Saettler's History of Instructional Technology - 1968

In the present book, we have been serving primarily as reporters, but also as interpreters (no human report can be absolutely objective) and critics. With the possible exception of programmed instruction, all of the historical instructional approaches presented so far in part 2 fall short of truly scientific technology of instruction. In contrast, the systems approach to instruction offers a conceptional framework which, hopefully, can provide a model for the achievement of this ideal. Since we are merely on the frontier of this development, much of this chapter will necessarily depart from the retrospective treatment of previous chapters and will focus instead on prospective developments. - Paul Saettler (1968).

Saettler broadly outlines instructional system development as having three components: design, development, and evaluation. The design phase is summarized as having "Where, when with what, and whom you must accomplish what, for whom, and where." Thus it begins with a specification of goals or purposes for the system. After the purpose has been stated, then the nature of the learners are described, requirements, etc. Thus, the design phase basically includes the analysis phase.

The development phase remains the same, but the evaluation phase includes operation and testing, with operation being the implementation of the program and of course testing being the evaluation. So in a nutshell, the five phases as we now know ISD has been compiled into three phases.

References

Saettler, Paul (1968). History of Instructional Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Saettler, Paul (1990). The Evolution of American Educational Technology. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

Return to History of ISD

Go to History Page

Big Dog, Little Dog