“Instructional technology and media for learning” summary — Sharon E. Smaldino

Introduction

You face the constant challenge of engaging digital learners and integrating rapidly changing technology into your classroom. Traditional teaching methods often fail to capture student attention or address diverse learning styles effectively. Sharon E. Smaldino addresses this problem in Instructional Technology and Media for Learning by providing a systematic approach to media integration and lesson planning.

You can systematically plan lessons, integrate diverse media formats, and engage students by applying the ASSURE model and digital teaching strategies.

The book guides you from foundational learning theories and the ASSURE instructional design model to advanced digital tools, Web 2.0 applications, and distance learning environments.

How do you select the most effective media format for specific learning objectives?
What steps comprise the ASSURE model for systematic lesson design?
How can you integrate digital devices, Web 2.0 tools, and distance learning resources safely and effectively?

1. Exploring Student Learning and Media Formats

Modern teachers have shifted from being the sole source of information to acting as facilitators of knowledge and skills acquisition. You can guide students through selecting the right technology and creating engaging learning experiences.

Modern educators act as learning facilitators while utilizing six basic media formats and digital environments to support diverse student needs.

Instructional media encompass six basic categories that carry information between a source and a receiver to facilitate communication and learning. The physical forms in which messages are incorporated and displayed are called media formats. Each format presents unique strengths and limitations.

Whiteboards and books display text and visuals, while CDs or podcasts incorporate voice and music.

Instructional media formats are categorized across audio, video, and text domains. Learning experiences progress on a spectrum from active, concrete participation to abstract reading.

Assistive technologies can be categorized into low-tech, medium-tech, and high-tech tools to support students with physical, mental, or sensory disabilities. Low-tech devices operate without electricity or batteries. Medium-tech includes electrical devices. High-tech assistance involves the use of computers.

A magnifying glass is a low-tech tool for a visually impaired student, a mini book light is medium-tech, and a text-to-speech option is high-tech.

Framework for Academic and Career Learning

You progress through a four-phase process when adopting and adapting digital technology in your classroom:

Phase 1: Dabbling with technology by randomly adding tools to a few learning situations
Phase 2: Doing old things in old ways, such as displaying lecture notes in PowerPoint rather than using a whiteboard
Phase 3: Doing old things in new ways, such as using a virtual 3-D model instead of drawing on a chalkboard
Phase 4: Doing new things in new ways by utilizing the power of miniaturized and customizable one-to-one technology

Copyright Concerns

Copyright laws protect original creative works. Willful violations by educators carry severe civil and criminal penalties under the Copyright Act of 1976. Fines vary depending on the infringement scale and whether willful intent or commercial gain is proven.

The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 sets the copyright term for an individual author to 70 years after death. Works made for hire receive protection for 100 years from creation or 75 years from publication.

Standard fines range from 750 to 30,000 dollars per infringement. Fines rise up to 150,000 dollars for willful intent. Willful infringement for private or commercial gain carries penalties of 250,000 dollars and up to 5 years in prison.

2. Designing Instruction and Assessing Learning

Educational psychology spans behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist, and social-psychological perspectives, requiring you to apply an eclectic approach. Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and reinforcement, cognitivist perspective models mental processing and memory, constructivist perspective emphasizes active problem-solving, and social-psychological perspective targets cooperative learning. B.F. Skinner conducted scientific reinforcement experiments with pigeons, while Jean Piaget explored mental models of short-term and long-term memory.

Effective instruction requires combining learning theories, adhering to effective instruction principles, and employing authentic assessments and portfolios.

Information provides general content and overview, whereas instruction represents intentional efforts to stimulate permanent learning. While job aids and digital tools provide rapid just-in-time information, true instruction requires active engagement to achieve a lasting change. Effective instruction relies on principles designed to engage learners and accommodate individual differences.

You must plan your lessons by following these practices:

Assess prior knowledge before instruction
Consider individual learner differences and varying rates of progress
State learning objectives matching expected outcomes
Develop metacognitive skills such as selective monitoring and evaluating
Provide social interaction through peer and teacher collaboration
Incorporate realistic real-world contexts
Engage students in relevant practice that builds toward desired outcomes
Offer frequent, timely, and constructive feedback explaining why responses are correct or incorrect

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences identifies 9 aspects of human capability that you must address during lesson planning. Dissatisfied with a unitary IQ view, Gardner noted in 2011 that learners vary widely across perceptual preferences and motivational factors.

Your lesson plans should address these 9 types of intelligence:

Verbal/linguistic
Logical/mathematical
Visual/spatial
Musical/rhythmic
Bodily/kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalist
Existentialist

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy integrates action and digital resources into traditional cognitive learning stages instead of strictly enforcing a linear progression. Developed by Churches in 2008, the updated taxonomy emphasizes collaboration, scaffolding, and capitalizing on where the student currently is. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills identified four core competencies—critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity—alongside cross-cultural understanding.

