Section 5 Trends and Issues

Section 5 Trends and Issues

Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry, military, health care education, P-12 education and post secondary education. Select at least 3 of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues. Then explain how they are similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work.

In the context of business and industry there is an increasing growth of trends in IDT. When we discuss roles in instructional design many businesses will utilize a sole designer. This results because of budget constraints and economic deprivation (Reiser 179).  Larger scale projects would require a team effort and a wide variety of Instructional design team members in order to successfully solve problems within the business.  Just as in teaching or education, we face budget cuts all too often. Field trips, clubs, organizations, sports, fine arts are just a few of the programs being cut. Similarly in education we also face challenges with time and resources just as in business. There’s not enough time or money to support instructional design. I thought it was interesting to see that the field of business and education actually shared like ideas when discussing instructional design.

Instructional design opportunities are also available through military and training environments. When comparing military, business and education IDT one key characteristic that they seem to have in common is funding. Instructional design is intended to improve on the job performance and to improve the productivity of employees. No matter what field you are in military, business or education money will always play a vital role. In the military funding can also be scarce. “The challenge for each service in any country is how to best utilize the money it has available for training (Reiser 189).” Just like in education we have to utilize the money we have for necessary training and improvements. In this chapter it also discusses the role of the environment in military training.  In education we also continually analyze environments to make sure we’re delivering the best instruction for students. Depending on what type of environment we provide will determine how well or successful our learners will be able to perform in both military and education.

The health care covers a wide range of areas. From hospitals and dentistry to molecular biology, health care also uses instructional design to continually make positive changes in their line of work. One characteristic health care education and education have in common is that they are both supported by problem based learning. “Other research has documented the benefits of problem based learning. Meta-analyses and literature reviews indicate that students in PBL curricula perform as well or better than those in traditional programs (Reiser 200).” Problem based learning is also supported in the field of education as well. PBL is able to best support our learners in that it is student centered and learners collaborate together.  PBL is highly promoted in the education field just like in health care education. However, I did find a notable difference between health care education and general education. In the health care professions skills and techniques can be a matter of life and death. Fortunately in education would we rarely be faced with this challenge.