Developing Efficient Skills Do you know how to make a bed? Think about the steps in order. How many times do you move from one side of the bed to the other? If you find that you move from one side of the bed to another, you are probably following prescribed steps you were taught. Is all that walking really necessary?
What conditions suggest on-line instruction? Testing yields “identical” responses (correct performance is always the same) Scheduling constraints (people may work at their own pace) Location constraints (many different locations) The subject matter is stable (frequent updates are not needed) The benefit is greater than the cost Group exercises are not essential (Hilgard and Bower, 1975) Solitary Learning Is Best Used to Teach When the Skill Is… Active Repetitive Learned through Reinforcement Develops Speed or Proficiency through Practice Has a Meaningful Organization Creates a Basis for Understanding Divergent or Independent Thinking Is Encouraged Should Be Customized to the Abilities of the Audience Note: Only a few of these conditions are required for Instructional Technology to be desirable
The Instructional Technologist ’s Perspective Advantages (Medsker, 1979) Centralized Control- everyone gets the same course Training is available anytime and anywhere it is needed Real-time interactive training and feedback Computer Based Training (CBT) can be used to track the achievement of course objectives. Disadvantages Requires three sets of skills Subject matter, technology and instructional techniques (the electronic page turner) Two to three hundred hours of development per hour of instruction. This does not include analysis and testing which are roughly equivalent in length. The more sophisticated the hardware and software the longer the training. Not suitable unless courses are going to be needed over a long period of time. Not suitable when a small population is to be trained.
All that you have read and heard to this point is based on the state-of-the art as of yesterday. Today there should be no limits to the ability to train using digital and electronic media. Even the limitations of cost are not what they were recently. Anything that can be done in a conventional setting can be done better, faster, more effectively given existing technology. Let ’s explore Accommodating Learning Styles Some students learn most effectively by reading the materials in textbooks and in lecture notes (like the ones provided for you here). These learners are best supported by the dominant on-line learning tools. Those who argue against on-line education frequently claim that the other dominant learning styles are ill-served by technology. Let ’s consider if that criticism is justified. Auditory learners retain material best when they hear the information as in a lecture. Today podcasts with or without accompanying visuals can serve this learner effectively. As with other types of programmed instruction, every student will be trained by the very best course developer and delivered by the very best lecturer. Group exercises and Social Interaction among students are also cited as deficiencies in on-line education. With the availability of conferencing software, cameras, mics and multi-screening student interaction can be as effective on-line as they are in-person. If business conferences and dating events can be effectively conducted on-line, the social needs related to education can be satisfied equally well. Instructors sometimes report they can “read” Physical Cues (like facial expressions) from students. These cues can signal when a learning point has been successfully grasped or when reinforcement is needed. Multi-screening could provide the lecturer a view on students better than the view of a front row learner. At the same time, that instructor can verify the signals from those anonymous seats in the back row. Finally, technology can offer visually or aurally impaired learners a truly equal opportunity to learn. The problem then is not a failure of technology. Rather there is a failure to get the technology into the right hands.
