Principles of Instructional Technology (AIL 601) was the cornerstone of my doctoral journey. As a first-year PhD student arriving with enthusiasm for educational technology but without a research-grounded vocabulary for it, I needed a course that would convert my intuitions about “using technology to teach” into a defensible, theory-driven stance. Across fifteen weeks, AIL 601 did exactly that, and it directly serves my degree goal of becoming a scholar who can articulate, defend, and apply theoretical perspectives, and my long-term professional goal of using learning technologies to strengthen teaching and learning, especially in under-resourced contexts such as my home country, Nigeria.
The most transformative learning came from engaging deeply with foundational learning theories through Harasim’s (2017) text. Producing a “Cool Resources” instructional video that defined and contrasted behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism forced me to move from naming theories to teaching them. For example, working through Skinner’s stimulus–response account made me reconsider my early bias against extrinsic motivation; I came to see how immediate, automated feedback in a digital quiz is a defensible behaviorist design choice for building foundational skills, even within a broadly constructivist philosophy. Studying Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory was equally pivotal: the Zone of Proximal Development gave me precise language for why adaptive systems and scaffolded technology matter, an idea I now carry into my research on immersive simulations.
The course’s framework modules sharpened this further. Designing infographics on the TPACK framework and on the history of instructional media required me to internalize, not merely cite, Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) argument that effective integration lives at the intersection of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. The SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006) gave me a diagnostic lens that I still use to ask whether a tool merely substitutes for an older method or genuinely redefines what learners can do. My module reflections trace this growth visibly: I revised my personal philosophy iteratively, layering in UDL and culturally responsive teaching, and then in the adoption-models module integrated TAM (Davis, 1989), CBAM (Hall, 1979), Diffusion of Innovations (Rogers, 2003), and Ely’s conditions of change. These models addressed a real gap in my thinking, helping me understand the institutional and systemic factors that determine whether an innovation actually takes hold, which is essential knowledge for anyone hoping to scale educational technology where resources are limited.
Beyond theory, AIL 601 built concrete scholarly skills. Learning to use OneSearch, Scout, and RefWorks to compile an annotated bibliography taught me to locate, evaluate, and manage academic literature efficiently. Despite an initial struggle setting up my RefWorks account, Dr. Forrest’s resources helped me persevere, and the citation-management workflow I learned has been directly transferable to my role as a Graduate Research Assistant, where I review literature on technology integration regularly. The peer-reviewed journals discussion, in which I examined the British Journal of Educational Technology (recommended by Dr. Moon), the Online Learning Journal, and the Journal of Computing in Higher Education, also taught me to read the field strategically by aligning specific journals with my emerging research agenda.
Perhaps the most career-defining activity was the IT Community assignment, which led me to join the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT) in February 2024. That step connected me to a professional community whose mission mirrors my own aspirations, and it culminated in presenting my research at the AECT 2024 convention. In short, AIL 601 did not simply teach me content; it gave me the theoretical foundation, scholarly habits, and professional identity of an emerging instructional technology researcher.
References
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Hall, G. E. (1979). The concerns-based approach to facilitating change. Educational Horizons, 57(4), 202–208.
Harasim, L. (2017). Learning theory and online technologies (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054.
Puentedura, R. R. (2006). Transformation, technology, and education. Hippasus. http://hippasus.com/resources/tte/
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
