A “little” about me, I have been an Instructional Designer for 9 years now. Funny thing is that when I started working as an instructional designer and people would ask me what I did for a living, and I said, “I’m an instructional designer,” and they looked at me with confusion, and 8 years later that hasn’t really changed. I usually then go on to say, I used to teach Social Studies and Language Arts. That was an easy job to tell people, everyone has a conceptual idea of what a teacher is.

I go on to tell them that while working at a Catholic School, I had a very low budget and some older textbooks, so I started using technology resources and found invaluable resources that I started using. One thing led to another, and I earned a master’s degree.  I have worked as an ID for non-profit, profit, higher ed., publishers and K-12 demographics.

The title instructional designer has so many variations that I just sum it up with, “I work in a team environment to develop create blended and online learning opportunities,”  but that is a generic summary of what an ID does. The response is usually “Oh, that sounds so interesting.” and it is, but every place I have worked uses instructional design in a different way, some are similar, but no two are ever the same. Sometimes instructional design is very systematic because the goal is to make sure each learner is able to reach the learning goals, sometimes being an ID demands creativity, thinking of ways to bring learning content to life. One day I am writing curriculum, the next day aligning standards to that curriculum, the following day I may be mocking up interactive learning game ideas. It’s all part of being an ID.

My husband is always happy to tell people that if I could, I would be in college the rest of my life. That’s not quite true, but being an Instructional Designer is best for those that see themselves as lifelong learners. I think of it as Alzheimer’s prevention, since I am always learning something new.