New to instructional design? Want a quick-ish overview? This is a forty-minute video covering instructional design models, how people learn, learning theories, and memory, motivation, and feedback!
Download the PowerPoint slide deck.
Instructional design is the best field that no one has ever heard of! Instructional design is all about creating effective learning experiences! It’s defined as the systematic structuring and development of content and experiences to facilitate learning.
What should instructional designers know?
As an instructional designer, it’s helpful to know:
- Science of learning
- Educational technology
- Systematic design processes
- Usability
- Graphic design
- A tiny bit of coding
- Accessibility
- Copyright
You don’t have to be an expert in these things, but knowing a little will help a lot!
The video above covers:
- instructional design models
- how people learn
- learning theories
- memory, motivation, and feedback
These are the basics that you need as a launching point to do good instructional design! It’s important to instruct rather than inform – active learning is key to an effective learning experience!
Instructional Design Job Titles
Job titles in the field include:
- Instructional Designer
- Learning & Development Specialist
- Learning Experience Designer
- User Experience Designer
- Curriculum Designer
- Elearning Designer
- Elearning Developer
- Learning Strategist
- Multimedia Developer
- Learning Architect
- Learning Engineer
- Trainer
You’ll notice words like “strategist,” “architect,” and “engineer.” The titles in this field are evolving to try to be more inclusive of the many different ways that learning happens – in-person, online, etc!
No matter what you like the best about instructional design, there is a niche job out there for you!
Instructional Design Systems/Models
If instructional design is defined as the systematic structuring and development of content and experiences to facilitate learning, what does a system look like? ADDIE is a great place to start. It’s a bit of an old-school instructional design system, but it’s a great way to start approaching a systematic design mindset.
ADDIE stands for:
- Analyze
- Design
- Develop
- Implement
- Evaluate
Real life isn’t as tidy as this system/model appears, but it’s a useful way to see the essential steps in instructional design. It’s important to analyze your learners and what they need to know, and to go in-depth into your design work to save yourself time in the development phases and beyond!