The Instructional Designer’s Role

In short, the Instructional Designer has two main roles. They need to support the organization and the user. They get there by implementing the appropriate strategies. Before the instructional strategies there must be a needs assessment. Then you can provide the correct instructional design process. Followed by a facilitation process to assimilate into the new environment.   

In the instructional design process the fun part becomes tackling content creation, consistency, and user participation. The Designer has to make decisions that pair learners with the appropriate technologies.

In the Professors article / work in progress: Social Media and Instructional Design, the emphasis on social media tools recognizes that web platforms are helping fill the empty spaces in the vastness of the web. Effective learning strategies through social platforms and content creation in the digital classroom are very promising. The masses of content created by and with peers on social web tools are creating quality content and user engagement with instantaneous feedback and interaction.

An Instructional Designer sources and SME become the guiding light. Yet, the Designer must navigate the instructional terrain they are tasked to maintain a position that is in two places at one time. “Instructional designers should consider the risks to and perspectives of the learning organization as well as the instructors and learners who will be following the curricula and using the learning materials that they create.” (Dennen 2017) The Instructional Designer is always aware of this roll and prepares to frame his reasoning accordingly.