IFETS (kinshuk@ieee.org)
Wed, 12 May 1999 10:54:05 +0200
From: "IFETS" <kinshuk@ieee.org> Subject: [ifets] New formal discussion announcement Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 10:54:05 +0200
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Details of current discussion: http://ifets.gmd.de/discuss.html
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Dear Members
On Monday 17 May, our next formal discussion starts on the topic:
Title: "Instructional Design in the Information Age"
Time schedule: 17 - 28 May 99
Moderator: Philip Duchastel, Nova Southeastern University, USA
Summarizer: Vittorio Scarano, Universita' di Salerno, Italy
(Pre-discussion paper below)
The summary of the discussion results will appear in the forum
journal 'Educational Technology & Society (ISSN 1436-4522).
Regards.
Kinshuk.
Forum co-ordinator
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* Introduction
How will instructional design theories evolve in an age that is ever more
information intensive? This is the issue addressed here, building on deep
questioning concerning the current status of educational technology (e.g.
Kearsley, 1998; Clark and Estes, 1998) and the evolution of instructional
design theory (Reigeluth 1999; Duchastel, 1998). All this along the backdrop
provided by the emergence of a new informational context made possible by
the Internet, and more specifically by the Web.
The issue is operationalized further by examining the distinction between
information design and instructional design. Merrill (1997) strongly points
out that simply providing information is not the same as designing
instruction, and that notion is intuitively accepted by most. And yet,
current instructional theory focusing on learner-centric and constructivist
approaches rely heavily on information access and learning environments
that encourage free interaction with information resources. Are we not
then seeing a re-emphasis on information design, although within a less
didactic context?
The essential question posed here is whether and how the evolving technology
context (characterized by the web) within which we work and learn will
influence how we design instruction. It is similar to the issue raised by
Reigeluth and Squire (1998) in proposing the need for a new paradigm of
instructional design theory in response to societal changes of the recent
past.
The status of instructional design in the information age may not appear as
what many think it will be. My view is that it will be subsumed under the
broader field of information design, within a context focusing on the
crafting of information interactions for the benefit of the learner.
* The Product-Process Dimension
The product-process dimension is one of those little examined aspects of
analysis that can perhaps throw light on the issue. In a critical reaction
to Reigeluth’s promotion of the role of values in instructional design
theory (1999), I describe the dimension as follows:
Teaching in a classroom is a process (an event unfolding in time), whereas
instructional software on a computer is a product (generally packaged and
distributed as such). And yet, the software product unfolds and manipulates
an instructional event in the same sense that the teacher does in the
classroom. Likewise, the teacher's instructional process is not merely
spontaneous (even if at times highly reactive to the situation at hand),
for it follows a plan and involves a set of materials - a product view of
teaching.
Instruction can be viewed both ways and instructional design theory needs
to consider both as well. In effect, learning is an interaction with
information products and occurs over time in an organized sequence fashioned
as an event. All products unfold events, just as all events involve products,
no matter how spontaneous or ephemeral these sometimes are. Both views are
required for instructional design theory to reach towards generality.
(Duchastel, 1998)
Which view we want to emphasize is merely a matter of choice. But yet, our
choice of view will orient how we think about instruction. Consider again the
information design / instructional design distinction introduced earlier.
Information design (Jacobson, 1999; Duchastel, 1999) can be defined in its
modern idiom as the technology aimed at structuring information in artifacts
so as to make it available and optimally useful. It is more than graphical
design (its traditional idiom) and more than human-computer interaction (HCI)
– an aspect of it.
A prototypical modern example of an information artifact is the web page.
It is generally viewed more as a product than as a process and comes in
exponentially growing numbers. That the web needs design attention is becoming
more recognized (Nielsen, 1999). That the proposed solution is user-interface
design introduces more of a process view and aligns it with instructional
design. Indeed, the parallels between the two technologies (HCI and
instructional design) are remarkable, as any examination of an introductory
HCI textbook will show. Prospective views of HCI actually discuss it in terms
of interaction design (Winograd, 1997; Pearce, 1997).
Information design can thus be viewed as much more than message design: more
as the creation of information products that people can use for highly
goal-oriented reasons. In some cases, that may be obtaining specific information,
browsing the web, or for simple entertainment. In many cases, it will be for
learning. The subset of information design that deals with learning is in fact
equivalent to instructional design.
Put another way, instructional design is involved with the creation of
information environments that engage learners in certain ways. The collection
of instructional strategies at the core of any instructional design are in
fact embodied in an information environment that channels information interactions.
The subsumption of ID within information design would be merely a definitional
argument if it were not for our evolving informational context.
* Impact of the Information Age
The massive growth in information access that the web provides (Nielsen,
1999, talks of a fifty-fold growth in the next five years) changes the very
nature of our information environment, and potentially how we interact with
information, including our learning interactions. Just as a computer-rich
instructional environment can influence the nature of instruction, so too
can an information-rich one.
