Lesson 9: Trends and Future Directions of the Field
In the previous lessons, you have probably noted that the field of IDT has never been a static field, but that it has always been influenced by different trends at different times in its history, such as the audiovisual instruction movement, the programmed instruction movement, and the criterion-referenced testing movement.
Currently there are also trends that are influencing the field of IDT which may influence the way the field will define and further establish itself in the future. Some of these trends are outlined below. Please browse through these trends and read the corresponding book chapter of trend that interests you the most.
Problem-Based Learning
Jonassen argues that we constantly solve problems in our daily and professional lives. On a day-to-day basis, we do not write essays or complete multiple choice quizzes. Rather, we usually face complex problems and we try to solve them. Popper even said: “All life is problem solving.” While problem solving has been largely ignored in the IDT literature for quite some time, over the past few decades it has gotten a lot more attention.
To read more about problem based learning, read Chapter 34: Problem-Based Learning: Essential Design Characteristics of the book by Reiser and Dempsey.
Ertmer, P. A., & Glazewski, K. D. (2018). Chapter 34: Problem-based learning: Essential design characteristics. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed., pp. 286-295). New York, NY: Pearson.
Social Media
“Social media are Internet-based tools that allow users to build networks through which they may then communicate and share information with each other” (Dennen, 2018 p. 238). Over the past decade, people have increasingly used social media in their lives. Examples are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Over the past decade, it has also been increasingly used in education.
To read more about social media and instructional design, please read Chapter 28: Social Media and Instructional design of the book by Reiser and Dempsey.
Dennen, V. P. (2018). Chapter 28: Social media and instructional design. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed., pp. 237-243). New York, NY: Pearson. .
E-learning
E-learning is an area within the field of IDT that has been rapidly growing and evolving over the past decade. According to Dempsey and Van Eck (2), e-learning is a term that includes all learning that involves technology in any way. Learning in the past was separated by type of media or technology used. However, because of the ever-changing nature of technology, e-learning includes the use of electronic-technology in the broadest sense.
To read more about e-learning, read Chapter 27: E-Learning and Instructional Design of the book by Reiser and Dempsey.
Dempsey, J. V., & Van Eck, R. N. (2018). Chapter 27: E-learning and instructional design. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed., pp. 229-236). New York, NY: Pearson. .
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)
Over the past years, MOOCs have been frequently noted as the latest hype in education. While some people thought MOOCs would revolutionize learning, others thought it would be a passing fad. All in all, it is a trend that cannot be ignored and a way of instructional delivery that will likely be researched, used, improved, and expanded upon in the coming years. In the past years, guidelines have been developed to help instructional designers and others design MOOCs.
To read more about MOOCs, please read Chapter 30: The Emergence and Design of Massive Open Online Courses of the book by Reiser and Dempsey.
Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., Reeves, T. C., & Reynolds, T. H. (2018). Chapter 30: The emergence and design of massive open online courses. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed., pp. 250-258). New York, NY: Pearson.
Games and Learning
People have played games for many centuries and educational games have been around for quite a while now. However, up until very recently, there has not been much good research on games and learning. While a lot is still unknown about games and learning, researchers have come up with a set of principles that can be used in games to enhance learning and in more recent years, assessment of learning within games has also started to be addressed.
To read more about games and learning, please read Chapter 33: Leveling up: Game design research and practice for instructional designers in the book by Reiser and Dempsey.
Shute, V. J., Rieber, L. P., & Van Eck, R. (2018). Chapter 33: Leveling up: Game design research and practice for instructional designers. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed., pp. 277-285). New York, NY: Pearson.
Mobile Learning
Over the past decade, the functionality of mobile phones has greatly expanded. People are also using mobile phones more and more and it is therefore not surprising that researchers and designers have started to think about the capabilities of mobile learning. Over time, mobile earning has become a lot more than making formal online courses available on a phone (Quinn, 2018) and researchers have started to think about the types of learning that are best supported by mobile devices.
To read more about mobile learning, please read Chapter 29: Mobile Learning in the book by Reiser and Dempsey.
Quinn, C. (2018). Chapter 29: Mobile learning. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed., pp. 244-249). New York, NY: Pearson.
Assignment 9: Explore a trend in IDT
Description
Choose one of the trends that is described in this lesson and read the corresponding book chapter. Find, use, and cite at least four other academic sources about the trend and write a short paper (3-5 pages, double spaced, APA style, 6th or 7th edition) about the topic. When writing your paper, answer at least the following three questions:
- How did this trend develop over time?
- What are the main concepts, principles, and characteristics of this trend?
- Which unanswered questions or issues do researchers still need to explore regarding this trend?
Submitting Your Assignment
At the end of this lesson you will submit your completed assignment. Assignment 9 should be prepared using Microsoft Word. At the top of your document you should have the lesson name, and underneath that should be your name, email address, and the date. When you save the document as a file on your computer, make sure the file is named “Assignment9”. After you have saved your file, go to the student interface and submit your assignment for grading. Click here if you need additional information regarding submission of your assignment.
Grading Criteria
- Provided an accurate description of how the trend developed over time (10)
- Explained the main concepts, principles, and characteristics of the trend (10)
- Carefully identified issues or unanswered questions that may need further exploration (6)
- Cited at least four other academic sources and all sources are cited according to APA style (3)
- Paper is between 3 and 5 pages (1)
Points: 30