Technology has changed how we teach in the 21st century. Many diverse technologies surface every year, and educators find it difficult learning and integrating all the new technologies their institutions buy or identify. However, appropriate professional development and time to accomplish this is not their only concern. Educators are expected to use all these technologies in all course activities. This desire places much emphasis on technology (the medium) when educators are designing and implementing their courses and course activities.
As Cook and McDonald (2008) caution, frequently educators seek to use e-learning because it is a new technology, rather than because the technology enhances instruction. Educators, their supervisors, and stakeholders need to be reminded of the role of technology in the instructional design process, which should be used to enhance instructional delivery.
Technological Instructional Delivery
Educators at all levels have historically received enormous pressure to update their courses. In the last ten years, this pressure has increased. The pressure stems from a variety of reasons, such as the need to have higher quality courses, higher quality instruction, courses that adequately prepare students to function in society, and the need to maintain competitiveness among other institutions of learning. Administrators encourage or require faculty do this not only to strive for quality, but also to maintain a good reputation to satisfy students, parents, and other stakeholders.
The pressure to update courses results in a wide variety of changes in those courses. The courses that require more changes that are significant are those traditional courses that are lacking in the effective use of varied teaching strategies and technologies for diverse learners. In addition, those courses that will be totally delivered in a synchronous and/or asynchronous manner require changes that are even more significant. These course changes primarily involve changes...
One such entity is the University of Phoenix (UOP), which is the largest private higher education learning institution. UOP seem to be favoring the use of the words blended or hybrid to refer to their e-courses or any courses that have e-modules (Educause, 2006). Blended learning is about a mixture of instructional modalities, delivery media, instructional methods, and web-based technologies (Graham, 2006). Blends of instructional modalities usually include a balanced mixture of onsite, web-based, which has increased the student enrollment and has created a niche for UOP.
Hardware, Software & Support
Instructional Design (ID) has been used for years as a process for educational institutions making course changes. Instructional Design is defined "as a systematic process that is employed to develop education and training programs in a consistent and reliable fashion" (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007). It is important that instructional designers and educators start with revising course learner outcomes and then carefully plan to address course interaction, course individualization/personalization, student's needs and styles of learning, and teacher's styles of teaching.
Hardware and software conducive to online learning is needed. Various hardware equipment and instructional software exist to meet an institution's needs. However, the key is initial and maintenance price and support staff necessary to ensure success. Typically, an instructional technology leaders and technology network staff are required to support technology instructional delivery (Coffman, 2009). Instructional technology leaders are responsible for training teachers to use technology and software effectively, as well as for helping teachers integrate that technology into their curricula. They are great resources for…
