How to become an Instructional Designer

Summary

The video introduces instructional design as a field open to individuals from diverse educational backgrounds. It highlights the skills needed to pursue a career in this area, including proficiency in English writing, comprehension, and familiarity with authoring tools and learning management systems (LMS). The video outlines two career paths in instructional design: becoming a content expert or managing projects and teams. It emphasizes the importance of certification, practical experience, and mentorship, while recommending building a portfolio to enhance job prospects. Commonly used instructional design theories like ADDIE and Bloom's taxonomy are also discussed.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Instructional design is a versatile profession where your educational background doesn't necessarily determine your suitability.
• 📜 You can pursue a career in instructional design from any field by learning the fundamentals and earning a certification.
• ✍️ Essential skills for instructional design include strong English writing and excellent comprehension abilities.
• 🏦 Instructional designers can work in various industries, including banking, IT, hospitality, healthcare, and academic publishing.
• 🚀 The demand for instructional designers, particularly in India, is growing rapidly due to the rise of online and self-driven learning.
• 🖥️ Instructional designers don't need to know programming but should be proficient with computers and tools like authoring software and Learning Management Systems (LMS).
• 📈 Career growth in instructional design can follow two paths: specializing in the field or progressing hierarchically by managing projects and teams.
• 📚 To succeed, instructional designers must have a deep understanding of learning science and stay updated on technological advances.
• 🛠️ Practical experience, such as creating storyboards and sample work, is critical in certification programs for instructional design.
• 🏆 Building a portfolio with storyboards in Word and PowerPoint formats is essential for securing instructional design jobs.

Q & A

What is the main point of the video?

The video explains that instructional design (ID) is a versatile field that does not require specific educational qualifications, and anyone with strong English writing and comprehension skills can pursue a career in it.

What are the two main skills required to become an instructional designer?

The two main skills required are strong English writing skills and excellent comprehension skills.

Is a specific educational background necessary for a career in instructional design?

No, instructional designers can come from diverse educational backgrounds, and specific qualifications are not a requirement for getting a job in this field.

What industries hire instructional designers?

Industries such as banking and finance, IT, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, academic publishing, consulting firms, and companies focused on learning material design hire instructional designers.

What is an authoring tool, and why is it important for instructional designers?

An authoring tool is software similar to PowerPoint but with more features, used for creating learning materials. It is important because instructional designers use it to create digital content.

Do instructional designers need programming skills?

No, instructional designers do not need programming skills, but they need to be proficient in using computers and specific software, such as authoring tools and Learning Management Systems (LMS).

What is a Learning Management System (LMS), and why is it important?

An LMS is software that hosts online courses, tracks learner progress, and stores course completion data. It is important because it helps instructional designers manage and deliver their courses efficiently.

What are the two career paths an instructional designer can take?

An instructional designer can pursue a vertical path, focusing on expertise in the field, or a horizontal path, focusing on team leadership and project management.

What should you look for in an instructional design certification program?

An instructional design certification program should balance theory and practical application, provide structured practice under expert mentorship, and cover commonly used theories such as ADDIE, Gagne's Events of Instruction, and Bloom's Taxonomy.

What should an instructional designer's portfolio include when applying for jobs?

An instructional designer's portfolio should include sample storyboards in both Word document and PPT format to demonstrate their practical skills.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Diverse Backgrounds in Instructional Design

This paragraph introduces a group of instructional designers with various educational backgrounds, demonstrating that a degree in a specific field isn't necessary to pursue a career in instructional design. The field is open to people from any educational background, provided they have strong English writing and comprehension skills. The video encourages viewers to consider a career in instructional design by learning the fundamentals, obtaining a certification, and applying their skills across industries like banking, IT, hospitality, and healthcare.

05:07

💼 Job Opportunities and Industry Demand for Instructional Designers

Instructional designers are in high demand, especially in India, as online and self-paced learning continue to grow. The narrator dispels the myth that technical skills, like programming, are required for the role. Instead, familiarity with authoring tools and learning management systems (LMS) is essential. Authoring tools, which are similar to PowerPoint but more feature-rich, can be learned through formal training or hands-on practice. Additionally, an LMS serves as a platform to track learners' progress and manage courses.

📈 Career Paths in Instructional Design

Instructional designers can pursue two career paths: vertical, where they develop expertise and eventually lead instructional design efforts, or horizontal, where they manage projects and teams. Vertical growth involves becoming an expert in learning science and contributing to the instructional design community, while horizontal growth may require acquiring project management skills. Both paths offer opportunities for career advancement, but each requires different skill sets and focuses.

