An Exploration of the Literature of Instructional Technology through Citation Analysis Prospectus for dissertation research

The field of Instructional Technology/Educational Technology (IT) is at a crossroads with respect to how to define itself. An AECT panel (the Definitions and Terminology committee, chaired Al Januszewski) was formed in 2002 to replace the current definition, dating from 1994. Robert Reiser’s (1997) excellent history of formal definitions in the field shows a wide range of ideas about “what we are, ” with various definitions including or excluding explicit references to specific media, systematic processes, and management as part of the core of the field. Purpose and Relevance of this Study I propose that a first step in formulating a framework for discussing the parameters of the IT field is to identify “camps ” within the IT community through an examination of the literature on which our research is based. By identifying the current (and evolving) state of these “invisible colleges ” (Crane, 1972), it becomes possible to both provide names for and (perhaps) show common ground between groups working from different — or even rival — theoretical and methodological bases. This research is being driven by an overall desire to identify the most influential ideas and sources in IT, their relationships to each other, and if/how this landscape has changed in th