A name for the field of instructional technology has long been debated. Terms such as learning design, educational technology, instructional systems design and learning systems have been used to describe the field over the past 100 years. With an exploration of the history of the field, this article rebrands the field as Knowledge Systems Design…

This article is intended as a companion document to the more focused report provided by the author at the 2017 American Education Research Association (AERA) Conference as part of the Technology, Instruction, Cognition & Learning Special Interest Group's Symposium on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs). Both the AERA talk and this article…

This design case describes an online Ed.D. in Instructional Systems Technology (IST) launched in 2012. We will focus on a key aspect of the design: program advising and students' relationship with their advisors. While the design was responsive in its earliest stages to organizational constraints, legislative requirements and the known…

Like seemingly everyone else connected to K12 education, vendors that offer student information systems are being called upon to do more with less. Where past generations of these systems focused on nuts and bolts such as time, attendance and behavioral issues, the latest generation has created--and drawn inspiration from--districts' desires for…

M. David Merrill is a leading figure in the field of educational technology and instructional design. He has been contributing to our field for about half a century. His contributions have particularly focused on instructional strategies and fundamental learning principles more than the use of educational media and their influences. He has devised…

Delivering a successful instructional technology (IT) product depends on more than just having an extremely creative instructional solution or following an instructional systems design (ISD) model. Proper planning, direction, and execution of the project are require, as well. We present a model of management that encompasses the ISD process. Five…

Human resource development (HRD) is recognized as an interdisciplinary field covering the breadth of behavioral and social sciences. However, since its inception, instructional systems design (ISD), a methodology widely used in the HRD field, has been based on a narrow range of behavioral science. Grounded in general system's theory, the ISD…

Legislation, research, and practice support access to technology by young children with disabilities. Yet barriers to technology use--lack of training, inadequate funding, failure to acknowledge technology as a relevant issue, or disbelief that technology can positively impact young children with disabilities--often prevail among many disciplines…

A video mock-up is a "design story", described by Patrick Parrish in a recent "TechTrends" article as "imagining the journey of a learner's experience in engaging with a finished design". A design story allows designers to show their design vision to others and to observe features and benefits of the program as a learner would experience it. The…

This interview with Bela Banathy, a leader in educational technology, discusses educational background; instructional technology and instructional systems; mentors; current directions in the field; expansionism; the International Systems Institute; the information age; and new paradigms of instructional theory. (LRW)

The integration of concepts and contributions from learning theorists, media specialists, and teaching practitioners, optimized within a framework of selected system strategies derived from military management programs, can help resolve concerns for educational improvement and accountability and influence the utilization of technology enabling…

Training in business settings and instruction in academic settings have never taken place in a vacuum, but in earlier times many instructional technology professionals behaved as though they did. Models of instructional systems design (ISD) placed training and instruction at the center of the universe ignoring the impact of the external…

Distance education has become important as both geographic isolation and need outstrip available resources. New technologies such as Australia's Diverse Use of Communications Technology system help bridge the financial gap and spread resources more equitably. Future success depends heavily on proper management of emerging technologies. (8…

Recounts the history of a project which brought instructional systems development to the training schools of the U.S. armed forces. Included are the problems faced, the choices made, the focus chosen, the difficulties encountered, the product that resulted, and the outcomes of the project. (Author/CHC)

Describes how the instructional systems program at Florida State University has responded to the changes that are required to expand its orientation from instructional technology to performance technology. Changes in several existing courses and the implementation of two new courses in performance systems analysis and electronic performance…