Trends and Issues in Various Settings

Part A. Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry; military; health care education; P-12 education; and post-secondary education. Select at least 3 of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues. Then explain how they are similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work.

There is an abundance of trends and issues in various context around the world we live in. The business industry has seen a huge amount of growth in the IDT industry. In corporate you IDT can either be the sole job of one individual or you can be part of an extensive team whose job is to move the company further into the 21st century. There are several constraints that often hinder people who are working in IDT. Cross Cultural Training is often an issue because the US is a melting pot of different cultural backgrounds so one must be knowledgeable about a vast amount of different cultures. We see this when looking into how certain cultures learn, how they solve problems, and take into consideration their values as to make sure they are not insensitive to one culture. The corporate sector also constantly has to grow and change with the times. They have to rapidly create prototypes for analysis and evaluation. Technology based training is also huge in the corporate industry. Web based trainings give the business the opportunity to deliver training and research to the masses quickly and effectively.  Our US military also uses IDT when educating and training troops.  There are several issues and trends that have been researched.  The designer plays a very important role in making sure information can reach our military and that it will allow them to fulfill their mission.  The military is forever changing so the designer must be able to effectively understand the transitions the military will make in the future and they must be willing to see them through each transition.  This means that they will constantly be working to provide the design needed to support instruction. Some of the issues in the military sector mimic what we have seen in the corporate sector.  The main similarity is funding.  The government is constantly battling when it comes to spending with the US military and because of this fact, designers will need to try to maximize the budget they are given without watering down the instructional design.  They must be able to explain the cost and reasoning of cost and they must be able to offer alternatives that can effectively get the job done as well.  Training in the military is always constant but the environment varies.  Training can take place in a classroom or a hostile environment.  Trainings take up a lot of day to day functions because it is integrated into the work day.  Designers must make sure that training can be adapted to the environment.  IDT in healthcare education is very broad and has a lot of components.  Designers must be willing to design instruction meant for the delivery of health services and aides in biomedical research.  Designers must be innovation and very informative about their audience.  This sector is also forever growing and moving to the future.  One factor that has shown itself in this sector as well is cost.  The cost of health professions education is very high but thats the cost that we pay to make sure our doctors and others in the medical field are receiving the education necessary to provide proper care to the masses.  Designers can try to decrease the cost of instructional designs but they must do this in a way that doesn't hinder the education and training of medical professionals.  Regulations and standards also play a role in affecting education and training.  The standards and regulations in health care education and training mostly dictates what students must learn. Since they have to be taught, there is not much wiggle room to design instruction subjectively.  

Part B. Chapters in Section VI discuss global trends and issues in IDT. As the world’s population grows exponentially, we face unprecedented challenges that have implications for learning. How and can we prepare our youth to address the problems of living in a world with 9 billion people when the earth’s resources cannot sustain that many? Does our current education system, curriculum, and instructional practices help learners foster the complex problem-solving skills necessary to tackle these issues? Are there methods and practices used in European and Asian countries that we should use here in the US? Why or why not?

We must prepare our youth to address the problems of living in a world with 9 billion people by training them to think outside the box.  We must teach them not to just follow the latest trends but to truly be creative.  When I think about the 21st century learner, I think about making sure that our students can problem solve and be able to know that all problems don't just have one solution.  They can have multiple solutions. We also have to teach them how to work with others.  Complex problems will need to be broken down and examined deeply to understand the best way to solve them.  This might include working with a team just as they might do in the corporate sector.  We must also teach our students how to listen carefully. This means listening without the intent to reply but the intent to fully understand what is being asked of you.  Our current education system is lacking some of these key factors. Although we are moving in the right direction I think that as educators in the classroom we must provide these types of opportunities for our students.  Although many of us are doing this, unfortunately some students are not being exposed to this at all because a host of reasons.  There are some methods and practices that we could use from other countries.  If the methods are showing signs of success it wouldn't harm us to try some of them.  We would have to examine the way they employ these methods but one thing that I have constantly seen is a use of IDT in the schools.  They are exposing their students to the concept at an earlier age and this creates a life long learning pattern for their students.