internet."?

With the increased use and reliance on the internet in the 2000s, the expansion of distance learning, gamification, simulation training, massive open online courses, mobile learning, and learning management systems (LMS) promulgated instructional design initiatives. Today these models have revolutionized the learner experiences and have expanded the learning platform environment. Adult learners are afforded flexibility, career advancement, an expansive course selection, a broader range of perspectives about subjects, and the ability to enroll in courses that are relevant and more applicable to their circumstances. Social media was another way for designers to tap into the population.

Social Media's Impact

Sabo (2015) highlighted that social media application allows for the creation of reusable digital content that in turn can be easily revised, updated, or deleted. Lave & Wagner (1991) reported that because the mind develops in social contexts, learning is inherently a social process making social media a critical tool in the learner's development. Social media has helped; however, over a more extended period, there are concerns about the models and the rapid evolution of technology, and the gaps in learning that may be created. Sabo (2015) recognized that although social media tools are helpful, educators may not recognize the need to create new instructional design tools. Etherington (2020) two additional concerns of social media in the use of instructional design: as education and training opportunities increase, social media (pushes information) limits the learner's desire to explore and seek information on their own. A second concern is the level of additional distractions that are created by social media for the learner. ?

Technology in the Classroom

Technology offers adult learners enormous potential when tapping into information technology, information dissemination, and the versatility across various platforms to learn. It has long been understood that technology within the classroom environments has led to more student engagement, allows for the incorporation of varying learning styles, improvements in collaboration between the students and the faculty and their peers locally and globally. Drexel University (2020) recognized that virtual classrooms contribute to differentiated instruction that meets the uniqueness in needs of the broader student population. Colombo & Colombo's (2007) research demonstrated positive correlations between the implementation of technology and the English language learners. These students showed improvements because they could utilize class blogs, discussion posts, journals, conferences, and various opportunities for cooperative and individual group assignments. ??

Songer et al. (2002) recognized that students from socioeconomically-disadvantaged communities benefited from an environment that included technology-rich inquiry and reform-based lessons. A significant correlation was made between the implementation of technology and the improvements in understanding concepts and the teachers were better able to control and direct the pedagogy. Technology in the classroom has improved communication between the adult learners and their faculty because more channels of communication (email, video conferencing, etc.) within the LMS have improved over the years. Technology encourages discussion and facilitates questions, and opens the door to a more globally dispersed population of adult learners. Varma et al.'s (2008) research found that the increased use of new technology in the adult learning space addressed the diverse needs of learners with high and low levels of learning because context and highly effective means of modeling are more readily available to the educator. These are only a few benefits of adding technology into the adult learning space.

Research also recognizes some cons to implementing technology in the adult learning space. Bang & Luft (2013) said that there are grave assumptions across the education sphere that technology totally tranforms the teaching to student-centered instruction dichotomy; however, that is not always the case. The institution's technology infrastructure will need to be beefed up with technology implementation. Multiple users mean more opportunities to introduce cyber threats into the system. There is also the potential to introduce improper or inappropriate materials on the net. Although robust, the IT systems have their limitations that will need to be addressed well before going live with classes. Hower & Whitford (2015) understood that the schools couldn't simply add devices to the infrastructure because the teachers become distracted with infrastructure issues rather than teaching the curriculum; this will force teachers to become system administrators and problem-solvers throughout the term. There will also be a need for more system or IT professionals to be on call as issues with the network present themselves. These are only a few concerns about implementing technology into the adult learning space.

Conclusion

???????????The journey of instructional design and technology is long and storied and appears to still evolve well into the 21-century. Adult learners are no longer confined to classrooms on campus, chalkboards, outdated textbooks, and teacher-led lectures. Teachers are better able to source formative data much quicker and make decisions about the LMS, curriculum, or their teaching styles to best meet the adult learner's needs. Adult learning is no longer a discrete experience; the confines of learning are no longer bound by time, space, or resources, especially with LMSs, social media options, and the ability to always connect to an IT infrastructure 24/7. Formal and informal learning opportunities are supported in today's adult learning environment, so the learner and the educators benefit from the advancements in instructional design and technology together. Technology will continue to evolve because the learners will change become more adaptive, which will create more critical thinkers. This means that the old instructional designs and teaching styles will need to evolve as well.?

References:

Bang, E., & Luft, J. (2013). Secondary science teachers' use of technology in the classroom during their first 5 years. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 29(4), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2013.10784715

Colombo, M., & Colombo, P. (2007). Using blogs to improve differentiated instruction. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 73(4), 10–14.

Drexel University (2020). How to use technology in the classroom: Benefits & effects. Retrieved from https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/how-to-use-technology-in-the-classroom/

Etherington, C. (2020). Instructional design: Learning from social media. Retrieved from https://www.eleapsoftware.com/what-instructional-design-can-learn-from-social-media/

Hower, A., & Whitford, T. (2015). To BYOD or not to BYOD? two teachers examine the pros and cons of welcoming student-owned technology into the classroom.(bring your own device). Reading Today (Newark, Del. : 1985), 32(4), 16.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press

Reiser, R. (2001). A history of instructional design and technology: Part II: A history of instructional design. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 49(2), 57. https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy2016.trident.edu/scholarly-journals/history-instructional-design-technology-part-ii/docview/218031802/se-2?accountid=28844

Sabo, K. (2015). The social media instructional design model: A new tool for designing instructional design model: A new tool for designing instruction using social media. Retrieved from https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrWmjD9vjxi6TMAEAoPxQt.;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Nj/RV=2/RE=1648177022/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fscholarworks.boisestate.edu%2fcgi%2fviewcontent.cgi%3farticle%3d1077%26context%3dipt_facpubs%23%3a~%3atext%3dFrom%2520an%2520instructional%2520design%2520perspective%252C%2520social%2520media%2520applications%2cInstructional%2520content%2520can%2520betagged%2520with%2520descriptors%252C%2520making%2520it/RK=2/RS=p3VbAt6e2ecQlOQBvrT9.KOgygM-

Songer, N., Lee, H., & Kam, R. (2002). Technology-rich inquiry science in urban classrooms: What are the barriers to inquiry pedagogy? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(2), 128–150.

Varma, K., Husic, F., & Linn, M. (2008). Targeted support for using technology-enhanced science inquiry modules. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17(4), 341–356.