When I meet new people and they ask me what I do, I tell them I’m an Instructional Designer, and it’s usually met with very confused looks. Very few people I’ve encountered know what Instructional Design is – heck, I didn’t even know what Instructional Design was at one point!
Most Instructional Designers I know still don’t have a concise explanation for what it is that they do. When I was working on military contracts, I used to say “I develop aircraft maintenance training.”…and when people found out that I didn’t have a military or aircraft maintenance background, they were immediately concerned.
Now, my typical jokey response is “I make training suck less.” My realistic response is “I use instructional design principles and theories to develop and deliver effective training.” The jokey response is typically better understood from those outside of the industry.
As I mentioned previously, when I first started my career in Instructional Design, I didn’t know what the heck Instructional Design was, and I spent a long time developing myself, learning, and practicing the theories and principles.
I’ve since determined that I want to spread the gospel of Instructional Design, and I know there are many aspiring Instructional Designers out there, or individuals working as Instructional Designers who are just trying to figure it all out like I was. For the past three years, I’ve been part-time faculty at a local university where I teach Introduction to Instructional Design as part of a Masters of Education program. I also work as a full-time Instructional Designer at a local college where part of my role is to teach faculty members how to teach/facilitate online courses.
Knowing that there is a huge training gap for many Instructional Designers and wanting to offer an economical, but thorough solution, Essentials of Instructional Design was born. Essentials of Instructional Design launches on July 13th, and for only three more days is available at a $150 discount (plus bonuses), and is a comprehensive 10-module course that explores the theoretical underpinnings and principles of the unicorn that is Instructional Design.
My goal with this course is to provide aspiring Instructional Designers or those new to the field with an in-depth exploration of the principles and theories involved in a practice near and dear to my heart. I never aspired to stand in front of students and teach (a la K-12 style), but as soon as I discovered that I could work behind the scenes in the field of education, I was SOLD, and I know there are a lot of people out there in a similar situation.
If you’re interested, check out the Course Outline and Course Brochure, and register for Essentials of Instructional Design!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Will I receive a certificate? Yes. You will receive a certificate of completion from Sprout E-Learning.
- How long will I have access? Indefinitely. If any changes are made, you will be notified, but you will have access to this content indefinitely. You will also be notified if updates are made to course content.
- Do I need to complete the course within a certain period of time? No. This course is 100% asynchronous. You can complete the course and assignments on your own time.
Leave a Reply