A history of instructional design and technology: Part I: A history of instructional media

Abstract

This is the first of a two-part article that will discuss the history of the field of instructional design and technology in the United States. A definition of the field is provided and the major features of the definition are identified. A rational for using instructional design and technology as the label for the field is also presented. Events in the history of instructional media, from the early 1900s to the present day, are described. The birth of school museums, the visual and audiovisual instruction movements, the use of media during World War II, and the interest in instructional television, computers, and the Internet are among the topics discussed. The article concludes with a summarization of the effects media have had on instructional practices, and a prediction regarding the effect computers, the Internet, and other digital media will have on such practices over the next decade.