Reflection 1: Defining the Field

· How do the definitions in the first chapter compare to your own definition of instructional or educational technology?  What experiences or other influences have shaped your definition? How has your definition changed from examining the definitions in the first chapter of this book?

In the first chapter, there are many different definitions of instructional technology, mainly because technology is always changing.  As I think back over the 16 years I have been teaching, there have been considerable changes in the classroom regarding technology.  When I first began teaching I would have said that instructional technology was the use of students using computers for research and completing assignments.  As technology has increased, my ideas of instructional technology have changed.  Now, I would say that instructional technology is not only the use of computers, but also tablets, smart phones, and interactive boards.  Instructional technology does not just focus on the types of media being used but how they are implemented for effective learning and performance.

· Next, think of a lesson or unit of instruction that you have developed. Or if you haven’t ever taught or developed instruction, think of one that you have received. How does that lesson adhere or fail to adhere to the six characteristics of instructional design? How would you redesign it to better adhere to the six characteristics.

According to Reiser and Dempsey, the six characteristics of instructional design that should be included in lessons are student centered, goal oriented, meaningful performance, reliable outcomes, team effort and self-correcting (p.11).  The lesson I am going to use is from my Robotics Club last year.  Over the course of several months, the students had to design a robot to perform a certain task. I believe this lesson was very much student centered and goal oriented.  The students were able to select their own objectives and as a team, a goal was to be performed at the end of the project.  The lesson was meaningful because the students had to problem solve and come up with a meaningful outcome that the robot could perform.  The lesson also included self-correcting.  If the robot was not doing what they were hoping it would do, they were able to work together and change the program of the robot to perform the intended task.  This lesson required team effort.  The students worked in groups of 4-5 and each had jobs, along with everyone working on the robot.  Each group had a project manager, parts/materials manager, secretary and a programmer.  The only characteristic that I feel this lesson might have been lacking was being measured in a reliable and valid way.  The students were asked to create something that could help others.  Because some of the ideas were “way out there”, they could not be measured in real life. 

· In the 3^rd chapter, Reiser distinguishes instructional media from instructional design, excluding teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks from the definition of instructional media. Why? Would you consider teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks instructional media? Is the purpose of instructional design to incorporate media into instruction? The first three chapters of your book define the IDT (Instructional Design and Technology) field and provide a history of how it has evolved over time. In your blog post for this week, reflect on the following:

I believe Reiser excludes teachers, chalkboards and textbooks from the definition because these three mediums are always present in education.  I consider teachers, chalkboards, and textbooks to be instructional media because they are ways that the instruction is presented.  As technology is constantly changing, we are integrating more media into our lessons to provide student centered and goal oriented objectives.
The model above is known as the ADDIE model: analyze, design, develop, implement and evaluate.  This model shows how we are constantly working towards the evaluation component.  Each step is a crucial part of integrating technology into our lessons.