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

How much do apps matter in Instructional Design?

https://www.aura.com/learn/social-media-privacy-risks This week in my graduate course we discussed social media tools - Web 2.0 - that are useful in learning environments. My disclosure is that I typically don't use social media for personal use, and this makes it a bigger jump to think about using it for learning purposes. The irony is that I enrolled in this elective class because I am intrigued about using social media for learning environments. The points I vacillate on are data security and time commitment. With data security I would need to ensure that learners' data, user profiles, etc. are protected. This isn't the same thing if it's higher education and the university is using an LMS. FERPA and a contract protect student data and how it's used. With free social media apps there's more risk to a learner's content. I'm still exploring these tools to determine if there are settings to protects our learner's identities and content. One thing th...

Knowledge Management and your social media network

When you think about your social media networks, is it your go-to for staying in the know (is that term even used any more?). As part of my graduate studies my peers and I are examining these concepts. Specifically, we want to know if your social media network has developed into a level of knowledge where you can find the resources you need. Is it the first place you look when you want to know more about your topic of interest? The first social media networks I followed were health-related. What I liked about them is how dynamic and current they were. Previously I was referring to a few websites, but soon lost interest because the content didn't update very frequently. In addition, if the site moderator didn't keep the conversation moving it wasn't motivating to check in on it because there wasn't new input. My focus now is to find an opportunity in instructional design. This is where knowledge management for this community is important to me. Members in these communi...

Schedule a weekly blog entry

As a graduate student of Instructional Design I'm taking a class in using Web 2.0 social media tools. My first thought was "how am I going to fit one more thing into my weekly to-do list?" I'm juggling graduate school, fulltime work, a side gig (though only about 8-10 hours per week), and wanting to add a fitness routine to my schedule (I haven't been successful -- yet. Tomorrow is another day!). However, the idea of using social media tools in a learning environment is something that motivates me to learn more about. Although I'm taking it slow in adopting all of the tools shared in my graduate class, I am getting used to blogging. It occurred to me tonight as I work on homework: the key is being consistent. When I realized that I only need to commit about 15 minutes per week (minimum) to blogging I recognized that this is something I can manage. This helped me de-stress and see that blogging isn't distracting me from my other tasks but its giving me an...

Dzine2learn

Search This Blog