📜 Choosing the Right Certification in Instructional Design

This paragraph provides tips for selecting a certification program in instructional design. The program should offer a balance of theory and practical application, allowing students to create sample work such as storyboards. Employers value candidates who can start contributing immediately, so it’s essential to choose a program that includes tasks like content organization and writing learning outcomes. Additionally, acquiring instructional design skills through mentorship and practice is emphasized. Theories such as ADDIE, Gagné’s events of instruction, and Bloom's taxonomy should be part of the curriculum.

🛠 Building Your Portfolio and Next Steps

After completing a basic certification program, aspiring instructional designers can either continue their education or start building a portfolio to apply for jobs. A portfolio should include sample storyboards in both Word and PowerPoint formats, demonstrating the candidate's abilities. Mentors can help with creating these materials. The paragraph closes by encouraging learners to check out the certification program for storyboarding and inviting viewers to leave feedback.

Keywords

💡Instructional Design

Instructional design is a systematic process of creating educational programs, learning experiences, and training materials that effectively convey information to learners. In the video, it is emphasized as a field that does not require a specific educational background, making it accessible to individuals from diverse academic areas. The main goal is to develop content that helps learners achieve their educational objectives using theories and practical application.

💡Authoring Tool

An authoring tool is software used to create e-learning content. It is compared to PowerPoint but with more features for developing interactive and multimedia-rich learning modules. The video suggests that learning to use an authoring tool is essential for instructional designers, as it enables them to build content without needing extensive programming knowledge. Examples of authoring tools include Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate.

💡Learning Management System (LMS)

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software platform that manages, delivers, and tracks online educational courses and training programs. It functions as a central repository for storing learner data, tracking their progress, and managing content. The video mentions that understanding how to use an LMS is crucial for instructional designers since it serves as the backbone for hosting and organizing e-learning courses.

💡Storyboarding

Storyboarding in instructional design involves creating a visual representation or blueprint of a course's structure. It details the sequence of content, interactions, and multimedia elements to be used. The video highlights that storyboards are a basic yet essential deliverable for instructional designers, serving as a sample output in a professional portfolio. This process helps communicate the instructional flow and design decisions before content development begins.

💡Certification Program

Certification programs in instructional design provide formal training and validation of knowledge in the field. The video suggests obtaining a certification as a starting point for aspiring instructional designers. These programs often cover theoretical foundations, practical applications, and the use of industry-standard tools, helping individuals build a strong portfolio to enhance employability in the job market.

💡Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy is a framework for categorizing educational goals into levels of complexity and specificity, ranging from basic knowledge to higher-order skills such as analysis and evaluation. In the video, Bloom's Taxonomy is mentioned as one of the fundamental theories used in instructional design, providing a structured way to develop learning objectives and assess learning outcomes.

💡Self-driven Learning

Self-driven learning refers to educational experiences where learners control their own pace, choosing when and how to engage with the material. The video highlights the growing popularity of this approach in online education, which has led to an increased demand for instructional designers who can create content that caters to various learning styles and promotes independent study.

💡Content Writer

A content writer in instructional design creates and organizes educational content based on learning objectives and theories. In the video, it is described as an entry-level role for instructional designers, where individuals focus on transforming complex information into learner-friendly material. This role involves writing scripts, designing storyboards, and ensuring content aligns with instructional strategies.

💡Learning Science

Learning science is the study of how people learn, incorporating principles from psychology, cognitive science, and education to optimize instructional methods. The video emphasizes the importance of mastering learning science to develop expertise in instructional design. Understanding how learners process information helps instructional designers create more effective and engaging content.

💡Vertical and Horizontal Career Paths

In instructional design, the vertical career path focuses on deepening expertise within the field, starting from content writer to functional head, while the horizontal path involves moving into project management and leadership roles. The video discusses these two career growth options, suggesting that instructional designers can choose to either become subject-matter experts or transition into managerial positions based on their interests and skills.

Highlights

Instructional design welcomes people from diverse educational backgrounds, such as engineering, mass communication, social sciences, and English.

To become an instructional designer, you need strong English writing and comprehension skills.

A certification in instructional design, along with understanding its fundamentals, is essential to enter the field.

Instructional designers can work across various industries, including banking, IT, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and more.

The demand for instructional designers is increasing, especially with the rise of online and self-driven learning.

There's a common misconception that software programming knowledge is required to become an instructional designer, but this is not true.

Knowledge of authoring tools (like PowerPoint, but with more features) and Learning Management Systems (LMS) is important for instructional designers.

Authoring tools can be self-learned or learned through formal training programs.

Instructional designers can pursue two paths: vertical (developing expertise) or horizontal (managing teams and projects).

