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Workshop Scenario:
Please think of yourself in the following scenario as you complete this workshop.
You are a recent college graduate who has always wanted to be a teacher, but after completing your degree, you decided not to pursue a career in education. With the nationwide teacher shortage and a large amount of data surrounding teacher burnout and low pay, you just don't feel it would be a smart career move to enter the classroom at this moment.
However, you are still interested in learning about how to design and create effective learning experiences, as you see the value of education in various fields and contexts. You come across the field of Instructional Design, which requires similar skills to your degree, but the pay scale and market growth are much more appealing.
You discover a free introductory workshop on Instructional Design through 24/7 Teach and decide to check it out to see if the field is a good fit for you.
In your first lesson, you’ll learn what Instructional Design is and the role of an Instructional Designer. Please take notes as you make your way through this workshop since you will be applying your new knowledge in a final project.
Your objective for today is to understand what Instructional design is. This includes the role of Instructional Design, typical job responsibilities of an Instructional Designer, and some similar job fields.
Important Questions to Answer While Reading:
In order to be successful in this lesson, you must be able to answer these important questions.
What is Instructional Design, and how is it different from Educational Technology, Instructional Technology, and Learner Experience Design?
What is the main role of an Instructional Designer?
Pre-Assessment
Please complete a short survey on your experience with Instructional design.
Lesson 1: What is Instructional Design?
1.1 Instructional Design
Instructional Design, also known as instructional systems design, is the analysis of learning needs and systematic development of instruction.
Instructional Design is also the systematic development of instructional specifications using learning and instructional theory to ensure the quality of instruction. It is the entire process of analyzing learning needs, goals and developing a delivery system to meet those needs. It includes the development of instructional materials and activities; and evaluation of all instruction and learner activities.
1.2 What is an Instructional Designer?
An instructional Designer is an individual who develops the methodology and delivery systems for presenting course content.
Instructional designers create and deliver learning products for businesses, K-12, higher education, and Government organizations.
Essentially, Instructional Designers are the 'architects' of the learning experience and the 'directors' of the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) process. Instructional designers are in high demand worldwide (particularly in North America, Asia, and Europe), as organizations are turning towards instructional designers to solve business performance problems through the delivery of effective learning experiences.
1.3 The Role of an Instructional Designer
You may not have been familiar with the concept of instructional design, but if you need to convey information, guaranteeing a high retention rate by your audience, then this is very important technical knowledge that should not be put aside.
As a review, Instructional Design is the process by which learning resources and experiences are developed, created, and delivered. Also known as instructional systems design (ISD), this discipline follows a multi-step approach that aims to effectively design successful curricula.
Instructional design is the practical application of teaching and learning through a systematic educational program.
Some sources describe instructional designers as the 'architects' of the learning experience and the 'directors' of the instructional systems design process.
It is common to use the terms instructional design, instructional technology, learning experience design, and instructional systems design interchangeably. We will discuss below how these are actually slightly different.
Even though instructional design is historically and traditionally rooted in cognitive and behavioral psychology — and goes back to the 1950s — constructivism and systems engineering have more recently influenced developments in this field. The most current branch of instructional design focuses on technology, the internet, and human-computer interaction in state-of-the-art methods of designing and delivering education.
There are many instructional design models, and most follow a five-stage system of assessing needs, designing a process, developing materials, rolling them out, and then evaluating their effectiveness. This is called the ADDIE procedure, as an acronym for its different phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.
It is also important to understand that learning resources include online courses, instruction manuals, videos, simulations, and any other format in which education takes place.
1.4 Typical Job Responsibilities of an Instructional Designer
Job responsibilities might include working with faculty members to create and revise/recreate courses, consulting with leading companies to develop employee training materials, leading training programs, and teaching in an ID program.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some key responsibilities of instructional designers are:
Develop and coordinate the implementation of curricula
Assess student needs and discuss the implementation of appropriate pedagogical strategies with teachers or clients
Review and recommend textbooks, guides, and other educational materials
Recommend teaching techniques and the use of various technologies
Plan, organize, and conduct client or employee trainings
Analyze student data and test scores to assess learning
Train teachers and other instructional staff in new content or programs
Mentor or coach teachers to improve their skills
Learning Checkpoint
Does the role of an Instructional Designer remind you of any other professions? Explain.
1.5 What are Educational Technology and Instructional Technology?
There are many similar fields that are often used interchangeably when talking about instructional design. However, they are quite different and it’s important you know the differences.
Educational technology, sometimes termed EdTech, is the study and ethical practice of facilitating e-learning, which is the learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.
The term educational technology is often associated with and encompasses instructional theory and learning theory. Educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability. Still, it is not limited to software, hardware, Internet applications, such as wikis and blogs, and activities.
Instructional technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning, according to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). Essentially, it is simply the use of technology for education.
1.6 What is Learning Experience (LX)?
“Learning experience design (LX design) is the process of creating learning experiences that enable the learner to achieve the desired learning outcome in a human-centered and goal-oriented way.”
LXD position is not only likened to Instructional Designer in constructing lessons, but it also entails expertise similar to a SME and research and analysis similar to a Data Analyst.
Learning experience (LX) design is rooted in a combination of several design disciplines in the field of learning. Key design principles used in LXD come from interaction design, user experience design, experience design, graphic design, and game design. These design principles are combined with elements of education, training and development, instructional design, cognitive psychology, experiential learning, educational sciences, and neuroscience.
Learning Experience (LX) design is about learning and not so much about teaching, instruction, or training.
Sometimes LX design is confused with instructional design. On the surface, there are similarities, but when you look closer, they are fundamentally different regards to their origin, perspective, methods, skills, and tools.
Closing Assessment:
Select the Assessment button below to answer the following questions:
What is Instructional Design, and how is it different from Educational Technology, Instructional Technology, and Learning Experience Design?
What is the main role of an Instructional Designer?
Discussion Question:
1. Please answer the following questions in the comment section below and interact with learners from around the world.
Analyze your decision to explore Instructional Design. Now that you’ve learned a bit about it, do you feel it is a good fit for you? Explain why.
Evaluate the effectiveness of modern technology in Instructional Design. How much do you think it makes a difference when designing engaging learning experiences?
2. Please read and reply to other learners’ answers in the forum by stating if you agree or disagree with their answers and why. Your replies should offer new substantiated ideas or thoughtful questions.