First let’s layout what instructional technology is. IT refers to the theories and practices of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation of the processes and resources for learning. It is not just the use of electronic devices and computer software. It is a tool that helps shape the way we learn, how well we can learn, the different avenues we can send and receive information, and who the information is intended for. Instructional technology coincides with educational technology in the framework of teaching and training. Instructional technology is designing, implementing, and evaluating a learning process. It is creating resources for learning (Techopedia, 2015).

In recent decades, classrooms have been utilizing technology to share lessons and complete assignments. As the modern world becomes more digitized, tech literacy is becoming increasingly important. Teachers who use technology to support learning in meaningful ways can help prepare students for success in the digital era (How Instructional Technology Can Improve the Learning Process, 2020).

Technology is also adaptive for those who needs different kinds of learning tools to process information such as closed captions or other sensory features. I believe with the start of the COVID pandemic, schools, institutions, and business are more aware of how technology can benefit change and progress. For the first 3 months of the new school year, my children were learning remote. My high schooler decided to stay remote for the rest of the school year when the district began to allow student back on campus, but my grade schooler needed to be back in the classroom to progress, my son thrives better with live and interactive learning. As for business, I worked remote for at least 4 months before we were allowed to come back into the office. Although, my work did not faulter in those 4 months because I was already comfortable with technology tools to still meet all my expectations. I think with the developments of virtual reality, 5 to 10 years from now, our classrooms and business offices will transform again and there will be more interpersonal connections using technology.  I believe that instructional learning is still developing tools and innovative ways to engage learning with various audiences. Gamification continues to thrive among learning platforms allowing instructors to encourage learning through play.

My experience with the University of Alabama was not my first time learning online or achieving a degree online. I took courses in 2005 through University of Phoenix which was still a fairly new concept.  There were other institutions offering online courses as well, but UoPX had the best marketing techniques at the time.  I do not recall what LMS was used, but it was similar to Blackboard where discussion and assignments were submitted online in threads. Live synchronous activities did not happen then and I do not remember a lot of interaction with instructors or other students. Fast forward to today, my learning experience online is more robust and interactive. There are more tools and apps to help me complete assignments such as FlipGrid, shared documents, and more ways to connect with instructors and classmates such as Zoom, shared drives, or using different texting applications.

Instructional technology is still in its early stages.  Even though it has been an avenue for learning for more than 15 years, developers and educators continue to work together creating applications and platforms that suit every type of learner.  I believe the mission of instructional technology is that anyone and everyone can learn from anywhere with the use of smart devices, assistive tools, and in internet connection.

References:

How Instructional Technology Can Improve the Learning Process. (2020, May 8). Https://Online.Lsu.Edu/. https://online.lsu.edu/newsroom/articles/how-instructional-technology-can-improve-learning-process/

Techopedia. (2015, March 17). Instructional Technology. Techopedia.Com. https://www.techopedia.com/definition/20045/instructional-technology

Research shows that creating inclusive classes can help your students improve their performance by enhancing their learning (Muruyama, et. al., 2000). To encourage and foster inclusion, an instructor can make sure everyone feels like they belong to the class community.  This means they have equal opportunities to be heard and engage with classmates.  Whether in person or in remote classrooms, helping to build strong personal connections among the students can strengthen the class community and positive culture.  When students feel welcomed and heard, it can have a positive impact on their learning and development.

Sometimes students will often choose friends or peers like themselves for creating informal and formal learning communities (Rosser, 1998). Or they may gravitate to students they recognize from other courses.  A good way to create team work and build community is to crowdsource notes and assignments with shared applications such as Google Docs.  With cloud applications students can interact on the same document and share notes/thoughts with one another.  Allow different ways for students to share their thoughts by welcoming voice messages, videos, or text and allow their peers to give feedback.

Also create lessons or projects that require group work and periodically follow up with the students on their progress and a group meeting or conference call.  To be more inclusive, course technologies and materials must be accessible to students with disabilities.  Often the tools and approaches that make materials accessible end up being useful to all student for example, captioned videos are useful for second-language learners, and using accessible PDFs (vs scanned images of articles) allows for text searching.  Instructors should also keep in mind that not all students will have access to the same technologies, especially when learning remotely. Getting to know the students individually will also reveal their access to technology off campus. 

References:

Maruyama, G., Moreno, J. F., Gudeman, R. H., & Marin, P. (2000). Does diversity make a difference? Three research studies on diversity in college classrooms. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED444409

Rosser, S.V. (1998). Group Work in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics: Consequences of Ignoring Gender and Race, College Teaching, 46:3, 82-88, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/87567559809596243

Learning evolves with the innovation of technology.  Video games used to be thought of as just that, games; an entertainment tools the triggers challenge, emotion, and sometimes socializing. When a goal is reached in a game, there a reward.  Applying these functions to learning opens a new avenue of possibilities to engage students at any age – because who doesn’t play games these days? Even fitness applications are gamified to encourage continuous heathy habits.  Gamification motivates learners to get involved, stay motivated, and retain outcomes much longer. Gamifying a lesson motivates the learner through gradual progression and achievement.  It recognizes excellent performance or strong participation and creates friendly competition amongst learners and teams (Mulkeen, 2021b).

