Instructional design is a relatively new and rapidly expanding profession. The majority of instructional designers work in education, but jobs in the corporate world are also available. Most instructional design jobs entail assessing students’ educational needs and developing programs to meet those needs, regardless of industry. Although many instructional design jobs are in the field of online learning, instructional designers also work in the publishing industry, creating print materials.
Online course content is created and structured some instructional designers. They may collaborate on course content with a teacher or other subject-matter expert. The instructional designer then arranges the content in a variety of ways to make learning easier. In order to design lessons that are appropriate for the students who will be taking the courses, the instructional designer usually considers the specific needs of the students who will be taking the courses. Web or graphic design experience is often the most important skill for this type of instructional design job.
The creation of assessments is a focus of other instructional design careers. These jobs necessitate instructional designers analyzing course materials and developing a testing system to assess students’ progress. The instructional designer is in charge of selecting the appropriate assessment tool and structuring it to capture the course’s most important points. Experience in teaching or assessment development is advantageous in this field.
In some industries, instructional design jobs may be more concerned with writing than with design. The instructional designer’s job entails creating original course content that is then reviewed and edited for accuracy and appropriateness subject-matter experts. Other jobs in this field might entail repurposing content for a different medium. Adapting print materials for newly created online courses is the most common example. The most important requirements for these instructional design jobs are solid writing experience and a degree in education.
While many instructional design jobs are found in elementary and secondary schools, they can also be found in the corporate world. Courses for corporate training programs, many of which are online, can be created instructional designers. People who work as instructors in corporate training departments may find it easiest to transition to this type of instructional design job. Some of these positions combine classroom teaching and instructional design into a single role. These positions are typically found in large corporations with in-house training and development departments.
Permanent positions in instructional design are available, but contract positions are also common. In a contract position, the designer works on a specific project for a set period of time, and the job ends when the project is finished. Because the majority of their work is done online, some instructional designers can work from home.