Instructional technology is an educational branch whose concern is to study design and development of instructions scientifically. The instructional designers came up with programs that will enhance engagement and result to experiences that are effective to the learners. According to a research by Kaur (2018) that instructional technology concern itself with effectiveness and efficiency of learning in the context of education, without putting into consideration the learning nature or substance. Furthermore, it is development of instructional system components -which are not limited to; messages, devices, techniques-systematically with an aim of solving educational problems. Hence from the above explanation, it can be said that the purpose of instructional technology is to meet the learners’ needs thus promoting learnability in classroom. The EMS industry is currently facing challenges such as financial constraints, increasingly stringent policies, and multicultural and generational workforce. In this regard, it is imperative to adopt effective approaches in EMS instructional technology.
Virtual, instructor-led training (VILT) is an approved instructional-technology approach for use in EMS learning. VILT was approved by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) in 2011. Some of the proper use of instructional technology include:
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Interactive collaboration. Research shows that tutors prefer using materials that support student collaboration and further provide interactive experiences. They materials and programs are engaging and fun, having a supportive mechanism to skills such as communication, creativity and even collaboration to the 21 st century skills.
Getting of feedback. Due to proliferation of internet and the related devices, getting feedback has been made easier, thus making it powerful aid instruction structuring. It is easier to get the concerns and feedback in classrooms. These tools include survey, clickers, lickers, twitter. All these tools are designed to help the tutor and students interact and when utilized in the proper manner, the can help student to learn as well as teachers to get feedback on where they need to rectify.
IT enabled social learning. As Bandura’s theory of social learning posits that human being learn from each other through observation, modeling and imitation. Thus, instructional technology offer opportunity for social learning especially when a group of students uses a platform to discuss classroom matters.
Student’s presentations. Students tend to blend so much with technology through their interaction. Thus, creativity has its way when students practice what they have learnt, and this lead to inspiring nature of content created by students. There is self drive that make student to think what they can do with technology unlike when they are using text books.
Embedding videos. Videos have become part of the twenty first generations. When the learning content has been recorded and given in form of video, the students will have the ability to grasp the content more than when they are being taught or reading on their own in books. Teachers should leverage on this for instructional purpose since this is a very powerful aid.
Finally, technology can be used to facilitate collaborative learning through effective communication. A study by McKnight et al (2015) highlights that students have embraced social media and technology and this can help them understand vast knowledge within their studies. If the content of can be summarized and put in few wordings, then a vital skill is grasped even beyond school. Thus a teacher friendly technology is key in realizing and making the potential of student to be manifested.
In a nutshell, communication that is effective, researching skills, creativity, collaboration and interaction are very important tools that can be used in a digitalized environment meant for learning. Teachers need to utilize technology since it has the ability to enable progress within students’ development, as well as the ability to access and analyze development; ensuring education is achieving its goal. Nevertheless, using technology need to be clear, in that, teachers should focus on the impact and the outcome that has been made due to technology, and not the physical aspects.
References
Kaur, A. (2018). E-Learning and Virtual Classrooms. JOURNAL OF ADVANCED STUDIES IN EDUCATION AND MANAGEMENT , 7 (7), 62.
McKnight, K., O'Malley, K., Ruzic, R., Horsley, M. K., Franey, J. J., & Bassett, K. (2016). Teaching in a digital age: How educators use technology to improve student learning. Journal of research on technology in education , 48 (3), 194-211.
