Critical Thinking Questions

Posted: August 12th, 2013

Critical Thinking Questions

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Critical Thinking Questions

Part 1

1. Instructional technology designers face many challenges, as people are yet to understand the contributions they bring to education. One major challenge they face is lack of technical and financial support from the government to develop the industry. The education sector mainly depends on state funding. Since instructional technology is not really recognized, they are not allocated funding. Classrooms do not have the necessary equipment that supports instructional technology thus; the designers are not motivated to come up with new methods (Smith & Ragan, 2005).
2. In the years since it was invented, instructional design has evolved greatly. It was first applied in the 1940s in the Second World War to train soldiers. In 1946, Edgar Dale came up with a hierarchy of instructional methods. From the mid 1950s to 1960s, it has come to be known as the Programmed Instruction Movement. Many designers came up with models that advanced instructional design. In the early 1960s it was an era when the criterion-referenced testing movement. By the 1970s, more people had known more about instructional design. The use of computers was incorporated in the 1980s to the design process. In the 1990s a growing awareness in construction theory and how important it would be. By 2000, instructional design was more popular through use of internet and online learning. Today more people are recognizing the importance of instructional design.
3. In 1970, there were two definitions of instructional design. The two means are similar in that they define how instructional design has enhanced learning methods. There is also a difference. One definition defines it as a means by which a media born from of the communications that are used together with the traditional methods of teaching to enhance learning. The second definition talks of instruction design going beyond the medium but also talks of the process of designing the whole system.
4. The latest definition of educational technology according to AECT includes the word “ethical” as they have incorporated the views of society in it. It emphasizes on the importance of facilitating learning and improving performance. This means that the definition concentrates on the learning process as an individual decision and not a process that can be controlled.

Part 2

          Three characteristics that describe a systems concept are input, output and interface. These three characteristics interplay it is through inputs that outputs are found. The interface is the point of contact that connects both input and output. When a factory produces goods, raw materials are the inputs the interface is the machinery and the finished product is the output.

1. Taking a student-centered approach to instructional design can be a powerful paradigm shift. This is because the students should be the focus when coming up with education policies. Thus, when instructional design centers on them it means that the students will be able to grasp what is being taught. Both teacher-centered and student-centered instructional designs are meant to help students find it easier compliment the traditional teaching methods. The difference is that teacher-centered methods focus on helping teachers while student-centered focus on students.

It is difficult to write meaningful objectives early in the design process, as the process has to be tested before it is rendered successful. Therefore, some objectives that might seem good at the start might end up being useless as the design process progresses. The pebble-in-the-pond and ten steps to complex learning approaches address this challenge as they focus on the first principles of instruction that are the underlying elements make instructional theories successful. The two approaches differ as the pebble-in-the-pond has six steps while ten steps to complex learning approaches as the name suggests has ten minor steps and four major ones (Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2007).

Part 3

             The viewpoints of professionals in the instructional design technology are better than traditional methods. This is because the traditional methods did not look for better ways in which they can make the learning process better. Instructional design technology puts into consideration the learners and teachers. It ensures that the learning process is made simple and easier for the students to understand. It helps teachers find better and more effective ways to teach.

1. The authors meant that audiovisual material helped in making what the students were learning reality. By employing audiovisual techniques in learning, it meant that learners could picture what they were learning for a better understanding. This was an important book as it assisted instructional designers of that time to come up with approaches that were student and teacher oriented.
2. One similarity of the impact of the cold war on the instructional design process and instructional design technology is that it enabled the processes to develop. During the cold war countries, needed techniques to teach their soldiers thus the process were able to develop rapidly. A difference is that the processes developed at different stages. The design process began immediately and it is through it that international design technology was borne. Instructional design process was more affected by the cold war. This is because it is through the cold war that people had to find new ways of teaching soldiers. They wanted methods that would make an impact at a faster rate.
3. The trend of the education sector being late adopters of the new technologies is true. This is because the education sector mostly has to depend on government funding that at times is not enough. As a result, they are left behind as other sectors adopt these new technologies. The education sector should find a way of adopting these technologies, as they are beneficial to them the most. Since the main barrier is funding, schools should look for ways in which they can supplement their funding. They can do this by having school fundraising.