This is a question that I get asked about two times a week and it usually follows with “how did you become an ID”? Well, I sort of fell into this role.
When I started working at the University I was a program support advisor, I then progressed to administering the back end of Learning Management Systems, hopped over to designing online courses, and finally professor.
I did go to University, but my first foray into ID courses started at my Master’s level. The courses that I took were:
- Intro to Distance Education
- Foundations of Adult Education
- Foundations of Instructional Design
- Instructional Design in Distance Education
- Online Teaching
- Distance Education Technologies
- Trends and Issues
- Tutoring and Student Support
Nowadays, there are College certificate courses that cover items such as Project Management (critical), working with SMEs, Hybrid Delivery, and Assessment Strategies. You can also attend University and take specific ID level courses to help round out your degree, and of course, you could work as a novice learning designer to help transition yourself into the role. All of these pathways can lead you into becoming and ID within a few years. I also recommend booking a meeting with someone to talk about expectations and learning about an ID in practice.
Please feel free to book me if you want some guidance discussing this role – I love these discussions!
