What is Instructional Design?
Instructional design (ID) is using a systematic iterative process to design learning experiences and solutions to increase knowledge and skill for a set of individuals on a specific topic.
Typical tasks involved with instructional design include:
- Conducting a needs analysis
- designing content
- recommending learning solutions to meet a specific need
- developing eLearning courses and/or course materials
- evaluating learning outcomes.
The terms used interchangeably to describe instructional design include instructional technology, learning experience (LX) design, curriculum design and instructional systems design.
Ideally, the goal is to improve productivity and value by designing learning experiences to help employees do their job better.
What do Instructional Designers Do?
Arizona State University created an infographic to describe the many roles that they play at instructional designers for their university. Although different instructional designers may perform different roles in their organization, this infographic gives a nice overview of the responsibilities that instructional designers may hold in their organization.
Instruction Design Evolution
Instructional design is evolving for 21st-century learners. While we now describe instructional designers as designing course content and eLearning modules, the output of future designers may be more focused on creating scalable and sustainable learning and performance support frameworks. It will be less about getting learners in a classroom sitting in chairs, but more about creating learning communities of practice and curating learning resources.
Additional Articles about Instructional Design
- The Future of Instructional design-experience design- The Training Industry
- Emotional Future-Instructional Design- Training Magazine