Chapter 6: Using Educational Psychology Theory to Optimize Instructional Technology Choices in Online, Distance, and Non-Traditional Teaching Contexts

To accommodate the growing interest and demand for virtual instruction over the past couple of decades (Yeh et al., 2019), postsecondary institutions have steadily increased their offerings of fully online, hybrid, or web-supported courses (Keengwe & Kidd, 2010). This need was amplified by the recent COVID-19 pandemic when many primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions across the United States were forced to rely on fully virtual instruction at unprecedented rates (Dhawan, 2020). As a result, the demand for instructional technologies that are not only accessible and intuitive for instructors and students to use, but also aligned to research-based instructional methods have spiked in recent years. Given the quick conversion from face-to-face physical instruction to virtual instruction at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators were left scrambling to learn new instructional technologies with little infrastructure, training, or support from their organizations (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020; Dhawan, 2020). Similarly, learners were forced to acclimate to new instructional approaches and technologies intended to deliver and enhance instruction (e.g., Zoom, Google classroom). With many schools around the country returning to in-person or hybrid formats, which involves a blend of physical and virtual components (Sener, 2015), the reliance on instructional technology and interest in improving its selection has remained. As a result, educators have questioned how to identify various tools and technologies that can optimize the student learning experience, rather than act as a barrier to learning (Polly et al., 2021). With this in mind, we prepared this chapter with an emphasis on supporting educators who teach educational psychology courses to adult learners in teacher preparation programs.