The Benefits of Instructional Design in eLearning Program Development

As a busy training professional, it’s natural to look for quick, easy solutions to eLearning program development—from relying on software and systems to repurposing existing content. Unfortunately, taking what may seem to be the easiest path often leads to disappointing results. Make sure that you give your eLearning content the attention and care it requires to support a successful educational program!

  • Add instructional value to your existing animations, videos, and slideshows.

  • Organize, structure, and develop ideas so that others can fully grasp and apply them.

  • Deliver effective, memorable, and engaging learning experiences.

  • Assess your learners’ progress with quizzes or exams that align with course objectives and learning methods.

The development of a strong eLearning program requires the skilled application of learning principles and instructional design.

What Is Instructional Design?

The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) defines instructional design as “the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning” (Reiser, 2002, p. 1).[1]

The role of instructional design is to create instructional experiences that facilitate learning in a way that is not only efficient, but effective and appealing to learners. As a framework for developing learning modules, the focus of instructional design is on enhancing the learning process with the goals of engaging, encouraging, and motivating learners to gain deeper, more meaningful levels of understanding and knowledge.

Instructional designers are the architects of the learning experience.

Instructional designers can offer valuable insight and assistance with all aspects of course design—creating a new course (online, face-to-face, or hybrid), redesigning an existing one, planning teaching methodologies and strategies, and designing assessments to measure your learners’ progress. They can also help with course enrichment through the addition of alternative assessment techniques or the implementation of new technologies. While some designers work individually, others work in partnership with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), such as faculty staff or field-specific technicians.

Whatever the specific educational needs, the approach that instructional designers take to create more effective learning experiences is strongly grounded in both research and theory.[2] The focus is always on improving content, increasing accessibility and comprehension, and improving learning outcomes.

[1] Kurt, S. “Instructional Design,” in Educational Technology, December 9, 2016. Retrieved from https://educationaltechnology.net/instructional-design/

[2] Ibid.

Therese Kastning