In the span of the 21st century, the field of instructional design has been influenced by a number of developments. A notable increase in the use of the Internet for teaching and learning is one (Reiser, 2018).
For more than a century, education has taken place in a physical classroom, between approximately the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Yet, with the advent of the Internet and the emergence of technology, that model has been turned on its head. Learning, both formal and informal, can now take place at any time, any location, and on any device.
In parallel with the advancement of the Internet and emerging technologies, digital learning has evolved over the years. According to Bonk and Wiley (2020), “It is as though the gigantic advances in communication and transportation devices seen in the last century are being matched in this century by myriad developments in learning technologies” (p. 1603). Teaching and learning have undergone a digital evolution as evidenced through the advent of Learning Management Systems (LMSs), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), adaptive learning, big data analytics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. To that end, learning online in K-12 school, higher education, and organizations have experienced a visible uptick (Reiser, 2018).
Looking forward, digital technologies are expected to continue to change the learning landscape and connect learners to just-in-time resources for knowledge and skill development. With global consumers adopting new technologies at an exponential rate, a notable increase in worldwide internet use and connectivity, and predicted gains in global consumers’ technological fluency, accessibility to digital learning grows more widely than ever before.
As technology continues to evolve, more shifts are likely to occur. According to the Institute for the Future (2017), by the year 2030, the following shifts are predicted to occur:
- “By 2030, workers will create new work infrastructures to acquire the skills and knowledge they will need to execute their work successfully. They will routinely improvise, learn from each other, and make their own way… Most will partner with machines to learn while on-the-gig” (p. 14).
- “To acquire the necessary knowledge, some will use AR technologies to perform unfamiliar and complex tasks on the job… Workers, wearing an AR headset, will be fed the information that they need in real-time and in their field-of-vision so they can do the work. Others will depend on apps and services that are designed to engage users in learning during the idle moments of their lives… to turn every waiting opportunity into a learning opportunity (a practice called ‘wait-learning’)” (p. 14).
- “As the transfer of knowledge will be increasingly offloaded to emerging technologies, individuals will shoulder the burden of using these new technologies to acquire necessary skills to demonstrate proficiency. As a result, people will need to know how to access information and learn through immersive and experimental media such as AR and VR… This will require both access to technology as well as increased confidence in their know-how to utilize emerging technologies” (p. 14).
These forecasts in technological growth and adoption present a need for the creation of digital instruction that leverages both improved global connectivity and emerging technologies.
As an instructional design / educational practitioner, what advancements in Internet connectivity or innovations in digital technologies do you foresee having the greatest impact on your practice or the means by which people learn?
References:
Bonk, C. J., & Wiley, D. (2020). Preface: Reflections on the waves of emerging learning technology. Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D), 68(4), 1595-1612.
Institute for the Future. (2017). The next era of human machine partnerships [report]. Dell Technologies.https://www.delltechnologies.com/content/dam/delltechnologies/assets/perspectives/2030/pdf/SR1940v2_DELL_humanmachine_partnerships_rb_1.2.19.pdf
Reiser, R. A. (2018). A history of instructional design and technology. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed.) (pp. 8-22). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Andrew R. Claassen 
The internet age is opening all kinds of doors for new kinds of on-demand learning. But it does feel like we are still in the experimental stages of determining the best ways of utilizing it for different types of learners. Adapting our traditional ways of teaching into online models can have mixed results, such as MOOCs. The potential is there, and it is certainly the future, but the effectiveness may vary between generations who are used to different learning environments and their own learning styles. Reaching these learners with different modes of online learning and making the most of these new technologies is certainly the next step.
Looking into the use of VR and AR in training and education, I have read that the majority of studies have been limited to STEM fields such as engineering and medicine(Hamilton Hamilton, D., McKechnie, J., Edgerton, E. et al. 2021). While it is interesting to see the potential uses of these emerging technologies, the resources to put their abilities into other fields has been lacking.
Hamilton, D., McKechnie, J., Edgerton, E. et al. Immersive virtual reality as a pedagogical tool in education: a systematic literature review of quantitative learning outcomes and experimental design. J. Comput. Educ. 8, 1–32 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-020-00169-2
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