The history of IST is so fascinating. I truly think that the evolution of the field over time ties directly with changing understandings of learning processes. IT started out as instructional media, things like projectors and school museums, tangible additions to the classroom that acted as specialized tools for in-person instruction. Then came instructional films and radio broadcasting, which didn't really take off until World War II and the military's use of training films. In the 1950's, the advent of television launched instructional television, and that cemented instructional media's place in IT and more definitively tied the eventual field to technology. The computer, of course, followed as interest in instructional television waned, and about a decade later the computer made its way into schools.
I remember in elementary school, as a child of the 90's, taking a rudimentary computer class where we learned to type. I had the kind of typing instructor who would blindfold you to test your speed, make sure your muscle memory was becoming attuned to the feel of key placement and how to stretch your fingers. I still type like that to this day, to be fair to her, and my typing speed is excellent, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to all we could have learned about computers.
Computers, and the Internet, truly launched IT from its starting point as instructional media to a broad field of instruction. IT, or IST, is no longer simply a tool that augments traditional teaching methods. Models and research done in the field of IST, along with the incredibly fast advances in modern technology, have made our field nearly unrecognizable. Certainly, IT will always be intimately tied with technology. But the field isn't focused on creating tools to assist with learning, the field is focused on improving learning itself: cognitively, neurologically, psychologically. Even though some may outside the field may think of modern IST as mostly content development now, the real beauty of the field is in the systems that are created and improved upon and studied voraciously.
Hi Susannah,
It's interesting to read about your elementary school experience with computers after we have come this far with technology. While it would be more helpful to have learning experience beyond that, I think back in the day, teachers might not be well-prepared or supported to elevate the experience for their students. It is amazing to think about how learning has taken different forms since then and hopefully, have been the solutions to some of the past issues.
-Renee