Some people may believe that gamifying learning courses is a form of distraction or attention grabber, it is actually a very tool than people tend to give it credit for.  Learners now learn differently than they did even a generation ago and holding someone’s attention poses different challenges.  Gamification can make simple tasks fun, to use the same example of fitness applications, they have features that reward you when you reach a certain step count or stay below a calorie count or drink the recommended amount of water. Gamification is not just for fun.  Fun is a part of the delivery mechanism. If you can make something more fun, and include notions of play, you can get people to do things they otherwise might not want to do.  Even very young children play to learn.  Toy companies make small replicas of kitchen sets and lawn tools to help children simulate adult activities.  Researchers suggest that play is a central ingredient in learning, allowing children to imitate adult behaviors, practice motor skills, process emotional events, and learn much about their world (Hirsh-Pasek & Golinkoff, 2008).

“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein

Think of live play such as football.  What are the mechanics?  A player throws a ball to another player and the objectives is for that player to carry that ball to the goal without being taken down by the opposing team.  Each player is accountable. The fun is a mix energy, determination, strategy, and encouragement, but when the player drops the ball or do not make the goal, do they stop playing?  No.  They review what went wrong and come up with a new strategy.  Put all these elements in a game for learning, you can achieve the same emotions from players.  People want to win, it makes them feel great, so creating a tool that makes a learner feel like a winner helps them better engage with the lesson (Mulkeen, 2021a).   

Some of the many benefits of gamification is, it makes learning fun and interactive.  The rewards can be very satisfying and intensely motivating.  It can create an addiction to learning because of the competitive nature and socialization with the application – a feel good element.  Gamification enhances the learning experience, there is more engagement with content helping to encourage more corporation and efficient learning. Gamification also unlocks the imagination that game elements can bring to learning.

Although, let us not leave out the adult learner.  Gamification works after K-12 levels also.  Professional training can be difficult.  We all know the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”  This theory applied to adult learners too.  We think we know everything or at least enough to accomplish what we need to, so why change anything? – Similar to the thought, “We’ve always done it this way.”  Well, we have to accepts that the old way may not always be the best way and there are possibly new skills we can harness to make our days more efficient and productive.  Research shows that 70% of business transformation efforts fail due to lack of employee engagement.  Making work, and learning, more fun increases employees’ ability to retain skills by 40% (Mulkeen, 2021b).  The modern learner or worker is impatient, overwhelmed and distracted.  This is a challenge for Human Resources and trainer to figure out how to engage their workforce and improve productivity. With our own daily routine, work or otherwise, we can find it difficult to engage with learning initiatives.  Gamification is a great option to implement for employee training.  Whether it is a new employee or are introducing a new concept, gamification can help employees pick the information up quicker and learn in a risk-free environment by having an application or training modules that offer rewards based on employee answers.  There can also be some friendly competition between coworkers to get a team motivated.  As an adult, we now know gamification is game elements like challenge and reward are used to enhance learning, but not everyone agree that it can be a key to learner engagement.  Some argue that gamification is not a benefit to learn due to several reasons:

·   Costly to develop

·   Maintaining the applications to adjust with technological advances and learning curves

·   Educators have to b training to use and understand the features of the application

·   Security concerns

·   All learners may not have access to the internet outside the classroom causing a disadvantage and imbalance learning among students.

·   Not all topics can be covered, some required a level of seriousness and gamification may take away that focus

·   Students learn at different paces and levels; a game will need to be developed to cater to all learning styles

The criticism on gamification seems to be more the time and money that it will take to developed a well-rounded game which any type of learner can use with the ability for the game evolve with the learner and technology advancements, of top of make sure the educators are well trained to teach on the game where it can be most effective for learning (Michaels, 2021).

Gamification does so much more than just create learner motivation; gamification of learning is serious business and can also start to tackle serious challenges faced by businesses in an era of massive cultural and technological change.  Gamification creates a gateway to a better learning experience. It can be used in any industry and with any age group. Gamified features keep getting better, with more opportunities to put students in real-life situations or engage them through activities and point systems. This powerful tool is bringing more skills and information to more people across the world.  As technology advances should we not leave room to think that developers will also advance their skills and knowledge to create a learning game that is tailored fit to a particular subject with multiple options of learning aides?

References: 

Gatto, S. (2022, February 22). The Influence & Effectiveness of Gamification in eLearning. TechnologyAdvice. https://technologyadvice.com/blog/human-resources/gamification-elearning/#:%7E:text=Gamification%20increases%20engagement%20by%20providing,the%20information%20presented%20to%20them

Hirsh-Pasek, K., PhD, & Golinkoff, M., PhD. (2008, October 1). Why Play = Learning. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play/according-experts/why-play-learning#:%7E:text=Researchers%20suggest%20that%20play%20is,learn%20much%20about%20their%20world.

