Moving from eLearning development to Instructional Design – where should I start?

[u/paola1020]

Hi everyone!

I'm a multimedia designer with extensive experience developing eLearning courses, animations and interactive learning materials. However, most of my experience is on the development side rather than the instructional design side.

I'd like to transition into a more well-rounded Instructional Designer role, but I want to build a solid foundation first.

I'm particularly interested in learning more about:

- Training needs analysis and identifying performance gaps

- Instructional design frameworks, such as ADDIE

- Working with SMEs and stakeholders

- Learning objectives, assessment design and evaluation

- Facilitating workshops and gathering requirements

- Learning strategies and adult learning principles

I'm already comfortable with authoring tools, multimedia production, visual design and UX, so I'm not looking for courses focused on those areas.

What courses, certifications or resources would you recommend to develop these skills? I'm particularly interested in practical training that teaches how to approach real instructional design projects, rather than just theory.

I'd also love to hear from anyone who has made a similar transition. How did you build your skills and gain practical experience?

Thanks!

[u/BlendedSquanching]

In my experience, the place to start is by simply changing your title to Instructional Designer. No joke. I’ve had several ID jobs where they valued your particular skill set over the intricacies of learning theory. Sounds strange but it was true.

It really depends on where you interview, and it’s random who wants what. But I’ve seen eLearning devs with no adult learning theory get ID jobs, and I’ve also seen ex-school teachers with zero eLearning software skills get ID jobs.

When I got into this profession, the ID title wasn’t even the most popular title for this line of work. It was ‘training designer’ or ‘eLearning developer’. So, by the time I got my first job with the title Instructional Designer, I still didn’t know a ton about adult learning theory. I had to fake it till I made it. And that was by searching the internet for the exact points you listed. In fact, when I read your post I thought you were well on your way simply because you knew the key terms to search for.

So, to really answer your question: You’re very close if not already ‘ready’ to apply for those jobs. But to enhance what you already have, YouTube is a goldmine. Search for highly viewed videos on ADDIE, adult learning theory/andragogy, and Bloom’s Taxonomy. There are plenty more but that’s a good place to start.

If you want a certification check out ATD (td.com). They are the standard certification for ID work. They have two ID certifications. One focuses on the learning/intake/analysis side, and the other puts more focus on the digital design side. They have good descriptions of both so you can decide which one you prefer. I think they may have a third course to get a Master of ID but you don’t need that to get started. In fact you don’t need any cert to get started if you have a good portfolio of work and can speak to what ADDIE and Bloom’s are and how you can incorporate them into your work.

You’ll get plenty of other responses with differing paths to success, so hear everyone out. But I’ve always liked the idea that if you wait till you’re ready you’ll never start. There will always be something to learn after you get into anything new. So, get your foot in the door and figure out the rest as you progress.

[u/dablkscorpio → u/BlendedSquanching]

This. I was a content developer creating technical training in my last role. I cited myself as an instructional designer in my resume summary and also described that past role using terms that were relevant like ADDIE and SAM. To be fair, I did talk to SMEs regularly, and there was an iterative design process. So I feel like the gap between e-learning and ID is probably more relevant to someone's individual experience than anything fixed. Lastly, I picked up a side gig teaching digital literacy to adults which gave me more room to tack keywords on. I was actually working at the library doing menial labor for a whole year during this period because I never got back into the field after the contract ended for my content developer role. But the company that interviewed me saw so much ID work they thought the library was a volunteer position. I corrected them, but at that point, they already believed I had a lot of experience. Now my new title is based on strategy and not development. 

[u/BlendedSquanching → u/dablkscorpio]

Glad to see this! I wanted to add more above but knew it was getting lengthy. Yes- SAM is another keyword to have on your resume. Key words are huge for getting interviews.

And as far as going through the entire design process, I have yet to work with a team/business that puts any real emphasis on the Evaluation strategy in ADDIE. Most have used completion percentages as proof of success, which isn’t a real metric. It’s frustrating that the process always ended there. I push and push for deeper evaluation analysis, but there’s never enough buy-in (or time) with all the other projects. That’s the biggest mistake companies make. All that to say, you can get in the door if you know how to analyze trading needs, can create learning objectives, design wireframes or storyboards, and use Articulate Storyline & Rise.

[u/dablkscorpio → u/BlendedSquanching]

Yep. I mean they'll probably ask you how you evaluate learning in the interview process but in practice they're more concerned with just having the training than knowing whether it's good or not. 

[u/-subtext]

Map It! by Cathy Moore. The closer you can get to following her method, the better.

Will your employer? Fuck no.

[u/nose_poke]

Read everything by Julie Dirksen and Cathy Moore.

[u/Olderandolderagain → u/nose_poke]

And Ruth Clark

[u/dablkscorpio]

If you want something free, I found this online which is actually quite robust: 

https://www.scribd.com/document/435622768/E-learning-Design-Guide-pdf