How to Become an Instructional Designer in 2023

How to Become an Instructional Designer for Free

In this video, Devlin Peck shares his experience of becoming an instructional designer and how you can become one without any formal instructional design experience or going back to school.

The Demand for Skilled Instructional Designers

• There is a greater demand for skilled instructional designers than ever before.

• The eLearning industry is over $300 billion and growing 20% every year.

• The pandemic has helped spur growth in the eLearning sector.

Benefits of Being an Instructional Designer

• 94% of instructional designers are satisfied with their work-life balance.

• The average salary for an instructional designer in the USA is around $80k-$85k per year, with potential to earn six figures.

• You don't need any new degrees to become an instructional designer. A bachelor's degree is usually required, but some people have broken into the field without one.

How to Break Into the Field

• You don't need any formal instructional design experience or go back to school.

• Start by helping friends and classmates get good jobs or build successful freelance businesses.

• Upskill yourself and prepare for the industry. Remote opportunities are available, especially since the pandemic.

• To land good instructional design jobs in less time and more effectively, learn how to network effectively, create a portfolio that showcases your skills, and tailor your resume and cover letter to each job application.

Conclusion

• The instructional design industry is growing and offers many opportunities for those who are willing to upskill and prepare themselves for the field.

Why Instructional Design is the Best Learning Career

In this section, the speaker explains why instructional design is a great career choice and how it can change people's lives.

Benefits of Pursuing Instructional Design

• The best learning career out there

• Provides a ton of opportunities

• Can change people's lives for the better

Is Instructional Design Right for You?

• Check out the video linked in the description to learn if ID is right for you

• Anyone with a decent work ethic and motivation can become an instructional designer within 3 to 12 months

Embracing the Student Mindset

• To make this transition, one needs to adopt that student mindset

• It may be uncomfortable at times, but it's okay to fail and be messy in the beginning

• Pretend you're doing a master's program or something and embrace that student mindset

Your Guide to Becoming an Instructional Designer

In this section, the speaker provides guidance on how to become an instructional designer.

Starting Point

• This video serves as your hub or starting point

• There are many areas you can dive deeper into by watching other videos

• A checklist in the description below helps you stay on track

Free Resources

• All content on YouTube is free

• No need to pay anything except maybe for your website

Instructional Design Rules

In this section, the speaker provides some open instructional design rules to optimize your LinkedIn profile, network and ace the interview to land a job.

• Optimize your LinkedIn profile so that recruiters and hiring managers are coming to you.

• Network because you never know what kind of opportunities will come from that.

• Ace the interview to finally land the offer and get the job.

Learn The Tech

In this section, the speaker recommends learning technology first before theory as it has proven more effective in recent years.

• Most people transitioning into instructional design have some sort of education background.

• Focus on technology first as it is usually the biggest skill gap.

• Most jobs are now eLearning focused.

• Articulate Storyline 360 is hands down, the most in-demand software for instructional designers.

• 86% of hiring managers said that Articulate Storyline is one of three tools that instructional designers should be familiar with upon hire.

• Start building eLearning interactions using Articulate Storyline 360's free trial which lasts for 30 days.

Articulate Rise

In this section, the speaker talks about Articulate Rise which is included in Articulate 360 and is simpler but easy to use.

• Articulate Rise is different from Storyline but very easy to use.

• It's included in Articulate 360 so you can try it out while doing your trial for Storyline.

Building Skills for Instructional Designers

In this section, the speaker discusses some essential skills that instructional designers should have to succeed in their field.

Building a Quick Course with Rise

• The speaker suggests building a quick course in Rise to gain experience.

• Practicing with this tool for one day can help you learn your way around and use built-in interaction types.

• This experience will be useful when you are in your instructional design interviews.

Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe Illustrator is a popular tool among instructional designers, especially those doing eLearning work.

• It is used to modify vector images, which are illustrations that can be customized by changing color, shape, or size.

• You can download vector images from various websites and customize them using Illustrator.

• Learning the basics of Illustrator will enable you to do 99% of the tasks most IDs do.

Adobe XD and/or Figma

• Adobe XD and Figma are tools used to practice visual design skills and mock up eLearning layouts.

• They allow you to prototype visuals before going into a tool like Articulate Storyline where you develop interactive content.

• Using these tools helps focus solely on visuals before worrying about programming or development.

Learning Management Systems

• Learning at least one Learning Management System (LMS) is crucial because any company an instructional designer works for uses an LMS.

• Popular LMS platforms include Canvas, Blackboard, TalentLMS, Docebo, and Adobe Captivate Prime LMS.

• An LMS is where all e-learning experiences are uploaded and hosted. You can track who accesses them.

Learning Management System and Video Editing Tools

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of learning how to use a Learning Management System (LMS) and video editing tools for instructional design.

LMS and SCORM

• The speaker recommends getting experience with an LMS by assigning users, even if it's just one email address.

• SCORM is used to upload eLearning packages to an LMS. It's easy to learn and should not be intimidating.

• Watching the LMS video will provide you with everything you need to know for 99% of ID jobs.

Camtasia and Premiere Pro

• The speaker suggests learning how to use at least one video editor because you will likely need to edit videos at some point.

• Camtasia and Premiere Pro are both capable and powerful video editors that are worth considering.

• Practice creating a simple video by pulling together different media, cutting clips, piecing them together, layering audio and video files.

Vyond: A Popular Tool for Creating Animated Videos

In this section, the speaker introduces Vyond as a popular tool for creating animated videos with a built-in asset library.

