Instructional Design

A broad field

Instructional design encompasses a variety of roles and functions. For example, designers work in K-12 education, Higher Education, corporate training, the military, and non-profits. Instructional designers may work independently or as part of a team. Instructional Designers vary in their function, also. They may conduct analysis or Human Performance Technology functions, or, they could design the content for a college course. Some ID'ers are e-learning specialists and use tools such as Articulate 360 to develop digital courses.

If you're considering Instructional Design as a career, or if you're a student of ID, it's important to meet professionals in this field. You can start by talking with professors in the graduate program that you aspire to join or the one you're in already. Graduate schools may have organizations you can join to meet professors and students of the program. You can get to know them and how they chose this profession.

Another option is to talk to IDers through Linked In. Many professionals are willing to shar with you how they discovered this profession. They can give you an idea of their day-to-day responsibilities and an idea of whether they work solo or as part of a team. If you can get to know several IDers working in different industries you'll see how their roles can vary.

What are your goals for being an ID professional? What specialty do you see yourself working in?

Comments

The U.S. Distance Learning Association

The USDLA is the oldest organization for distance learning https://usdla.org/ They conduct research and have weekly podcasts as well as local/state chapters. Are any of you members or planning on becoming a member? Higher Education is one of the specialties I'm considering, so I want to check out this organization. However, this organization is not limited to just Higher Education -- their members include corporations, healthcare, and government. This past week they held their annual conference. They also offer a certification for universities to demonstrate their adherence to the 91 standards of the organization. Maybe this is something you would propose to a future university team to consider. Here's their monthly podcast about the future of distance learning: https://inkandescentradio.com/series/distance-learning-roundtable/

1099 solo representation

If you work solo, you have a lot more control over the types of clients you work for and the types of projects you want to work on. Of course, this depends on the availability of work. If it's not readily available you may need to accept what the market bears. If you already have knowledge of one or more industries, this would be a good place to scout out opportunities. Let's say you used to work for a food cart. You were a cashier and then a cook and got to know a lot about your customers. Based on this you did some marketing as well and introduced new choices for the menu. You could take this idea and produce instructional content for this industry. You'd need to market it to the food cart owners as well as individuals wanting to enter into this opportunity. Social media would be a great asset in this case. Is the idea of striking out on your own to set up shop as an instructional designer something you've ever imagined? What do you think are additional considerati...

Digital Pioneers?

Social Media: who uses it, who is oblivious to it, and who masters it? The generation you are part of may influence the degree to which you use social media. Let's say you're a grandmother of three and you retired from the corporate world 15 years ago. Your grandkids are ages 2, 4, and 8. You live three hours away from them and your daughter keeps you updated through Facebook which you've mastered. Your daughter uses Instagram and Snapchat with her friends to stay updated with each other's kids. My question is: is the grandmother a social networker, a digital native, a digital pioneer, or something else? What about the daughter? The point is that a person's generational status doesn't define a person's social net...

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