Systems Theory in a general context is fascinating because it offers opportunities to create order out of chaos. Creating any kind of system involves an incredible amount of creativity and abstract thinking because the various pieces must connect in ways that are logical for the context and the goals the system is trying to achieve.
In the education space, instructional design, instructional technology, and educational technology must all interconnect and relate to whatever the overall educational goals. This elaborate and delicate balance is still a work in progress as there is no definitive model that unequivocally represents best practice. The ADDIE model is a generic thought process that can be useful when brainstorming and collaborating to establish how teaching, learning and tech can work most effectively as a system. Designing any system starts out as a messy process. Designers should include all ideas initially using design thinking processes. It can be thought of as throwing everything on the table and then removing, altering or adding pieces with the needs of the end-user in mind. In the educational space the end-user is the student. An excellent way to find out the goals of a system is to start with the end-user and work from there.
The ISTE Standards-T and ISTE Standards-S for teachers and students (as well as other personnel) offer an international framework that clarifies guidelines of common goals. For example, the student standards emphasize 21st century skills such as: communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and innovation.
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