Features of Vyond

• Vyond is becoming very popular in the instructional design space since 2020.

• It has three different art styles with huge asset libraries that make it easy to create professional-looking videos quickly.

• You can incorporate Vyond videos into Storyline to make interactive videos which is great for your portfolio.

Limitations of Vyond

• The free trial is quite limited and leaves your videos with watermarks.

• If you want to seriously use this for your portfolio, you may want to join one of the paid plans.

Generative Artificial Intelligence

In this section, the speaker briefly discusses generative artificial intelligence and its potential impact on instructional design.

AI in Instructional Design

• More teams are starting to use AI-enabled tools as AI becomes more powerful.

• It's a good idea to keep an eye on it, but it's not a priority for learning right now.

Section One Complete

In this section, the speaker discusses the technology that one should learn to become an instructional designer.

Articulate Storyline 360

• Articulate Storyline 360 is the most important tech to learn for landing a role as soon as possible.

• If you want to dive deep into the tech before moving on to theory, watch a video about all the top technology in the ID space.

• Focus on learning Articulate Storyline 360 first.

Theory

• Learning theory will help you talk and walk like an instructional designer.

• You may need to talk about these theories in interviews or mention them when giving examples from your past experience.

• You'll also need to apply some of these theories to your portfolio projects or actual work once you're on the job.

ADDIE Framework

• ADDIE is the most popular instructional design framework.

• Each letter stands for something different. A stands for analysis, D stands for design, D stands for development, and I stands for implementation.

• Analysis involves interviewing stakeholders and observing people doing their job. Design involves reviewing content and creating learning objectives. Development involves writing scripts and storyboards. Implementation involves delivering the learning experience.

The transcript does not have many timestamps available, so only sections with timestamps were included in this summary.

ADDIE, Bloom's Taxonomy, SAM, and Action Mapping

In this section, the speaker discusses four instructional design processes: ADDIE, Bloom's Taxonomy, SAM, and Action Mapping. She explains what each process is and how it can be used in instructional design.

ADDIE

• ADDIE is a popular instructional design process that consists of five stages: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.

• Some instructional designers only do one or two pieces of this process while others do the whole thing.

• Most instructional designers these days are responsible for doing the entire thing from analysis through evaluation.

• 90% of the work in the corporate space right now is focused on those two Ds: design and development.

Bloom's Taxonomy

• Bloom's Taxonomy helps create strong measurable learning objectives.

• Check out the speaker's video on how to write strong learning objectives to learn more about using Bloom's Taxonomy effectively.

• Writing learning objectives to support a specific learning goal can get really in-depth but it is important for traditional instructional design work.

SAM

• SAM is another popular iterative instructional design process that emphasizes stakeholder involvement and prototyping.

• It favors prototypes over storyboards and documentation.

• Aspiring instructional designers should be able to speak to ADDIE versus SAM.

Action Mapping

• Action mapping focuses on performance improvement instead of dumping information on your audience.

• It is a favorite among many IDs because it addresses a very real problem in the corporate instructional design space today.

• Creating an action map for practice with a subject matter expert is a great activity for aspiring IDs.

Instructional Design Theory

In this section, the speaker discusses various instructional design theories that are important for new instructional designers to learn.

Action Mapping

• Action mapping is a process that helps you design effective training by focusing on the actions learners need to take in order to achieve their goals.

• Cathy Moore is a well-known expert in action mapping and has several videos on the topic.

• Action mapping is useful for creating engaging and relevant learning experiences.

Gagne's 9 Events

• Gagne's 9 Events are a set of events that help you design comprehensive learning experiences.

• These events ensure that all necessary elements are present in a learning experience to satisfy learning science and psychology principles.

• This theory is beginner-friendly and useful for outlining a learning experience, especially for new instructional designers.

Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Training Evaluation

• Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Training Evaluation is a common language used in the field of instructional design.

• The four levels include reaction, learning, behavior, and results.

• Applying levels one and two can be done through surveys or assessments to determine how well the learning experience was received.

Mayer's Principles

• Mayer's Principles are 12 practical principles that can be applied to create high-end, user-friendly learning experiences.

• It is recommended to practice consciously applying these principles to your project and consider how you will explain the process to hiring managers or peers.

Visual Design

• Visual design plays an important role in creating polished and professional-looking projects.

• A bad first impression due to poor visual design can make it harder to get hired as an instructional designer.

Principles of Visual Design

In this section, the speaker discusses the principles of visual design and how they can be applied to instructional design.

Applying Principles of Visual Design

• The four principles of visual design are contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity.

• It is important to understand these principles before diving into the visual design piece.

• Having a good grasp on these principles will help in landing any corporate instructional design role.

The Importance of a Portfolio

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a strong portfolio when applying for instructional design roles.

Building a Strong Portfolio

• A portfolio is the most important part of transitioning into an instructional design role.

• Without a strong portfolio, it's like playing the lottery when applying for jobs.

• A portfolio highlights your best projects and showcases your skills as an instructional designer.

• Recruiters and managers use portfolios to learn more about who you are and what you're capable of as an instructional designer.

Creating Your Portfolio

• You only need one project in your portfolio but up to three small projects might work just as well.

• A simple one-page website highlighting a single project is better than no portfolio at all.

• The better you make your portfolio, the more it will help you on the job market.

Conclusion

In this section, the speaker concludes by emphasizing that all the other skills and knowledge are in the name of creating a strong portfolio.

The Importance of a Strong Portfolio

• A strong portfolio attracts attention from household name companies.

• Effort put into creating a strong portfolio will yield better results.