In the vertical path, you can grow from a content writer or associate to a functional head and even an influencer in the field.

To grow in the horizontal path, acquiring project management certification is necessary.

When choosing an instructional design certification program, ensure it offers a balance of theory and hands-on practice.

Look for certifications that cover tasks like content organization, learning outcome writing, storyboarding, and visualizing questions.

Mentorship and structured practice are key components of learning instructional design effectively.

Popular instructional design theories such as ADDIE, Gagné's events of instruction, and Bloom's taxonomy should be part of the curriculum.

Transcripts

Namaste and welcome to yet another

episode of the Indian ID brought to you

by ID mentors ragav is a qualified

engineer scha has a degree in mass

communication Tara was a social science

teacher while rames is an English

graduate that's a diverse educational

background but they do have one thing in

common they're all instructional

designers for those of us who are

instructional designers this isn't

surprising at all instructional design

is one of those professions where your

educational qualification doesn't really

determine whether you get the job you

could be from any educational background

but still apply for this role so if

you're watching this video and wondering

if you can pursue a career in

instructional design then the answer is

yes what you need to do is learn the

fundamentals of instructional design get

a certification and start applying two

prerequisite skills you need are one you

must be good with English writing and

two possess excellent comprehension

skills as an instructional designer who

is just starting of you can work in any

of the following Industries companies

across verticals such as Banking and

finance Information Technology

Hospitality manufacturing healthc care

academic publishing consulting firms or

companies that are exclusively focused

on designing learning material coming to

the second part of the question how easy

is it to get a job as an instructional

designer well there's a huge demand for

instructional designers especially in

India and if you demonstrate the right

skills you will easily land a job since

a major chunk of all learning is being

delivered online and self-driven

learning is becoming popular the demand

for IDs is only going to

increase this is a question most people

ask I did too when I started my career

in instructional design and let me tell

you when I landed my first job as an ID

I had never worked on a computer there's

a misconception among many that you need

to know software programming in order to

become an instructional designer well

that's not true you need to be adapt at

using computers and a specific software

known as an authoring tool an authoring

tool is like PowerPoint software except

with a lot more features just like you

may have learned to use the PowerPoint

software by working with it authoring

tools can also be learned in the same

way of course there are programs that

teach you to use authoring tools if you

want to learn it in the formal way I

haven't been formally trained in using

an authoring tool but I can use one

fairly well the second technology that

you must know and understand is the

learning management system or LMS the

LMS software acts as a repository that

cataloges all online structured courses

stores records of Learners and tracks

course completion status our online

courses are hosted on an LMS and when

you take one of these you will get to

experience how the LMS functions many

lmss come with an inbuilt authoring tool

too you can pursue two parts as an

instructional designer the vertical or

the horizontal this is illustr rated in

the image displayed here if you plan to

develop expertise in the instructional

design field then you will start as a

Content writer or associate then move on

to becoming an analyst then a specialist

and finally the functional head who will

recruit train and Mentor instructional

designers if you pursue this path over

time with experience and expertise in

the field you can also become an

influencer to grow this way in your

career you must have a thorough

understanding of learning science and

keep a breast of technological

developments and their impact on

learning you will also need to

contribute to the instructional design

Community by writing articles white

papers and books this is the path I

pursued on the other hand if you plan to

progress hierarchically then you can

choose to lead teams and manage projects

to grow and evolve in this path you will

at some point in time need to acquire

project management

certification when you pick a

certification program in ID ensure the

following one the program is a fine

balance of theory and application

employers look for candidates who can

hit the ground running so the training

program must give you an opportunity to

create a sample work output the most

basic one is what is known as a story

board remember that knowing a lot of

theory will not help you get a job study

the curriculum carefully to see if the

following tasks are covered organizing

content writing learning outcomes

storyboarding visualizing and developing

questions two instructional design

skills are best acquired through

structured practice under the mentorship

of an expert check whether the program

that you sign up for for has this as

part of the training

process three instructional design is a

vast field and there are more than 100

theories and theorists obviously it's

not possible to learn all these at the

beginning of your career however there

are some theories that are common and

popularly used such as Addy gania events

of instruction and Bloom's taxonomy

check if these topics are

covered after you have completed the

basic certification program you may

enroll for the next level or if you plan

to work right away build a portfolio and

apply for jobs at this stage your

portfolio should include a few sample

story boards in both the word document

format and the PPT format take support

and help from your mentor to create the

portfolio if you're interested in

learning storyboarding skills you can

check out our basic ID certification PR

program hope you found the video

informative do share your comments below

goodbye and have a nice day