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Other Duties as Assigned
The document discusses the role of instructional designers in higher education, exploring their academic preparation, employer expectations, and skill requirements. It highlights the gap between formal education and necessary soft skills while identifying emerging needs in the field, such as social media management and collaboration skills. The findings are based on surveys from master's-level programs and job vacancy announcements in the sector.
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- 1. Other Duties asAssigned: Defining the Role of the Instructional Designer in Higher Education Amy J. Hilbelink, PhD Melissa A. Venable, PhD 20th Annual Online Learning Consortium International Conference October 29-31, 2014 - Orlando, FL --- #aln14
- 2. WhoWe Are: Whythis Topic? Instructional Technologist Dean of Curriculum and Online Programs Director of Academic Strategies and Development Exec. Dir. Online Design and Development Instructional Designer Online Course Developer Online Instructor Curriculum Manager Education Writer/Blogger
- 3. What is YourPerspective? Project Manager
- 4.
- 5. ID Roles: Whatdid we want to know? • How are instructional designers academically prepared for work in higher education? • What are higher education employers looking for in new master’s level graduates? • What are the existing gaps between formal learning and current job skill requirements? • What are the emerging needs in the instructional design field?
- 6. We gathered informationfrom two sources: eLearning Guild: 23 Master’s-level Instructional Design Programs (U.S.) HigherEdJobs.com: 25 open vacancy announcements for “Instructional Designer” posted by colleges and universities
- 7. How are instructionaldesigners academically prepared for work in higher education? Master’s Degrees in ID (core courses only) N (23) % Foundations/ Fundamentals in Instructional Design/ Instructional Technology 19 83 Multimedia 14 60 Designing & Developing Courseware 14 60 Theories of Learning and Curriculum 10 43 Assessment and Evaluation of Courseware 8 34 Project Management 5 22 Current Trends in ID/ IT 4 17
- 8. What are highered employers looking for? Task/Function N (25) % Consult, guide faculty on new course design/dev, selection of instructional 17 68 strategies Provide faculty development resources such as workshops, training materials, tutorials 16 64 Collaborate with faculty on course design, development, implementation 15 60 Work under specific approach or theoretical direction 13 52 Project management duties 12 48 Evaluate or test emerging edtech, delivery methods, trends, best practices 12 48 Implement, oversee quality assurance practices 11 44 Administer or support course production in LMS, assessment systems in collaboration with IT resources 11 44 Design and develop learning and support materials for faculty and/or students 11 44 Revise or assist faculty with revision of existing courses, periodic course reviews 9 36 Provide first-line tech support to faculty 6 24
- 9. What instructional designskills are needed? Technology Skills n (20) % Learning Management Systems 11 55 Multimedia design and production 9 45 “Instructional technologies” 7 35 Graphic design and editing 6 30 Web design 6 30 MS Office (spreadsheets, documents, 5 25 presentations) HTML – Digital Media – Web-based Communication Tools Web 2.0 technologies – Cross-platform – Web Conferencing Social Media – Mobile Devices – PHP – Desktop Publishing K-12 Technologies – Animation – Cloud-based Tools Instant Messaging and Texting – Internet Skills Coding and Scripting
- 10. What are theexpectations for education and experience? Master’s 12 positions 48% Bachelor’s 11 44% Master’s or Bachelor’s + 2-3 yrs exp. 2 8% Instructional Design 18 positions 72% Instructional Technology 13 52% Education 6 24% Educational Technology 6 24% Curriculum Design 4 16% 3 years 5 positions 5 2 3-5 2 2 2 1-3 2 DEGREE FIELD OF STUDY EXPERIENCE
- 11. Is there agap between formal education and soft skills needed on the job? Task/Function Consult, guide faculty on new course design/dev, selection of instructional strategies Provide faculty development resources such as workshops, training materials, tutorials Collaborate with faculty on course design, development, implementation Project management duties Evaluate or test emerging edtech, delivery methods, trends, best practices Implement, oversee quality assurance practices Administer or support course production in LMS, assessment systems in collaboration with IT resources Revise or assist faculty with revision of existing courses, periodic course reviews Provide first-line tech support to faculty
- 12. What are theemerging needs of the instructional design field?
- 13. What are theemerging needs of the instructional design field? • Social media management skills: moving into marketing and promotion • Applied media knowledge • Recognition as experts in course and curriculum design • Project management tasks and roles • Collaboration among: key stakeholders!
- 14. Career Development through Academic Preparation Students Academic Departments Employers
- 15. Other “duties asassigned”… ?
- 16. Other “duties asassigned”… ?! • Represent department on campus committees • Identify and recommend OER • Evaluate adjunct faculty • Manage contractor deliverables • Event planning
- 17. Where is thebest professional development for instructional designers? In this challenging economy, it's up to workers to make sure they learn the skills they need. – PayScale.com
- 18. Thank you forparticipating! Amy J. Hilbelink, PhD – Laureate Education – ahilbelink@gmail.com – www.linkedin.com/in/amyhilbelink/ Melissa A. Venable, PhD – OnlineColleges.net – melissa.a.venable@gmail.com – www.linkedin.com/in/melissavenable/ Enjoy the conference!
- 19. References & Resources Job Descriptions are Mostly Fiction and You Should Ignore Them – Max Nisen, Quartz Instructional Designers and Technologists – O*Net Online
Editor's Notes
- #3 Freelance work Hiring f/t, p/t, contract instructional designers Teaching instructional design courses at master’s level
- #4 May wear many hats, or go by a job title or role similar to those you see here.
- #5 Chances are even if you aren’t an instructional designer – you are working with instructional designers! This graphic from Arizona State University Online attempts to describe the role(s) these professionals play in higher education
- #7 25 vacancy announcements reviewed: All posted between 6/25/2014 and 8/12/2014 on higheredjobs.com All from higher education institutions: including private, public, for-profit All "entry level" not "lead", "senior", "director", Instructional designer II" etc. All include "instructional designer" in job title not "elearning specialist" etc.
- #8 23 Institutions that offer grad degrees in ID. We looked at only Master’s level core courses in programs.
- #9 Remember: context we’re focusing on is higher education! 25 postings. We had a few ideas about this – from our own experience working in these positions, but also in hiring for this role. One way to get at this is to review current job vacancy announcements – how are employers describing the work and what they need people to do in these brief narratives? For Presentation purposes – drew a line at ~25%
- #10 Only 20 of the 25 schools/ads listed skills in this kind of way. Semantics, some overlap, but a lot more items listed by just one or two of the schools. Sample of these below the table. Includes only the "minimum" requirements, not "preferred" or "desired"
- #11 Again … we’re talking about higher education context of the work. What education and experience are those doing the hiring looking for? This Includes only the "minimum" requirements, not "preferred" or "desired” Majors – many others! And many list more than one area 16 of 25 schools asked for some previous, relevant experience. 64%
- #12 24 Institutions that offer grad degrees in ID. We looked at only Master’s level core courses in programs. we see gaps in areas needed on the job but not immediately evident in a core course list. These areas may very well be covered in electives and specializations as well as internships, but students need to be aware of the importance of looking for and choosing these options if they are concerned about the employment side of things.
- #13 Ask the crowd? What do you think? What have you observed?
- #14 Some of these from our review of curricula and vacancy announcements, others our observations
- #16 Ask the crowd! What do you think? What have you observed?
- #17 Some of these were in the vacancy announcements we reviewed, others, our own experiences.
- #18 PayScale article references underemployment and the skills gap. Ultimately, the student makes choices about programs and experiences …. What can they do in addition to formal academic coursework?