The Future of Online and Blended Learning

 Leadership in Instructional Design

In my Learning Design and Technologies master's program at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College (MLFTC) at Arizona State University, a trending topic is that the "Instructional Designer" job title is often used as a catchall that incorporates a myriad of responsibilities, depending on the organization you work for. The role of an instructional designer, of course, requires designing thoughtful and effective learning experiences. However, we are often charged with additional tasks such as acting as subject matter experts, delivering course content, facilitating training, and handling technology troubleshooting, just to name a few. In short, to be a successful instructional designer, you must be a true jack of all trades. I've recently been introduced to the idea that one of the most important skills of an instructional designer is leadership. Education is rapidly changing with the addition of new technological advancements and instructional designers must be able to predict and diagnose these changes in order for their respective organizations to achieve any sort of success. Because of this, I believe that instructional designers are the keystone of educational movement and play a crucial role in shaping the educational ecosystem. 

Among the popular topics surrounding research about the current state of education is the adoption of online and blended learning. How can educators ensure that the strategies we are implementing for online and blended learning today are intentionally designed for the future? In light of this question, I find it important to consider what online and blended learning will look like in the future, say, 10 years from now. And correspondingly, what actions can we take now to ensure a more responsive and robust future for online learning?

Closing the Gap

Historically, there have been gaps between the development of new technologies and their widespread adoption in education with intentional use. Take the onset of the internet, for example. Many educational professionals initially took its advent for granted regarding the drastic change it would pose for education. This scenario is especially true when it comes to online and blended learning; Not only are we rather stagnant in adjusting to its implementation, but we are also not properly preparing educators and students for its more widespread adoption. In many cases, this is not our fault. Technological advances simply happen too quickly for us to catch our breath. Educational studies can take up to 2 years from start to finish, and in the meantime, we are stuck questioning whether the strategies we’ve implemented for these emerging technologies are effective or not. 

Furthermore, there is no equity between developing and first-world countries when it comes to the adoption of online and blended learning, let alone its effective use. For instance, institutions in many African countries turned to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, but are now struggling to maintain its use with the lack of technological infrastructure to support it. 

So, how can we close the gap? In the words of Robert Kiyosaki, "The best way to predict the future is to study the past". As instructional designers and thought leaders, we must be tasked with looking ahead while learning from the past so that we can strategically prepare for the future. 

Effectiveness

Before we can prepare for what the future of education holds, we must first ask ourselves if what we are currently doing is effective. Reflection is key. 

This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend the AI in Education Summit, hosted by ASU's MLFTC, where I met Dr. Punya Mishra, Associate Dean of Scholarship and Innovation. During his presentation on Education in the Age of AI, he compared his undergraduate studies in engineering to“being chewed up and spit out". This comment deeply resonated with me, as I have a similar sentiment of my undergraduate studies in chemistry. After introducing myself to Dr. Mishra later at the Summit, we agreed that many higher education experiences in STEM display this trend and it got me wondering about intentionality when it comes to designing learning experiences. How is it that I felt no more prepared for a career in the sciences when I graduated than I did when I first started my undergraduate education? This reminded me that instructional design is more than just copying and pasting traditional lecture-based material into a learning management system. As instructional designers, we must be the ones to take responsibility for ensuring that how we are utilizing online learning at our institutions is effective. 

In an earlier blog post, I contemplated which stage of the Technology Hype Cycle online and blended learning might currently be experiencing and suggested that we are currently on the Trough of Disillusionment. In the recent past, the development of online and blended learning practices has been considered a technology with immense potential, our expectations of it have inflated, and research has increased. Now, we are experiencing its development slowing, as it has failed to meet expectations in many areas. However, the Hype Cycle suggests that there are, in fact, true benefits of such emerging technologies that are on the cusp of being realized. On the Trough of Disillusionment, we are beginning to discern some drawbacks of online and blended learning (e.g. ease of academic dishonesty, slow adoption in less developed countries, issues of profitability when it comes to adoption at prestigious universities, the effective teaching of various subjects, online learning literacy, etc.). If Arthur T. Johnson's cycle is correct, we are soon going to grasp the actual benefits of online and blended learning and be able to integrate the technology productively. 

Vision

As an instructional designer myself, I am putting my visionary skills to the test. I suppose that in 10 years from now, the majority of courses will be online or blended in some form (though, this is not quite a prediction as much as it is the current state of education). As educational research continues and the quality of courses increases over time, this number will increase accordingly. There may be a plateau as trends become more retro (think flare jeans). Education as a whole will become more accessible, as developing countries join us in improving the quality of online courses and establishing corresponding infrastructure to support it. Hopefully, most instructors will accept and be trained in online and blended learning, and quality standards will be met across subject areas. Ultimately, we'll finally understand and be able to take advantage of the affordances of online and blended learning, or at the very least, be well on our way to achieving that endeavor. 

Moving Forward

During the Innovative Educator Panel at the AI in Education Summit, the idea came up that problems in education are inherently a reflection of the current state of society and the world. While moderating, Dr. Mishra added that he was confident that educators, if anyone, would figure it out. I agree with this belief. But, the only way to get there for online and blended learning is to realize that these technologies provide more than just efficiency. We must take time to reflect and ensure that what we are doing with online and blended learning makes sense and is in the best interest of our learners to be successful in the future.