Instructional Design
Module 3. Instructional Design Practice
Listed here are tools and practices commonly used by instructional designers. These are the kinds of skills that employers seek when hiring designers across a wide range of industries and professions.
ATD Most Valuable Skills
Instructional Design is one of the capabilities defined by the Association for Talent Development (ATD) as essential for developing effective training in the context of workplace learning. Follow these links to explore ATD resources for instructional designers:
- What is instructional design?
- Most valuable skills for instructional designers
Tasks from Instructional Design Australia
Instructional Design Australia is a comprehensive instructional design company offering services for eLearning, graphic design, video production, podcasting, and gamification. Their website provides many examples and case studies of what instructional designers do. Follow these links to explore the following topics at Instructional Design Australia:
ASU Roles of Instructional Designers
Arizona State University has a large instructional design program. Follow the link below to explore the kinds of roles ASU prepares instructional designers to do:
Aims Digital 5 Mistakes to Avoid
Instructional designers can make mistakes. To help you avoid making them, Aims Digital identifies the following five mistakes to avoid:
Unicon’s Philosophy of Instructional Design
Unicon is an instructional design company with more than three decades of experience in designing and developing online learning. Follow this link to learn about the principles guiding their designs:
Top 15 Tools Used by Instructional Designers
Dr. Lisa Evans, Professor and Director of Learning Design and Technology at the University of San Diego, offers the following article about the top 15 tools and how to choose them. Follow the link in the following reference to find out if you are aware of all these tools and see Dr. Evans’ advice about using them:
- Evans, L. (2023). Top 15 Tools Used by Instructional Designers and How to Choose. https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/top-instructional-design-software
Creating SMART Goals
Defining your learning goals is important to do at the beginning of any instructional design project. A popular practice is to think SMART and make your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART). To learn more about creating SMART goals, follow the links in the following bibliographic references:
- Wikipedia contributors. (2023, November 12). SMART criteria. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria
- Ashkar, S. (2023). How to create SMART business goals. Cultivate Advisors. https://cultivateadvisors.com/blog/5-steps-to-writing-smart-business-goals/
- Herrity, J. (2023). How to write SMART goals in 5 steps (with examples). https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-smart-goals
- Think Marketing. (2012). Planning for new objectives? Here is how to create S.M.A.R.T goals. https://thinkmarketingmagazine.com/how-to-create-smart-goals/
OKR Goal Setting Framework
Invented by Intel CEO Andrew Grove back in the 1970s, OKR is a goal setting framework built around Objectives and Key Results. Hence the acronym, OKR. Objectives must be clearly defined goals with key results that are measurable criteria for evaluating achievement of each objective. For more on OKR, follow the links in the following bibliographic references:
- Wikipedia contributors. (2023, September 28). Objectives and Key Results. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectives_and_key_results
- Weekdone. (2023). What is OKR? Everything to Know. https://weekdone.com/resources/articles/objectives-key-results
Assessing the Design
Regardless of what model you use to guide your instructional design project, there are some generalizable questions you should ask in assessing your design. Is the navigation intuitive and visible? Will students know where to click? Does your design respond to differences in device brands and screen sizes? Are there formative measures to keep students engaged? What summative measures evaluate success? How will students know whether they have achieved the learning objectives?
Many instructional design frameworks contain rubrics for assessing quality. Follow the links to study rubrics for the instructional design frameworks listed below:
- Quality Matters K-12 Rubric
- Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric
- Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA) Instructional Design Rubric
- Debattista, Martin. (2018). A comprehensive rubric for instructional design in e-learning. Emerald Insight. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJILT-09-2017-0092/full/html
- New York State Education Department. (2023). NYSED SLMPE Rubric: Instructional Design. https://www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/nysed-slmpe-rubric-instructional-design
- Holton, Doug. (2018). Course design rubrics & checklists. Instructure Community. https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Instructional-Designer/Course-Design-Rubrics-amp-Checklists/ba-p/266995
- UF Center for Instructional Technology & Training. (2023). Creating high quality rubrics. https://citt.ufl.edu/resources/assessing-student-learning/providing-effective-feedback/creating-high-quality-rubrics/
Instructional Design Job Hunting
If you anticipate pursuing a career as an instructional designer, follow the link below to consider the value of creating a Web-based portfolio that you can show potential employers to demonstrate the kind of instructional design skills you have acquired. If you are a University of Delaware student in the EDTC master’s program, consider making your EDTC program’s capstone portfolio serve as an interactive multimedia resource that potential employers can surf to see examples of what you have become able to create.
- Instructional Design Infographics. (2022). How to create a portfolio to land your dream instructional design job. https://elearninginfographics.com/how-to-create-a-portfolio-to-land-your-dream-instructional-design-job/