How does being a good instructor relate to being an effective ID?

As a current or former teacher, college instructor, or even corporate trainer, you have a strong start on transitioning into instructional design. This is because:

• You know what a learning objective (LO) is and have probably written many
• You understand the importance of knowing your learner
• You’ve already designed curricula and lesson plans
• You’ve written assessments (quizzes and exams)
• You’ve perhaps studied learning theories and how people learn best
• You’re familiar with different instructional methods and how to engage learners by applying these concepts to practical applications

These are all aspects of instructional design. In fact, already knowing these basics of learning gives you a leg-up in the field of instructional design – especially in the early phases of the ID process.

These early activities in an instructional design project represent the gathering and structuring of content. Needless to say, the stages of content gathering and analysis are the backbone of any successful learning experience.

In fact, other terms used for the role of an instructional designer include learning designer and learning experience designer. If you’re a teacher or trainer of any kind, you’ve probably gathered and analyzed content loads of times!

What if I’ve “only” trained others in a non-educational setting?

If you’ve not been in an educational setting but have taught others via writing corporate training curricula, you have many of the same teaching competency skills under your belt. Training is teaching, and instructional design is all about training others.

Inevitably, you’ve had to tell your learners what they’ll be learning in a given seminar or PowerPoint presentation, structure the material logically, present it in a visually engaging fashion, and perhaps offer some sort of assessment of learning.

In short, you have teaching competency as well, just in a different context. You might not have studied the learning theories or instructional methods that a K-12 teacher has, but you inherently know what works for your organization’s learners and how to train them effectively.

What if I’ve been a technical writer/editor but haven’t formally taught?

If this is you, admittedly your stronger competencies might fall into one of the other three competencies (such as writing). Being a strong writer is the backbone of instructional design. However, remember: if you’re an effective non-fiction writer, you’re also in some way instructing others.

Strong non-fiction, technically oriented writers and editors know how to analyze and structure content for learning purposes. While you might not be familiar with the preceding learning theories or instructional methods or even have never 'presented' your content, as a technical writer, you're still writing toward an end goal of learning.

The bottom line is that on some level, you might have also taught through written communication. The practical tips and sources offered at the end of this chapter will help you to quickly level-up your knowledge of learning theories and instructional methods and direct your strong writing skills toward an instructional perspective.

What if I’ve “only” been a visual/graphic or UX/UI designer?

In this case, you have the unique advantage of having taught others primarily through visual representation. Graphic and UX/UI design is all about visual communications. If you’re able to adeptly create something that is visually pleasing and engaging to a target audience, you are already skilled at reaching your target audience.

While the teaching competency might not be your strong suit (or perhaps never even considered), you will immediately have advantages in the creating and collaboration competencies, as you are familiar with the basics of visual design and, most likely, possess excellent creative software development skills.

Moreover, you’re used to constant input from others in your work. Unless you have also taught graphic or UX/UI design, you’ll most likely need to assume that the teaching (and writing) competencies are areas for which you will need to develop.