Philosophy as an Instructional Technologist
I believe that Instructional Technology can lead the way in reforming the way people learn, to bring education in line with the needs of the new century. The modern world is awash in information. There is much more than one person can absorb. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to personalize learning so that each learner can find the information he or she needs to solve problems, rather than to group people into categories and expect them to learn what everyone else in that category is learning. Not everyone needs to know the same things. By using computer technology in combination with older technologies, I believe it is possible to keep each learner motivated, engaged and satisfied with his or her learning experiences.

Although one rarely sees it described as such, instructional design is a creative process. With knowledge of learning theories and instructional design tools, the instructional technologist is prepared to look for creative approaches to instructional problems and to formulate creative solutions to theses problems.

One of the main problems to approach is the use of available instructional time. We should ask ourselves if we are getting the maximum amount of learning from the time we put into instruction. My view is that we are not. Too much time is spent presenting information and too little on coaching and supporting the learner. With good instructional design, we should be able to use computer technology to present information to the learner while leaving the teacher free to coach, counsel, question, and encourage the learner.

I don't think we will ever replace the teacher with computer-based or online learning, but both of these technologies can be employed to make the teacher more effective in meeting the needs of learners.