Consider the influence of these three environments: the web, a CBT package,
and a classroom. The web encourages browsing, something of a cross between
directed exploration and happenstance findings. CBT is more structured
interaction, generally highly focused. The classroom often involves the
students in a more laid-back stance, following the lead of the teacher and
whatever unfolds. These constitute three rather different modes of
interaction. The information flows involved in each are very different.
Two core elements are at play in these diverse environments, as in all
instructional settings: motivation and structure. In fact, these elements
largely define how instructional an information environment is: the need to
motivate and to structure come about because of the natural difficulties of
learning in situ, that is in the natural informational environment in which
we find ourselves. As elaborated further in Duchastel (1998), instruction,
at its core, is an intentional effort to influence, that is, to redirect an
event.
The value of instruction lies in situations where focused goals are important,
whereas diffuse goals can be left to wander here and there in terms of
motivation and structure. If one wants students to learn a certain computing
language, for instance, strong guidance is called for. On the other hand, if
the goal is simply to explore emerging trends in medical technology, then more
open exploration might better succeed.
Instruction, however, is often a palliative to make up for an information-poor
environment. In another context I have discussed what I call the effin factor:
The effin factor deals with the effort-to-interest relationship evident in
our dealings with information search activities.
The effin factor captures the positive relationship between the inherent
interest a person sees in a topic and the effort the person is willing to
devote to an information search in support of exploring the topic. The web
generally reduces the effort needed (despite search and navigation difficulties),
thereby encouraging exploration. (Duchastel, 1997)
The implication is that information richness can make up for the natural
barriers to learning and hence reduce the need for instruction.
In this perspective, the classroom makes up for normal interactions that
would not take place in the natural environment for lack of the necessary
information. The CBT program engages the student in interactions that are
not available naturally in his or her environment. The consequence of this
perspective is that as information rich environments grow, learners will
have more access to occasions for natural learning in which motivation and
structure will be less needed from the outside.
Information richness in effect makes up for the deficiencies of traditional
settings. In so doing, it changes the very nature of the context of learning
and hence of instructional design.
* Conclusion
We must not conclude from this analysis that instruction is unneeded in the
future and that instructional design is irrelevant in the information age.
On the contrary, we are likely to see the emergence of powerful means of
instruction that capitalize on the information–rich nature of the environment,
just as we have seen that same occurence with technology-rich environments.
The state of instructional design theory is in disarray, however, as explained
in a critical reaction (Duchastel, 1998) to Reigeluth’s recent anthology of
theories (1999). We must seek integration of instructional design theories in
the form of some ‘umbrella theory’ for deciding which particular theory to use
when (Reigeluth and Squire, 1998). The notion that those decisions be based on
values (what educational philosophy one adopts), as suggested by Reigeluth, or
on the nature of the goals being pursued, as suggested by myself, remains an
issue to be much further explored. The convergence of values and goals in
contemporary educational discussions, as for instance in debates about
constructivism, does little to help in this matter.
The information age continues to provide growing opportunities for
information-rich interactions. The implication here essentially is that
instruction itself can de-emphasize its role in information provision and
focus attention on other functions. That is in fact largely what is already
happening in the newer learner-centered approaches that continue to emerge.
* References
Clark, R. and Estes, F. (1998, Sept.-Oct.). Technology or craft: What are we
doing? Educational Technology, 38 (5), 5-11.
Duchastel, P. (1997). A motivational framework for web-based instruction.
In B. Khan (Ed.) Web-Based Instruction. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Educational
Technology Publications. 179-184.
Duchastel, P. (1998). Prolegomena to a theory of instructional design. Online
ITFORUM presentation and archived discussion. Available at
http://itech1.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper27/paper27.html .
Duchastel, P. (1999). Information Design Theory. Online site (work in progress)
accessible at http://www.fcae.nova.edu/~duchaste/InfoDesign/info_design_theory.htm .
Jacobson, R. (Ed.) (1999). Information Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
[Description available at http://mitpress.mit.edu/book-home.tcl?isbn=026210069X]
Kearsley, G. (1998, Mar.-Apr.). Educational technology: A critique. Educational
Technology, 38 (2), 47-51.
Merrill, D. (1997, Nov/Dec) Instructional strategies that teach. CBT Solutions,
1-11. Available online at http://www.coe.usu.edu/it/id2/constncy.htm
Nielsen, J. (1999). User interface directions for the Web. Communications
of the ACM. 42 (1), 65-72.
Pearce, C. (1997). The Interactive Book. Indianapolis, IN: Macmillan
Technical Publishing.
Reigeluth, C. (Ed.) (1999) Instructional Design Theories and Models:
A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory. Volume II. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
[Description available at http://www.erlbaum.com/1920.htm]
Reigeluth, C. and Squire, K. (1998, July-Aug.) Emerging work on the new
paradigm of instructional theories. Educational Technology, 38 (4), 41-47.
Winograd, T. (1997). Beyond interaction. In P. Denning & R. Metcalfe (Eds.)
Beyond Calculation. New York: Springer Verlag.
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