Michaels, L. (2021, March 8). When is Gamification in Education Not a Good Idea? Emerging Education Technologies. https://www.emergingedtech.com/2021/03/when-is-gamification-in-education-not-a-good-idea/#:%7E:text=Some%20topics%20deserve%20a%20certain,outrage%20from%20parents%20and%20communities.

Mulkeen, D. (2021a, May 26). The Top 5 Benefits of Gamification in Learning. Learnlight. https://www.learnlight.com/en/articles/5-benefits-of-gamification-in-learning/#:%7E:text=Since%20gamification%20increases%20learners’%20engagement,really%20is%20good%20for%20business.

Mulkeen, D. (2021b, September 21). How Gamification Helps Drive Learner Motivation. Learnlight. https://www.learnlight.com/en/articles/gamification-drives-learner-motivation/#:%7E:text=So%20how%20does%20gamification%20work,and%20retain%20outcomes%20much%20longer 

The Master’s degree in Instructional Technology with University of Alabama has been an eye-opening experience.  I chose the program because I wanted to learn more about teaching and creating lessons online. When I first began the program, following up with a doctoral program was not a thought or a want I had, but as I went through the lessons and identified how I want to shift my career, I started to think more on what a doctoral degree could do for me long term, professionally. I have been working in the Human Resources field for ten years and throughout my tenor, the common issues fall in the ‘training’ and ‘communication’ categories. I believe the two work hand in hand; you can train to better communicate and you can communicate when better trained.

I chose to study more about Instructional Technology because prior to starting, my career focus began to shift a little when my job tasks started to include adjusting or creating training modules. I took a liking to it. The process of creating content, recording videos, editing, adding narration, considering the different types of learners, and even going back to make adjustments allows my mind to be not only creative but also innovative. I’ve even started creating “How-To” videos to help employees learn to use certain business tools that can help them be more efficient and organized. I don’t necessarily want to be the person who teaches or instructions the lessons, I rather create and provide the tools needed for the lesson. My ideal project would be someone giving me a lesson topic, include any restraints or requirements, and I then create the entire lesson from beginning to end. I don’t have a problem being locked away in my office for hours upon hours to brainstorm and create an effective way to offer a lesson. I work well in groups, but I work best alone.

There is a corporate trainer for my company and he has reach out to me a few times to exchange ideas on how to reconfigure and repurpose some of the training tools we already have. I shown a him a few of the “how-to” videos I created which was then shared to other cooperate heads and they and want me to be part of the creating process for future training tools.

In three of my previous courses in this program, I gained two things that I still use and think about, the live screen recorder (screencast-o-matic), learning about evaluation, and learning about doing a needs analysis. Studying evaluations helped me to understand analyzing learning modules, the information, in those modules, and how and if it is benefiting the learner.  With doing needs analysis, it helped me break down and focus what exactly needs to be included in the training and how it needs to be implemented. 

Within my INTE 532 - Instructional Technology Design course is where I started to learn about a needs analysis and beginning to identify what a client or business needs in terms of improvement and training for employees or students. I used my own experience with my employer and identified areas where training could be useful in encouraging efficiency. As I started working through that assignment, I realized that there are other departments in the company that could benefit from continuous training and micro-training. I learned from beginning to end how to brainstorm lessons that would engage a learner, or in my case an adult learner.  I also had to consider time constraints with regular work hours and an employee’s other responsibilities while at work.

In another course, INTE 533 – Online Teaching and Learning, I was introduced to creating online lesson and section the lessons into mini modules that allow learners to either complete objectives either on their own time or structured with a deadline. With this assignment, I created videos and material to teach employees how to utilize Google applications such as Calendar, Task, and Keep to better organize their responsibilities and communicate with colleagues.  In this assignment is where I really began to think about where I wanted to take my career – helping professionals become more resourceful and productive.

Although, in INTE 589 – Instructional Technology Research, during an online class Zoom call, I learned many professionals do not have great hard skills such as typing, and using simple applications like email, MS Word or even internet which also reflects on their soft skills.  This is where I started to think more about basic training in soft and hard skills. I remember when I started in the working world, typing fast was a sought-after skill, now I do not even see “How many words can you type per minute” as a requirement in office related jobs. The innovation of technology constantly exceeds current learning strategies, but soft administrative skills will still be regarded and needed; you have to know how to write before you can write a letter.  This led me to think more about achieving a doctoral degree.  With an EdD program, I want to develop knowledge and skills to train and encourage adult learners and professionals to fine tune their soft and hard skills to be better prepped to learn how to use tools such as different Google applications to help themselves be more efficient and organized at work.  Also, with an EdD, I want to get into a more executive leadership and influential role.