The New Tech Network started in California in 1996 and has grown to over 170 schools across the United States, Australia, and China, focusing on problem-based learning and project-based assessments.

Learning Assessment

Authentic assessments and portfolios evaluate student process and creation in natural contexts, requiring self-reflection rather than relying solely on traditional paper-and-pencil tests. Authentic tasks require students to do what practitioners do in the real world. Portfolios can be traditional physical folders or electronic portfolios that store digital artifacts and audio and video reflections.

You should follow these steps when setting up portfolio assessments:

Decide between traditional or electronic formats
Identify types of artifacts that will demonstrate student achievement
Select or develop an appropriate rating scale and give rubrics to students before they begin working

3. Integrating Technology with the ASSURE Model

The ASSURE model provides a systematic six-step framework for analyzing learners, stating objectives, selecting resources, utilizing materials, requiring participation, and evaluating lessons.

You can plan lessons that effectively integrate technology and media by applying this procedural framework.

The ASSURE Model Steps

The acronym stands for Analyze learners, State standards and objectives, Select strategies and resources, Utilize resources, Require learner participation, and Evaluate and revise.

Analyze learners
State standards and objectives
Select strategies and resources
Utilize resources
Require learner participation
Evaluate and revise

Analyzing Learners and Objectives

The first step of the ASSURE model is to identify and analyze learner characteristics. You examine general characteristics, specific entry competencies, and learning differences and needs.

Tiare Ahu analyzes her ninth-grade English students by noting their 14 and 15 years old student ages, urban socioeconomic background, digital creation competencies, and preference for listening to music while working.

The second step in the ASSURE model is to state the learning objectives as specifically as possible. You must use the ABCDs of Well-Stated Learning Objectives to make outcomes precise.

Specify the Audience for whom the objective is intended
Specify the Behavior to be demonstrated using an observable action verb
Specify the Conditions under which the behavior will be observed
Specify the Degree of accuracy or proficiency required for mastery

After writing that, you should select strategies, technology, media, and materials that are appropriate for your learners. You can choose between teacher-centered and student-centered approaches, or build materials using three main methods:

Select available off-the-shelf materials through library media specialists, teacher colleagues, or online reviews
Modify existing materials digitally using scanning and editing software or physically using copy machine adjustments
Design new materials when ready-made or modified options are unavailable

Utilizing and Evaluating Resources

While planning your teaching role, you will want to utilize resources such as technology, media, and materials. You apply the 5 Ps process for utilizing resources to ensure resources align with objectives:

Preview the resources to select exact aligning portions
Prepare the resources and equipment sequence
Prepare the environment by arranging facilities, seating, and power sources
Prepare the learners with an overview, rationale, motivating statement, and cues
Provide the learning experience

Tiare Ahu previews DreamWeaver and iMovie, prepares assignment handouts and sample portfolios, checks computer lab and video studio equipment, and introduces learning objectives to her class.

Each lesson should mentally engage learners; this can be done by requiring learner participation. You provide informative feedback to guide students through constructivist views and tasks requiring application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills.

In the final step of the ASSURE model, you are asked to evaluate and revise the lesson based on the degree to which students met the learning objectives, the results of the instructional process, and the impact of using the selected resources.

Examine discrepancies between your intentions and what actually happened.
Make notes immediately following completion of the lesson.
Refer to notes before you implement the lesson again.
Go back to the faulty part of the plan and revise it if evaluation data indicate shortcomings.

4. Designing Digital Learning Environments

Classroom instruction utilizes ten common learning strategies, digital environments, and free materials to enhance student engagement and inquiry.

Classrooms utilize 10 common types of instructional strategies used in classrooms. You must weigh their benefits against limitations like time consumption and non-adaptive pacing.

Fifth-grade teachers Lindsay Kaiser and Jena Marshall use a WebQuest and boat design activity for problem-based learning regarding the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Types of Learning Strategies

Digital drill-and-practice applications provide targeted reinforcement, corrective feedback, and information chunking. Nearly 10 percent of public school students are English language learners, and approximately 75 percent of ELL students speak Spanish. Digital flashcards, matching games, alphabet books, and listen-and-repeat videos help students build fluency in speaking, reading, and writing English alongside content knowledge.

Students use online alphabet books where each English word is paired with a home language translation and an image.

Cooperative learning requires specific structural conditions to ensure that team members interact, share accountability, and benefit mutually from group projects. You can apply these practices in your classroom:

Ensure members view their role as part of a whole team.
Facilitate interactive engagement among the members of the group.
Enforce both individual and group shared accountability.
Encourage interpersonal and leadership skills to be displayed.
Engage the ability to reflect on personal learning and group function.

