Ritzhaupt covers whether we are ready for a bachelor's degree program in Educational Technology and the methods done to determine if such programs can happen. Upon viewing Table 1, I noticed they mentioned the BS degree program at Western Illinois University when I completed my undergrad program was called Instructional Design and Technology. I feel that if WIU would've offered a media program during my time there that it would've benefited my media background. I truly enjoyed the breakdowns and explanations of what will be happening if this degree program was real.
Those course breakdowns and when you should be enrolling in a particular course really help the students because sometimes the advisors seem clueless. I also, liked the 10-hour internship because I didn't take one and that is one of my biggest regrets. I believe the program should be part online and part on-campus and that will help with the data to determine which will continue. Ask the students and professors for their opinion by offering a survey that is mandatory.
I read before that joining a professional organization benefits you for networking and getting your foot in the door. It is like outreach to better your understanding of the field and to gain new skills. Another regret of mines is never joining AECT, and I've stated this before. The dean of my department always talked about AECT and since I am working on my MSed, I feel like now is the time to make a move and join a professional organization. Also, I do want to get an article published. I need to focus on those tasks while working on my master's degree.
Instructional designers need to possess a versatile skill set in order to create effective learning courses and materials to meet their intended goals. They can work individually or as part of a team. They do the thing others wouldn't think to think about or understand. Most of what we learn is instructional and it is the designer's position to break down those instructional processes to give those in need a full understanding of this vase creative process of being in the ID field.
Ritzhaupt, A. D. & Kang, Y. (2015). Are we ready for bachelor’s degrees in educational technology?: Perceptions from the field and a proposal. Educational Technology, 55(3), 14-22.
Klein, J. D., & Rushby, N. (2018). Getting involved in instructional design and technology: Recommendations for Professional Development. In R. A. Reiser & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed.) (pp. 219-228). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Ritzhaupt, A. D., Martin, F., Pastore, R., & Kang, Y. (2018). Development and validation of the Educational Technologist Competencies Survey (ETCS): Knowledge, skills, and abilities. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30(1), 3-33.
I like your idea of making a potential B.Ed. in instructional technology be offered in a hybrid or blended format. If students are going to be asked to design different types of learning interventions, experience taking courses with different modalities should be useful in its own right. I wonder whether the introduction of a bachelor's program at an institution would also require a shift in curriculum at the graduate level? I have seen this with masters and doctoral degrees, so maybe the same is true here, necessitating a two-track curricular model for those with and without a bachelor's in IST. I ended up buying used copies of a couple of books recommended for their bachelor program, but others are already…