Defining the Field

I am currently working on another master's degree in Educational Technology.  What exactly does this means and what does this entail?  Some people in the field call this same degree Instuctional Technology.  This field of study has been around since the early 1900's.  It has seen lots of change and growth over the last couple of decades.  Once when we thought of this field we thought of teaching using equipment such as overhead projectors or VCRS.  Most of the early definitions of this field of study focused on the "physical"(visual or audiovisual) way that an educator delivered thier instuction to the students.  Beginning in the mid to late 1900's, the way in which the field was viewed begin to change.  People in the field begin to see "instructional technology" as a process and not so much as the way information was delivered.  Lumsdain even stated in 1964 that it should be thought of as the application of science to instructional practices.  The 1990's brought yet another view of "instructional technology".   This change was influenced by cognitive and constructiviest learning theories.   The definition that was developed during this time period by the AECT was that instructional technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning.  In 2006 the AECT changed their definition once again.  Educational technology is the study and ethnical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.  The definition that will be utilized in my current course labels this field as instuctional design and technology and defines it as the analysis of learning and performance problems, and the design development, implementation, evaluation, and management of instructional and noninstructional processess and resources intended to improve learning and performance in a variety of settings. 

What will I choose to call this field and how will I define it?  I choose the current label for the field: Instructional Design and Technology.   I believe that we should focus first on instruction and then research which form of  technology can best enhance the concepts the students need to learn.  I believe that the lesson design should be formost in the minds of educators.  I would state that this field should first look at who is the intended audience.  Once we know who we are instructing then we should analysis what it is they need to learn and what they currently know about the concept.  Then as educators whe are to design and implement profound and engaging lessons that will improve our students knowledge base.  We should evaluation throughout the process to ensure that we are providing the proper instruction. Throughtout the process we are incorporating technology and encouraging our students to do the same.  This is what I think of when I think of my field.