Third-grade teacher Connie Courbat used the Oregon Trail app on a single classroom computer with mixed-ability groups, assigning roles like team leader and recorder to study the westward movement.

Educational games and simulations build problem-solving, logic, and interpersonal skills. The Stock Market Game by the Sifma Foundation requires students to invest an online $100,000 portfolio in teams, and the simulation Extreme Event focuses on disaster resilience for students aged 14+.

Integration of Technology and Media

Technology and media can promote discovery and inquiry by allowing students to observe natural changes over time. You can guide student learning through probing inquiries:

Set up digital cameras for time-lapse photography or examine GPS images of landscapes.
Use word processing tools to analyze document reading levels.
Download weather data sets into spreadsheets to discover prediction patterns.

Students take time-lapse photos of a plant with a digital camera to discover that plants follow the sun, or use word processing tools to check the reading level of the Bill of Rights.

Learning Contexts and Materials

PK-12 environments utilize five primary learning contexts: face-to-face instruction, distance learning, blended instruction, structured independent study, and nonstructured informal study. You can select these approaches carefully:

Select the appropriate learning context to best serve student outcomes.
Incorporate learning centers that are partially enclosed to reduce distractions.
Utilize real objects, models, and mock-ups as physical manipulatives.

A teacher uses a flipped classroom approach by assigning a video about the solar system as evening homework and having students construct a physical model in collaborative groups the next day.

Integrating free and inexpensive materials from online open-source sites, government publications, and community organizations helps supplement instruction when budgets are limited. You should follow these steps:

Search online open-source repositories, government sites, museums, and broadcast sources for free materials.
Preview all external materials to ensure they are appropriate and free from objectionable bias.
Obtain preview copies before requesting multiple hard copies for students.
Send thank-you notes or usage feedback to online suppliers.

The Los Angeles Fire Department uses a trailer set up like a classroom in their Shakey-Quakey program to simulate earthquake safety for children.

5. Engaging Learners with Digital Devices

Educational technology has evolved along a desktop-to-mobile continuum. You shift your teaching focus from equipment operation toward fostering student creativity and digital literacy.

Digital devices and hardware configurations shift the teaching focus toward constructivist environments, software evaluation, and multisensory digital resources.

Digital devices act as tutors, data collectors, and creative resources. You can select software applications that engage students in exploratory, constructivist learning environments.

You should follow these practices:

Choose appropriate desktop, laptop, or mobile devices for student learning tasks.
Select software applications that engage students in exploratory, constructivist learning environments.
Model appropriate technology use and adhere strictly to software licensing and copyright guidelines.

Amended copyright laws strictly regulate the permissible uses of computer software in educational settings. You must consult your technology coordinator regarding specific licensing agreements before copying software.

Digital Devices and Software

Digital technologies provide rich, interactive learning environments by supporting instantaneous responses and multisensory experiences. Devices record, analyze, and react to student input while allowing you to gather information and demonstrate knowledge.

You can make one backup copy of a purchased program if needed. You can install one copy of the program onto a computer hard drive. You can adapt a computer program to meet local needs or change languages if unsupported. You must prohibit making multiple copies, network sharing without a license, or duplicating software documentation without permission.

Instructional software and apps must be carefully evaluated against curriculum standards. You must check that software runs on available operating systems and hardware configurations.

You should follow these evaluation steps:

Verify alignment with standards, outcomes, and objectives.
Ensure information is accurate and current.
Check for age-appropriate language and understandable vocabulary.
Assess interest level and active engagement.
Evaluate technical quality of media and technology.
Confirm ease of use without user confusion.
Check for bias-free content and absence of objectionable advertising.
Determine if software stimulates creativity.
Evaluate capability to foster collaboration.
Verify provision of skill or knowledge practice and feedback.

Students with visual impairments use screen readers and alt-tags. Others build problem-solving skills using The Factory Deluxe software.

Hardware and Classroom Configurations

Computer hardware systems interact with a Central Processing Unit using dedicated memory types and peripheral input and output devices. The CPU processes calculations while relying on temporary RAM and permanent ROM.

Storage capacity is measured in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes to handle large graphic and animation files. A minimum of 1 GB is recommended for running multiple applications. There are 1,024 bytes in a kilobyte, 1,000 KB in a megabyte, 1,000 MB in a gigabyte, and 1 million megabytes or a trillion bytes in a terabyte.

You use removable storage devices for specific purposes:

Archiving old files that are infrequently accessed.
Storing unusually large files such as graphic images.
Exchanging large files with others.
Moving files from one computer to another.
Keeping specific files separate from hard disk files.

