Instructional Design Trends

Rebecca Ralph
CUR/516
Instructor: Charity Jennings
December 16, 2014

Over the years education has adopted many different trends to better educate many
students all over the world. Technology is one of the key trends that education has adopted
recently. One of the growing trends that education has adopted is online education. Online
education is a growing trend among many students across the world. Along with online
schooling is mobile education. Mobile education is another trend that has gain the popularity of
many students abroad. In this paper I will discuss the various instructional settings and
modalities that I would expect to see in 10 years, my prediction of what I think academic and
professional learning will look like in 10 years, I will identify what and who influences the
content of courses, and my explanation on how these changes affect instructional design.
As I was researching this topic, I came across a number of different trends that instruction
has adopted. The most popular one is online and mobile education. Computer-related course
instruction has made a tremendous impact on the provision of instruction and student learning at
colleges and universities (Beard 29). In fact, thousands and thousands of students are earning
their degrees from online instruction. This is such a growing trend in instructional design
because it makes it convenient for students who hold down full time jobs and cannot find the
time to go into a physical classroom. Moreover, Internet-based instruction at a distance
translates to the fact that students spend less time in the college classroom and are able to
complete course work at their convenience in the privacy of their own homes (Beard 29). With
the growing of technology in todays world, I expect to see this instructional design of online
instruction will continue to grow in the next 10 years.
However, there are some disadvantages to this trend. The disadvantages that arise with
this trend are that many students are accustomed to a one-on-one instruction meaning that they

prefer to be in a classroom setting. I actually can relate to this disadvantage. Before attending
the University of Phoenix online classroom, I never thought I could be able to do well with the
online education. I thought it would be very hard considering I do not actually see the professor.
I was also taking into consideration if my instructor would get back to me in time if I had a
question about an assignment. However, so far it has been convenient for me. I can attend
classes whenever and wherever I want. For example, I currently work as a caregiver. When I
have the opportunity to do some homework I take advantage of that. The only way I can be able
to do homework is when my clients are occupied with something else. Knowing that I can do
homework whenever and wherever is an advantage for me especially when I am working.
The second trend I expect to see growing in the next 10 years is mobile instruction
design. This is actually is very convenient for students today. Many students today own a smart
phone. All the student has to do is go into the app store and download the app from their school
(Martin 48). University of Phoenix has this app. If a student does not have access to a computer,
but has a smart phone then he/she can access course discussions from the app. I know this is
very convenient because I too have the UOP app on my phone. When I need to put in my
participation for class, I just log onto my app and type from my phone. I expect this instructional
design to grow within the next 10 years.
My prediction on what academic and professional learning will look like in the next 10
years is many students will be attending online courses and the physical classrooms will become
smaller and smaller. The majority of the student body across the world, I believe, will be
graduating from and online university than from a physical university. As technology continues
to grow, many students will find it easier and convenient for them to attend classes and obtain

their degree while continue to live a busy lifestyle. This prediction will happen in the next 10
years.
Who and what will influence the content of these courses will be the student, instructor
and the university that provides online courses along with mobile apps. Before having online
courses, the university must have enough students to be in an agreement to take online courses
that the university will offer. Once there are enough students, the university must then find
instructors that are willing to instruct the online courses offer. Before an online course can
become influential there must be enough participants for the courses to become successful.
As technology continues to grow, instructional design will grow. The instructional
designs I have chosen for this paper are online courses and mobile instruction. These two
instructional designs are a continuous trend and are expected to emerge even more within the
next 10 years. Many, many students across the world have chosen to attend classes online
because they found it convenient for them to continue to carry on a busy lifestyle and managed
to obtain their degree. The influences that will emerge from online and mobile instruction are
the students, instructors, and the university itself. Without them, online and mobile instruction
will have no hope of the future. I expect this trend to continue within the next 10 years.

References
Beard, Lawrence A., Cynthia Harper and Gena Riley. Online Versus On-Campus Instruction:
Student Attitudes and Perceptions, Tech Trends, Volume 48.6.
Martin, Florence, Raymond Pastore, and Jean Snider. Developing Mobile Based Instruction,
Tech Trends, September/October 2012, Volume 56.5.