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Opening of the first school museum – St. Louis, MO (Instructional Media)
[Instructional Media] After purchasing leftover exhibits from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, St. Louis Public Schools opened the first school museum in 1905 (Russell, 2018). These education museums, which contained visual instruction media and materials, could be compared to "the district-wide media center" as a "modern-day equivalent," and were intended to complement rather than replace traditional education (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 8). -
First catalog of instructional films (Instructional Media)
After growing interest in the "visual instruction/education" movement in the early 20th century, "the first catalog of instructional films was published in 1910," eventually leading to increased use of instructional films in educational settings. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 9). -
Creation of the Department of Visual Instruction (Instructional Media)
In 1932, a merger of three organizations created the Department of Visual Instruction (DVIA) under the National Education Association. "Over the years, this organization...has maintained a leadership role int he field of instructional design and technology." (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 9) -
Publication of 'Visualizing the Curriculum' (Instructional Media)
This book was called "perhaps the most important" of a series of textbooks written throughout the 1920's and 1930's on the topic of visual instruction." In 'Visualizing the Curriculum,' authors Charles Hoban Sr., Charles Hoban Jr., and Stanley Zissman "stated that the value of the audiovisual material was a function of their degree of realism" and "presented a hierarchy of media" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 9). -
Behavioral Learning Theory (Learning Theories)
This learning theory was championed by B.F. Skinner throughout his career. Skinner believed "that learning can be understood, explained, and predicted entirely on the basis of observable events – namely, the behavior of the learning along with its environmental antecedents and consequences" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 53). -
Establishment of the Division of Visual Aids for War Training (Instructional Media)
Training films were used throughout World War II in order to train civilians who took jobs as industry workers. In order to produce more high quality training films to help with this influx of untrained industry workers, the federal government created an agency called the Division of Visual Aids for War Training in 1941. Results showed that "the films reduced training time without having a negative impact on training effectiveness" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 10). -
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WWII: Origins of Instructional Design (Instructional Design)
Throughout the second world war, specialists in the fields of education and psychology, including Robert Gagné, Leslie Briggs, and John Flanagan, "[conducted] experimental research and [developed] training materials for the military services." The materials these individuals and others developed during this period was based on their findings from research in the fields of human behavior, learning, and "theory of instruction" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 13). -
Federal Communications Commission designates channels for education (Instructional Media)
In regard to the growth of television for educational purposes, a big step forward occurred in 1952, when the Federal Communications Commission designated over 200 channels specifically for broadcasting educational content. This eventually led to what we now know as public television stations. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). -
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Programmed Instruction Movement (Instructional Design)
The mid-1950's and mid-1960's saw the growth of the programmed instruction movement. A famous figure of this movement was B.F. Skinner, who in 1954 published the article
The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching,' which Reiser and Dempsey (2017) call "a minor revolution in the field of education" (p. 13). In this article, Skinner outlined key characteristics of programmed instruction and how they could be used to solve educational problems (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). -
Benjamin Bloom publishes 'Taxonomy of Educational Objectives' (Instructional Design)
Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues published a book that became significant to educational objectives as they relate to instructional design. In this book they argued that there existed different learning outcomes that could be organized by their importance. They also suggested developing tests specifically designed to measure these outcomes (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). -
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Emergence of Criterion-Referenced Testing (Instructional Design)
Criterion-referenced testing first emerged in the 1960's and eventually had a significant impact on the instructional design process. Prior to the spread of criterion-referenced testing, tests were designed with the group performance across test-takers in mind. Criterion-referenced tests, however, focused more on individual performance (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). -
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Gagné's Hierarchichal Analysis (Instructional Design)
The work of Robert Gagné had a significant impact in the field of instructional design. He is known for writings on learning hierarchies, in which he argues that certain skills take precedence over others and must be learned first. These notions of subordinate and superordinate skills "remain a key feature in many instructional design models" today (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 14). His work on this topic started in the early 1960's and continued throughout his career. -
Robert Mager publishes 'Preparing Objectives for Programmed Instruction' (Instructional Design)
Robert Mager's incredibly popular book "describes how to write objectives that include a description of desired learner behaviors, the conditions under which the behaviors are to be performed, and the standards (criteria) by which the behaviors are to be judged." (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 13). The elements described in his book continue to survive to present-day "adherents of the instructional design process." (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 13) -
The 1963 Definition (Definitions of the Field)
In 1963, the "first definition to be approved by the major professional organization within the field of educational technology was published." This was a departure from tradition in several ways. First, it focused on the "design and use of messages which control the learning process." It also laid out a series of steps to follow for designing these messages. The definition signified that "some of the leaders in the field saw the nature of the field changing" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 2). -
Gagné's Theory of Instruction (Learning Theories)
Gagné published his Theory of Instruction in the early 1960's. In describing his theory, Gagné was "primarily concerned with instruction and how what is known about learning can be systematically related to the design of instruction." His nine rules (or "events of instruction") detail the "conditions of learning that facilitate the process of learning in general" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 56). -
Cognitive Information Processing Theory Becomes Popular (Learning Theories)
Cognitive information processing theory, which focuses on "the informational value of feedback" was adopted by researches and practitioners, resulting in its rise to prominence in the early 1970's. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 54). -
The 1970 Definitions (Definitions of the Field)
The next major definitions of the field were written in 1970 by the Commission on Instructional Technology. The first definition "reflected an older view" of the field, and described "media born of the communications revolution which can be used for instructional purposes." The second definition "described instructional technology as a process." This definition emphasized that the goal of the field was effective learning and "[downplayed] the role of media" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 2-3). -
U.S. military adopts an instructional design model (Instructional Design)
As part of the development of new training materials, the U.S. military adopted an instructional design model in 1975. In fact, the 1970's marked a period of increased interest in instructional design models, and many new models were created during this time (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). -
The 1977 Definition (Definitions of the Field)
A new definition of the field was adopted by the AECT in 1977 that had a few key differences from previous definitions. This definition "consisted of sixteen statements spread of seven pages of text" and supporting tables, and "broke new ground by incorporating terminology that...was to become commonplace in the profession," including 'human learning problem' and 'solutions' (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 3). -
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Increased use of personal computers in education leads to development of computer-based instruction (Instructional Design)
The 1980's were notable for the increased popularity of the personal computer, which included use as instructional tools. As a result, professionals began developing "new models of instructional design to accommodate the interactive capabilities of this technology" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 15-16). -
Constructivism Becomes Popular (Learning Theories)
"As an educational philosophy, constructivism came to prominence in the 1990's." The basic concepts of this learning theory include learning as an "active process of meaning-making," learning opportunities as a result of "cognitive conflict or challenge," and learning as a social activity. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 61). -
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Human performance improvement movement (Instructional Design)
The human performance improvement movement is characterized by its focus on the bottom line when it comes to performance. The movement has been driven by an interest in measuring the financial and operational impact of training (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). -
The 1994 Definition (Definitions of the Field)
This definition was published by the AECT in 1994, and states that "Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning." The five domains described resemble "the 'systematic' processes described in previous definitions" and focuses more on the instructional processes. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 3-4). -
Connectivism (Learning Theories)
This theory "has its roots in the neural networks of cognitive science and artificial intelligence." It supports the idea that learning occurs via the "ongoing development of a richer and richer neural tapestry" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 57). -
The Latest AECT Definition, 2008 (Definitions of the Field)
A new definition of the field of educational technology was published by the AECT in 2008, stating that "educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance..." This definition notably introduces ethics, and the idea of "facilitating' learning (as opposed to "creating or controlling" learning" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 4).