Classroom environments can be arranged in single-device, multi-device, mobile technology cart, or technology laboratory formats. A technology laboratory typically contains 20 to 30 networked computers placed in a dedicated room.

A middle school combined three science classes to investigate a smelly stream using data analysis spreadsheets, probes, and mobile carts.

6. Connecting Learners Using Web 2.0

Web 2.0 applications transform static web pages into interactive platforms driven by open source development, cloud computing, and user-generated content. Key functions of Web 2.0 include collaborative contributions, social networking, and web mashups. These tools allow users to interact, co-create, and sync files across multiple devices over a network.

Students in the United States collaborate with peers in Ireland using cloud computing to compare family cultures.

Web 2.0 Functions and Blogs

Blogs and wikis serve as effective Web 2.0 instructional tools that shift students from consumers to active producers of knowledge. Blogs allow chronological personal commentaries and class communications, whereas wikis support browser-based collaborative writing and immediate editing by multiple users. You must carefully plan grouping, content boundaries, and monitoring procedures.

Students participate in the TMHS Climate Change Debate by creating wiki pages to research issues, defend positions, and provide support data.

When you integrate wikis into lessons, you follow several specific steps:

Determine how students will be grouped
Decide whether students will create a new wiki or contribute to an existing one
Establish what content will be added or edited
Identify where students will obtain new content
Monitor student contributions for correct and appropriate content, spelling, and grammar
Ensure wiki creation and editing support student achievement of learning objectives

Productivity Apps and Multimedia

Web 2.0 productivity apps enable simultaneous real-time collaboration among multiple students across different digital devices.

Unlike traditional software suites like Microsoft Office, online office tools are usually free or inexpensive, cloud-based, and allow users to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and concept maps while working together simultaneously from separate devices. Social bookmarking tools like Diigo facilitate collaborative research by allowing students to store, highlight, annotate, and share web resources. Students use social bookmarking to organize web page addresses by categories or tags, adding highlights and notes directly to specific web content so group members can review curated findings without reviewing entire websites.

High school students enter data from chemistry experiments into a shared live spreadsheet, or pairs of younger students collaboratively build vocabulary tables where one contributes photos for even-numbered words and the other for odd-numbered words.

Web 2.0 multimedia sharing apps foster engagement by allowing teachers and students to upload, view, and comment on audio, video, and pinboard resources. Podcasts provide audio, video, and text content, while video platforms like YouTube and TeacherTube host educational videos with ratings and comments. Pinboards like Pinterest or EduClipper organize digital images and resources by topic while recording source information for citations. Safe, closed social networking platforms like Edmodo or Biblionasium connect teachers, students, and parents for academic collaboration without public exposure.

Teachers use TeacherTube to find teacher-recommended videos, and students create pinboards depicting life during the Roman Empire.

7. Teaching at a Distance and Network Resources

Distance learning and telecommunications require structured design elements, critical digital citizenship rules, and secure network resources.

Teaching at a distance involves blended, flipped, or fully online settings. You shift your role from direct leader to learning facilitator who deliberately structures interaction and resource access. Jimmy Chun, a high school teacher in Hawaii, incorporates distance education into social studies by connecting his students with students in New Hampshire.

Designing Distance Learning

Distance instruction relies on structured components like teacher demonstration videos and online Q&A sessions. You must deploy resources either synchronously when participants interact simultaneously or asynchronously when they work independently. Video transmissions divide into one-way delivery with limited immediate interaction and two-way videoconferencing for live exchanges. Mr. Chun's students used the school's video conferencing system to discuss how the Hawaiian Islands were established.

Congress revised distance learning copyright aspects through the TEACH Act in 2002. School library media specialists assist teachers in securing proper digital permissions. You must satisfy specific requirements:

Ensure transmission is an integral part of a systematic, ongoing instructional activity mediated by an instructor
Confirm transmission is directly related to and of material assistance in the teaching of content
Limit transmission solely to students officially enrolled in the course
Inform students that materials used may be subject to copyright protection
Employ measures to prevent retention of materials longer than the duration of the course
Preclude unauthorized student retention and redistribution to the extent technologically feasible

Critical Issues and Network Resources

Online learning environments require strict acceptable use policies and digital citizenship rules. You must navigate copyright rules carefully regarding emails and downloaded articles. The authors found the ASSURE model on five websites without attribution to its source, representing serious violations of copyright law. You should follow basic guidelines when publishing and communicating online:

Assume all material on the Internet is copyrighted unless stated otherwise.
Do not forward any email without permission.
Link to the home page rather than a location deep within a website.
Obtain permission from students and parents before posting student work online.
Avoid downloading and file sharing of video and audio unless authorized.

Computer networks range from local classroom connections to global systems. Networks utilize file servers, firewalls, and standardized protocols to connect users safely.

Conclusion