Overview Definition of Instructional Technologies Instructional technologies augment the delivery of instruction to serve a range of student learning styles. It should be understood from the outset that technology is only as effective as the faculty member who employs it, and no technology can replace the teacher in the learning process. The traditional lecture, which recent research suggests might be the least effective means of instructional delivery, typically benefits from the addition of student interaction in recognition that as students participate in the learning process, they are better able to retain the elements of what they learn.
Technologies can help facilitate that interaction.
Faculty members have also incorporated photographs and video as a means to furthering student engagement in the learning process. One of the early instructional technologies was the textbook, which extended the reach of the teacher. Upon the invention of the printing press, tutors worried that students would pursue learning on their own, much to the detriment of the learning process. Books represented an early divide between teacher and learner, separating the two from what previously had been direct interaction. Correspondence courses, only possible after the development of the textbook, represented one of the earliest mechanisms for distance education.