What is an instructional designer and what do they do?
Written by Michael Feder
Reviewed by Pamela M. Roggeman, EdD, Dean, College of Education
In the past two decades, technology has substantially impacted the classroom. The more we understand learning, the more we need to redesign and update classroom materials and instruction methods. The professionals who design the instructional materials used in the classroom are known as instructional designers. They create educational content that allows students to learn in new ways based on current research.
Instructional designers are the professionals who are creating the classrooms of the future and shaping the current educational landscape. If you’re interested in pursuing a career to help make a difference, then becoming an instructional designer may be for you.
Instructional design vs. curriculum development
Instructional design and curriculum development are two fields that overlap in many ways. The difference can be summarized as such:
- Curriculum developers decide what is taught.
- Instructional designers decide how something is taught.
Curriculum development professionals decide about the learning objectives in different courses and make sure educational information is up to date. Sometimes curriculum developers create new courses from scratch, and sometimes they are tasked with analyzing and revising an existing curriculum.
In contrast, instructional designers focus on the instructional methods teachers use and the effect on students. They redesign existing learning models, train educators, and evaluate and create new virtual learning tools and resources.
While these two careers focus on different parts of the educational process, taken together they provide students with the latest improvements and innovations based on research.
Duties and responsibilities
Instructional designers shoulder a variety of duties and responsibilities, including:
- Redesigning existing courses to reflect current instructional research
- Designing from scratch the instructional methods and materials of a new course
- Staying up to date on research in the education field
- Training teachers and school administrators in new instructional methods
- Evaluating courses and determining what changes need to be made to provide a better educational experience
- Evaluating new virtual learning environments, tools and materials
These duties may differ depending on where instructional designers are employed and how long they’ve been working in this field. For example, a less experienced instructional designer may work with a team of people, while an experienced designer may work alone or be responsible for training educators and speaking publicly about instructional design.
Skills
Instructional designers need a variety of skills to be successful, including:
- Critical thinking: Often, instructional designers work to redesign existing courses. This requires the designer to evaluate the course, make a plan for its redesign and implement the plan.
- Communication: One of an instructional designer’s responsibilities is communicating changes and ideas to school leadership. Strong communication skills can help designers effectively work with and train teachers and administrators in new instructional methods.
- Research: Everything an instructional designer does is based on current research in fields such as education, child development and psychology. Staying up to date helps ensure the instructional designer’s work will benefit students in the long run.
- Leadership: Instructional designers sometimes work to train teachers on new instructional methods. Having confidence, public speaking skills and leadership qualities can make a designer an effective training workshop leader.
- Creativity: Instructional design is built on creativity. While designers often work with existing materials, they have to use creative thinking skills to incorporate new ideas and practices into an existing course structure.
By developing and using these skills, instructional designers can help schools and teachers provide better educational experiences and opportunities for students. Earning a master’s degree can help aspiring designers develop and refine these skills.
Education
To be hired as an instructional designer, an applicant will typically hold a master’s degree in a related field. For example, a Master of Arts in Education/Curriculum and Instruction would prepare someone for a career as an instructional designer.
While a master’s degree may not be required for every position, earning a degree in the education field can be useful if you’re interested in becoming an instructional designer.
Unlike other careers in education, instructional designers do not always need to hold a specific, standardized certification. For example, those working in the military, business or higher education aren’t required to hold a certification or license.
On the other hand, instructional designers working in a K-12 public school system may be required to hold a valid teaching license. This requirement varies according to local and state requirements.
If you’re required to hold a teaching license to work as an instructional designer in your state, you will need to have a bachelor’s degree in education, student teaching experience, a passing grade on the Praxis® exam and a successful background check.
Experience
Instructional designers can work and gain experience in a variety of professional settings. They can be hired by specific schools or school districts to provide training, evaluation and change management.
They can also be hired by large corporations to handle the instructional design of staff training programs and professional development programs. Military or military-adjacent organizations can also hire instructional designers to design educational and instructional materials.
Once instructional designers have sufficient experience, often by working on a team, they can choose to work alone and be contracted by different organizations to provide instructional design services.
Salary
As of May 2023, instructional coordinators earned between $46,540 and $109,500, with a median wage of $74,620, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This wide range of income can be explained by the variety of industries open to this role. While this career is connected to the work of other educational professionals, such as teachers, instructional designers work full time (including summer months), which may also impact annual salary.
Salary ranges are not specific to students or graduates of University of Phoenix. Actual outcomes vary based on multiple factors, including prior work experience, geographic location and other factors specific to the individual. University of Phoenix does not guarantee employment, salary level or career advancement. BLS data is geographically based. Information for a specific state/city can be researched on the BLS website.
Outlook
The job outlook for instructional coordinators has projected growth of 2% from 2022 and 2032, according to BLS. That matches the average growth rate for all occupations. During the next decade, 19,200 open positions are projected for instructional designers each year.
BLS Occupational Employment Projections, 2022-2032 is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This data reflects BLS’ projections of national (not local) conditions. These data points are not specific to University of Phoenix students or graduates.
Resources for aspiring instructional designers
If you’re interested in becoming an instructional designer, there are many ways to learn more about this profession, including:
- Career resource centers: The professionals at career resource centers are trained to help you make a career plan and write a resumé.
- College admissions staff: If you want to pursue a master’s degree, college admissions staff can help you apply and also provide additional information about the career opportunities that education degrees can offer.
- Online research: Websites can provide details on instructional design careers.
- Internships with instructional design companies: Working with an instructional design team as an intern can give you a behind-the-scenes look at the daily routine of people working in this field.
- Conversations with mentors: If you’re already pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education, then your professors may be able to provide more information about instructional design and give advice for entering into this field.
Instructional designers work across several industries to help people learn in new and more effective ways every day. By choosing this career, you are choosing to be at the forefront of the education field.
Curriculum and instruction at University of Phoenix
If you already have a bachelor’s degree and want to learn more about curriculum and instruction, consider an online program at University of Phoenix.
- Master of Arts in Education/Curriculum and Instruction: Through this degree program, you will be taught specific skills such as how to develop curriculum assessment skills, use curricular research to adopt best practices in classrooms, integrate technology into teaching lessons, adopt coaching strategies to positively affect learning outcomes, and understand ethical, social and political issues in education.
- Post-Master’s Certificate in Curriculum and Instruction: The Post-Master’s Certificate in Curriculum and Instruction (CERT/D-CI) equips you with skills to lead the creation of educational coursework, instructional techniques and student assessments. Credits earned for the CERT/D-CI are transferrable toward the University’s Doctor of Education with a focus in Curriculum and Instruction. This certificate does not lead to teacher licensure.
- Doctor of Education: This program prepares you to use analytical, critical and innovative thinking to improve performance and solve complex problems in education. This program does not lead to any educational licensure or certification.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and its Writing Seminars program and winner of the Stephen A. Dixon Literary Prize, Michael Feder brings an eye for detail and a passion for research to every article he writes. His academic and professional background includes experience in marketing, content development, script writing and SEO. Today, he works as a multimedia specialist at University of Phoenix where he covers a variety of topics ranging from healthcare to IT.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
As dean of the University of Phoenix College of Education, Pamela Roggeman has spent over a decade in higher education teacher preparation in both the public and private sector. Her experience has included national partnerships that help to advance thought leadership in the field of education. Dr. Roggeman also serves as the President of the Arizona Educational Foundation’s Board of Directors.
This article has been vetted by University of Phoenix's editorial advisory committee.
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