As a teacher, or soon-to-be former teacher, you’re likely already familiar with many of the concepts within instructional design. For example, many learning principles and theories applied in classroom teaching are helpful for instructional design. For teachers, you know how to relate to and manage students, create lesson plans, and develop quizzes and tests.

However, modern instructional design is heavily influenced by digital technologies. So much so that instructional design is often called e-Learning development. The shift towards entirely digital classrooms for things like job training has increased the need for knowledgeable instructional designers, and traditional teachers are flocking to the career.

So how do you master e-Learning development as a former teacher? Take everything you know about classroom teaching, learn how to develop online courses, and read this blog post for everything you need to know to fill the gaps.

Instructional Design Principles

e-Learning development depends on six essential principles of learning design. All online courses should be built upon these principles. However, some modules may incorporate certain principles more than others. In order of importance, the six principles of learning design include:

• Authentic: uses real-world examples and settings
• Alignment: all aspects work together for a common purpose
• Future-oriented: uses multiple senses (knowing, doing, thinking, and feeling) to teach capabilities
• Judgment: enables deep understanding so that students can consider various perspectives and situations
• Feedback: offers opportunities to give and receive feedback and use it to adjust their work
• Holistic: allows students to make judgments about their own and others’ work

Instructional design principles should be considered when developing online courses and their moduleseachers are likely familiar with aspects ofciples and have experience using them in their classroom teaching lns.

For example, many classroom teachers use authentic, real-world examples to explain scientific concepts and judgment to help students evaluate literary characters. These same principles can apply to job training, adult learning, and instructional design opportunities.

e-Learning Development Technology & Tools

Technology and tools make e-Learning development more effortless than ever before. From course authoring tools to graphic design technology to AI-powered learning design, tools and technology help make instructional design simpler and faster for teachers. Luckily, we have individual courses to help former teachers learn how to use these tools quickly.

 AI (Artificial Intelligence)

It would be impossible to mention tools and technologies without discussing AI or artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence tools have impacted almost every aspect of human life, and it’s no different for e-Learning development. Whether instructional designers are creating online courses from scratch or evaluating instructional design content to make improvements, AI can be tasked with helping with the heavy lifting involved.

Tools like ChatGPT and AI services integrated into popular instructional design software are becoming increasingly helpful for enhancing lesson-building efficiency, solving complex instructional design problems, and analyzing data more quickly than manually.

Articulate Storyline®

Articulate Storyline® is an e-learning authoring tool that allows you to create interactive online courses. For teachers learning instructional design, Articulate Storyline® is one of the top tools you should become familiar with. 

Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool used to create graphic assets, videos, icons, images, and more. Using templates or creating from scratch is user-friendly and accessible for anyone to learn.

Genially

Genially is an interactive communication tool that allows users to create attractive images, infographics, animations and interactive elements to create games and activities.

Vyond

Vyond is an animation software that allows you to create engaging animated videos from scratch to use in animated stories, trainings, and explainer videos.

Camtasia

TechSmith Camtasia is powerful video editing software that instructional designers use to create polished, high quality video assets to integrate into their online courses.

Strategies for Engaging Online Learners

Instructional design for teachers is much like classroom course design. However, engaging online learners can be a bit more challenging than in person teaching. Incorporating our top four strategies for engaging online learners is sure to breed success.

• Storytelling. Use storytelling to grab students’ attention. By using compelling narratives, relatable characters, and real-life scenarios, the material becomes more relatable and aids in better retention and understanding.
  
  
• Gamification. Game-like elements like point systems, badges and awards, leaderboards, and challenges can increase engagement by playing into students’ intrinsic motivation. Through games, students are more likely to participate and enjoy learning the material.
  
  
• Interactive Multimedia. Remember those tools we mentioned? Creating interactive media elements like videos, audio clips, animations, and activities caters to different learning styles and keeps students entertained as they learn.
  
  
• Quizzes. Students learn better when they practice what they’ve learned. Pop quizzes can offer a no-risk opportunity to better understand their progress.

Training in Instructional Design for Teachers

Do you want a leg up on your career transition from teaching to instructional design? Look no further than our IDOL On Demand Bootcamp. It was built for teachers just like you – and other busy people who work full time but want to enter into the instructional design industry.

The flexible, on-demand training program can be completed in six months or less, with thousands of students finding corporate instructional design jobs faster than they thought possible. You’ll learn design and tech skills needed to put yourself at the top of the list of candidates while completing the program with official credentials and a support system with you every step of the way. Sign up now to get started in the next cohort of future instructional designers!