Our experts break down what instructional design is, what instructional designers do and share tips for creating engaging, inclusive educational content that learners will love.
Amita ParikhIn the 1990s, an interesting trend emerged. Personal computers were becoming more accessible, ushering in the era of online learning or e-learning.
Tools like interactive CDs and PDFs accelerated the e-learning movement, and as technology advanced, PowerPoints, educational games, widespread internet access and learning management systems (LMSs) only served to further e-learning capabilities for instructors and learners everywhere.
Now, estimates show that the global e-learning market, which was worth $215 billion in 2021, is slated to grow to $645 billion by 2030.
What does this rapid digital acceleration mean for education today? Online and hybrid learning have the potential to break down educational barriers and democratize learning for good. But before e-learning can deliver on these promises, teachers everywhere must learn how to design effective, engaging learning experiences.
That’s when instructional design comes into play. In this guide, we’ll explore the basics of instructional design so that you can get started with designing impactful course content for your learners.
Before getting into the details of course design best practices, it’s important to know the definition of instructional design. At its simplest, instructional design (ID) is the creation of learning materials and experiences to improve the learning experience and information retention.
Instructional designers study the cognitive processes behind learning acquisition in order to help individuals best absorb and retain material. At its core, instructional design is identifying the most effective materials and methods to help students achieve their learning goals. This differs slightly in scope from curriculum design, another key course creation aspect we’ll examine later on.
For learners, it might not be obvious just how much strategizing and planning goes into the course content they consume. But nonetheless, instructional design can make or break the learning experience for students.
Course content is only as powerful as its delivery method.
As you can probably imagine, asking a student to read a dense chapter of text has a very different result from asking them to participate in an educational game. If your aim is to encourage critical thinking and engagement with sophisticated modes of expression, assigning a text by Foucault might very well make sense. If, however, your goal is to convey main themes in a digestible, relevant way, you might want to consider alternative options. Each method has its own place, and it’s the job of instructional designers to determine the best fit for the learner and learning environment.
The goal of instructional design is to produce high-quality and efficient learning materials that address the objectives of both student and educator. While instructional design used to be handled primarily by educational publishing companies or school curriculum coordinators, that is quickly changing. With the proliferation of e-learning, for instance, course instructors worldwide now have the chance to design course materials themselves, directly influencing learner outcomes.
Because instructional design considers learner needs, its primary goal is to make teaching more engaging, relevant and effective. This is especially important in the e-learning industry, where the digitalization of education boosts retention rates by 25–60%.
So, how does instructional design achieve good outcomes for learners? Instructional designers make it a priority to put learners first. They ask questions like:
Laying out a clear path for learning outcomes is an often-overlooked aspect of the educational process—one that encourages trackable progress and real-world application. Besides clearly planned objectives, program consistency and quality are key factors in the learning process.
Predictable workloads and regular feedback help course designers iteratively transform any educational program for the better. Also, it’s important for course designers to constantly assess and reassess their technological methods of course delivery. They’re constantly asking how they can best capitalize on the resources at hand.
Instructional design is the glue that holds together content and cognitive theories. The use of foundational learning frameworks means an increased emphasis on course materials that work with cognition rather than against it. It’s this addition of learning theories into the course design process that has the potential to forever change the educational landscape.
Instructional designers work in a variety of environments, ranging from private companies to public universities to healthcare organizations.
Together with multimedia designers, curriculum designers, quality assurance teams and other course creation professionals, instructional designers develop a targeted approach to customized learning. That can be a tall order with so many learner styles and types at play. And the student must always be at the forefront of an instructional designer’s mind as they are developing course material.
However, one instructional designer’s tasks can look very different from another’s. One instructional designer might focus on course redesign, adapting raw materials to achieve better learning outcomes. Another might spend the day creating training materials for teachers.
Here’s a list of some typical responsibilities for instructional designers: