It’s been over a century that many technological innovations have been applied to learning environments (Reiser, 2001). While educational technology can have positive impacts on academic achievement, however historically, technology has made us individually dumber and individually smarter – and collectively smarter. Technology has made us able to do more while understanding less about what we are doing and has increased our dependence on others.
The term instructional media has been defined as the physical means via which instruction is presented to learners (Reiser & Gagnt. 1983). There are many lessons we can learn by reviewing the history of instructional media, perhaps one of the most important involves a comparison between the anticipated and actual effects of media on instructional practices. The data regarding the use of instructional media in business and industry support a similar conclusion, namely, that despite enthusiasm about the use of instructional media in business and industry, until recently media have had a minimal impact on instructional practices in that environment.
Studies confirms that the learners fully acquire skills, knowledge and competencies in and through digital technologies, within and outside the four walls of the classroom. Therefore, the teachers’ competency tells much more in the use of digital technology and it is a challenge (Weller & Anderson, 2013).
The articles by Reiser 2011 and Weller 2018 has been a great source of clarity as far as my work goes. I deal with learners who are in the business arena. The technology perhaps makes the dissemination of information easier however the fact remains that I as a facilitator has an onus to understand their learning goals and apply the right kind of learning theory to get them to be engaged learners.
References
Clark R.E. (1994). Media will never influence learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29.
Reiser, R.A. (1987). Instructional technology: A history. In R.M. Gagn6 (Ed.), Instructional technology: Foundations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Weller, M. (2018). Twenty years of EdTech. EDUCAUSE Review, 53(4).
September 14, 2019 at 12:56 am
Hi Tahreem,
I too in my blog post explained how we should link pedagogical framework to technology we use. It’s not the application of certain technology that matters. What matters the most is thinking about how a certain technology can be effective combined with a pedagogical approach in order to not only get learners engaged but also achieve the best possible learning as well.