How I Found the Instructional Design Field

Many people I talk to have never heard of instructional design. I hadn't either until a few years ago before applying to Purdue's Learning, Design, and Technology master's program. I found this field after doing tons of research, and even now, I am still learning the many jobs and applications of it. I have spoken to instructional designers who are adjunct professors, designers at universities, eLearning training developers, and people who have their own educational start-ups. There are people who help school systems design curriculums, educational consultants, educational copywriters, learning management system administrators, and online language instructors; all who have or who could benefit from instructional design knowledge.

This is one of the reasons I have chosen this field. After switching from a career in supply chain management, and not being 100% sure of my ultimate career destination, I loved the idea of the freedom to try different roles, environments, and lifestyles. Other than flexibility and opportunity, this field is a great fit for my values and personality. One of the reasons I am switching to the field of education is to have an positive impact on others. I strongly believe in the power of education to give learners perspective and opportunity. As an online learner myself, I am especially seeing the positive impact technology can have. People who originally could not get degrees or learn skills due to their schedules or geographic locations are now empowered through remote learning. Technology can make learning more engaging and relevant than ever before.

I love learning about psychology which is a major aspect of learning and motivation theories. Instructional design also requires creativity, problem-solving, strong writing skills, and a willingness to learn and research new things. I was originally worried about the technology aspect of ID, I have not always seen myself as a tech-savvy person, and always worried that everyone else knew more than me about different programs. But in the last few years I have worked to alter my mindset to focus more on growth. There are so many programs and skills that everyone has to constantly learn new things and spend time Googling how to do things. I specifically chose an elective based in using various eLearning technologies and it gave me practice discovering new features and meeting project requirements quickly. I now get excited to try out a new program and keep bookmarks whenever I see one that looks interesting!

Here are some of the posts I found that helped me understand if I would want to be an instructional designer:

Should you become an Instructional Designer?- This post explains that key components of instructional design include strong writing skills and enjoying writing, being both creative and logical, and enjoying engaging with others.

So You Want to Be an Instructional Designer?- This post by Marguerite McNeal on EdSurge explains that to be a good fit as an ID you must: be a good listener, enjoy working with diverse teams, have a passion for teaching and learning, have a project-manager mindset, have a humble mindset to work with experts, and be technology agnostic.

What Do Instructional Designers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)- This post explained what some common responsibilities and the day to day schedule of an ID look like. It also showed that 73% of designers in their poll feel satisfaction and meaning in their job. It describes people who are suitable for this job like starting and carrying out projects, enjoy leading people and making decisions, and like communicating with and helping others.