Instructional Technology

Instructional technology refers to applying relevant technological processes and resources in education to enhance students’ performance, from identifying student needs, applying instructional technology in lessons, and tracking progress to measuring achievement over time.

Additionally, educational games address various academic problems and concerns, including motivation, discipline, school dropout rates, classroom violence, basic skills learning, critical thinking abilities, and much more.

Engaging Content

When crafting instructional design solutions, instructional designers must carefully consider who will access and engage with their learning content.

One effective strategy to increase engagement is incorporating interactive elements such as games and simulations into lessons. Such activities engage students’ curiosity while drawing their focus to course content.

Additionally, they can enhance motivation and knowledge retention and easily share it with others.

Many eLearning products, including classroom software, feature educational games and simulations to increase engagement ratings. These immersive learning elements provide valuable knowledge students will use in their future careers.

Real-Time Feedback

Giving real-time feedback is a critical function teachers can perform with instructional technology. It allows educators to foster strong student-teacher relationships while creating more positive learning environments.

Evaluating student work through video is also an ideal way to provide more specific comments that resonate more with them than generic “Good job!” comments; these will provide feedback tailored to individual performance rather than simply being “Fair enough.”

Feedback in the form of video comments can also be an excellent way to emphasize specific parts of student work quickly and effortlessly and is much quicker and more straightforward than writing text-based words, which require much more time to compose.

Real-time feedback can aid student learning and is an invaluable way to strengthen employee morale and cultivate an engaging workplace culture. By conducting frequent coaching sessions for smaller team members, leaders can keep everyone informed on productivity levels while supporting necessary growth initiatives.

Personalization

Personalization of instructional technology can help students develop a more profound knowledge of their subject material while increasing engagement and retention rates.

They have personalized learning centers around leveraging existing knowledge, experience, and learners’ abilities with training materials designed to bridge those understandings with new information. This allows learners to develop a complete grasp of a topic while increasing engagement levels and creating stronger links between new learning and existing knowledge.

As technology and AI advance, this could open up even more avenues for personalized learning experiences. For example, learners could pair up with more experienced employees who will guide them through an online learning session customized to their needs.

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is a form of instructional technology that utilizes small groups of students working collaboratively on a project or solving a problem using small-group teaching methods. Cooperative learning offers many advantages to both the learner and teacher, making learning enjoyable for all involved parties.

Collaborative learning enables students to work alongside one another on tasks that simulate real workplace scenarios, providing an ideal way for them to develop problem-solving and interpersonal communication skills that may prove invaluable in later years.

Increased confidence and self-esteem that can transfer into the workplace are also benefits of participating. Additional benefits include higher-level thinking, oral communication, and leadership skills such as self-management and critical thinking.

Teachers often need help with collaborative learning: how to assess accurately and grade student group work. According to research, an effective grading procedure that combines individual evaluation with a summarization of group learning/performance evaluation may help teachers avoid over-rewarding poor performers while under-rewarding those who’ve done a great job.

John T. King

Ph.D. Student | Department of Education | University of Alabama