What in the World is an Instructional Designer?

We go by lots of names and titles. We could be designers, content developers, educational coordinators, curriculum developers, or a thousand other titles. In reality, the title does not carry much meaning as it all leads to the same end...we create instruction. Instructional Designers (IDs) have to be fluent in material creation, which basically means, we have to be able to use a lot of different tools, equipment, and software to create multi-mode (just a fancy word for various kinds) of learning materials. IDs may be a videographer one day and a graphic designer the next. It is our flexibility which makes us good (or if there is a lack of flexibility, bad) at our jobs.

To perform in our roles and be successful we tend to gather tools like a construction worker, only our tools are shortcuts, software, and learning management system (LMS) hacks, instead of hammers and saws. We can code bend when necessary and if really, really necessary, we can pull code of the web to make an educational piece no one has ever seen before. But while most would think that our work lives float by in zeros and ones, plug and play creation tools have really made the need for code knowledge obsolete-at least for most IDs. For me, this means, I can focus on the education and not have to worry so much about adjusting code for presentation.

Our day-to-day really consists of building, creating, and manipulating educational pieces into relevant, functional learning aids. Everything we do embeds how people learn best into whichever mode, whether it be video, audio, text, or a mix. We build to teach. We teach to build. Each piece we create layers on top of the other to construct a pyramid of intricately laid steps with viewing platforms at different heights to stop and assess where you are in the grand scheme of the learning material.

Each mode speaks to a particular learner, some prefer video, some prefer audio and text simultaneously, the real point is to have each mode available for all types of learners. As an ID, as an educator, the worst mistake we can ever make is to create something which only one type of learner can gain knowledge from. There needs to be a equity in all the education we build or we are excluding a learner for no other reason than lack of preparedness on our part. It should be a proactive design choice and not one made reactively out of a learner requesting adjustment. IDs have to speak to all learners.

IDs can be a lot of things. I have found in my role, sometimes I am tech support. My coworkers mistake my ability to play with techy things to mean I can address common PC issues (not going to lie, sometimes I can and do, other times, I just provide the phone number to IT as there is a certain level of patience one must master to aid in tech issues with non-techy people. I have written policy manuals, created infographics, built presentations, recorded and edited anything which can be recorded and edited. I act as a project manager for my team, especially when building educational material. I had to become an expert in continual education credits my institution offers as incentive for learners to participate in educational opportunities. While I do all of the above and so much more, at the forefront of every thought, of every design, of every piece of material, is the learner. IDs broaden the available information out in the world, if you look at it in a certain light, at just the right angle, you could say we are supplying the knowledge for anyone willing to learn.