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The best online instruction Design Instructional Courses in 2023

Sep 21, 2023

A designer for instructional purposes (ID) is one of the most fascinating positions to hold on the current career landscape. This is not only a highly regarded and rewarding, it's also rewarding because it lets you utilize your imagination and create engaging training experiences for different types of individuals in a variety of sectors.

One of the downsides of this field is that there's no clear educational path that can help you land your dream job as an instructional designer. Education paths for this career are often tedious and complicated, and it's possible that you don't have the knowledge needed for the role. To help you with that, we've compiled the most effective instructional design classes and courses that you can choose to break into and succeed in this field.

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An introduction into instructional design

Instructional design is the creation and improvement of learning opportunities and material. While it may seem basic it is a field that requires specialists to think about how learners across all age groups are taught (educational psychology) to find the most effective materials and methods that'll help them achieve their academic goals (learning sciences). It also requires specialists to understand human-computer interaction as well as systems theory and many more.

Instructional design, as a discipline is an area that dates through World War II when hundreds of thousands of individuals needed to learn how to do certain things in a very short time. In that period, instructors needed to dissect the complex task so soldiers could easily understand each step of the process. This was the method that laid the groundwork of instructional design, which is a discipline that combines learning, education psychology, and communication (physical as well as virtual).

Instructional designers may work at different institutions -- from secondary schools to big-tech corporations such as Apple and Meta and Meta. They are able to own their own business as freelancers, consultants or even virtual learning developers. Their goal remains the same: create top-quality teaching strategies and materials for various learning groups.

The skills that instructional designers (IDs) need for success are:

  • Knowledge of instructional design theory and learning science
  • Visual design skills
  • Communication skills
  • The knowledge of learning management systems

Why should you choose an online instructional design course?

Instructional design is an in-demand profession. Actually, instructional design positions are projected to rise by 11% by 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But, teachers who wish to focus on instructional design usually need to hold a bachelor or Master of Science in Education (MSEd) qualification in Instructional Design and Technology.

But not everyone can take this approach.

If you're an educator and wants to become an ID without the need to complete a graduate course for it Instructional design online courses can be your ideal option. You'll be required to take various courses because instruction design is an interdisciplinary field. Depending on the kinds of learning programs you'd like to create and the types of companies or individuals you'd like to make the plans for, you could have to study:

  • Instructional design as well as its theories
  • Educational psychology
  • Visual design principles
  • Neuroscience
  • User experience design
  • Performance enhancement

10 best online instructional design courses

Here are 10 of the best instructional design online courses. These courses cover diverse aspects of instructional design. The courses were chosen due to the depth of its contents as well as its cost and how long it'll require a student to go through it.

          University of Pennsylvania's Gamification Course

Price: Free

Duration: 3 weeks

Difficulty level: Beginner

In this class it will teach you:

  • What game design is
  • How to implement game design principles to non-game settings for example, the business world, social impact issues as well as instructional design
  • A design framework with six steps to apply to any gamification project
  • The opportunities and challenges you'll encounter when applying gamification principles

          ID Central's Instructional Design Courses

Price: USD $15 to $49

Duration: Self-paced

The difficulty level is: Beginner

ID Central has three micro-courses and a complete course designed to provide complete novices with instructional design. They cover theory of learning, ID models, ID tools, as well as ID foundations.

These classes provide you with:

  • The fundamental theories behind instructional design
  • Theory of learning and adult learning (or andragogy)
  • Instructional design templates and how to work with SMEs
  • Effectively using media to create wholesome online learning experiences

These classes also come with handouts, quizzes, challenges, and exams to help you build your skills about instruction design.

          The Harvard's Universal Design for Learning: Learn more about it.

Cost: USD $295

Time: 3 weeks

Level of difficulty: Beginner

In this course You'll learn:

  • Enhance your understanding of UDL and discover the ways to apply UDL across multiple learning environments -- both physical and virtual
  • Discover the principals behind "variability" -neuroscience that says that all people learn in different and unique ways
  • Learn how UDL is applied to the classroom

Each week, you'll go through various resources (articles, videos, as well as podcasts) to explain the various aspects of UDL. It will be a chance to connect and share your ideas with other educators, who are also learning how to create inclusive learning resources You'll also have access to innovative approaches and tools that'll help you to put your knowledge into action.

          ISFET's ADDIE for Instructional Design Course

Price: USD $59

Duration: Self-paced

Level of difficulty: Intermediate

The program online is designed specifically for educators and analysts, designers instructors and managers who are interested in learning details about the ADDIE model of instructional design.

ADDIE is an acronym for the five steps of a development process that includes Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. This course includes five modules -- each one devoted to one aspect of the ADDIE model.

          The Transition of Teachers From Teacher to Instructor Designer MasterClass

Pricing: USD $497

Duration: Self-paced

The difficulty level is Intermediate

If you, as a teacher, feel like your power is limited to the classroom and you desire to expand your influence, this course is for you. In this course, you'll be taught how to use your skills in teaching to design learning experiences that are stimulating, effective, and enjoyable with no need to worry about grading or scores entry, discipline issues, and recess.

This course is power-packed by online courses (textas well as video), and different sources, such as a personal packet workbook (where you'll determine the kind of ID job you'd like to accomplish), a personal portfolio kit as well as an ID toolkit for templates with resume and cover letter templates, and even a Gallery of guest speakers.

In this class it will:

  • Learn what curriculum designers and instructional designers are doing
  • See how to get hired as a curriculum designer or instructional designer, without having to spend thousands of dollars getting an education
  • Get the knowledge you need to land an instructional design position
  • Create your personal portfolio in order to be able to land the job you want
  • Make a resume and cover letter using optimized templates which are included with the course

          Your E-Learning World's Instructional Design to support E-Learning programs

Price: $197.99

Duration: Self-paced

Difficulty level: Intermediate

In this class, the instructor and award-winning expert in instructional design, Marina Arshavskiy, teaches learners the art and craft of creating engaging and results-oriented online courses that people are drawn to and eager to complete.

In this program You'll learn:

  • Learn to implement adult learning principles, methodologies and methods to improve learning effectiveness
  • Learn how to handle the e-learning project using traditional as well as agile methods
  • Design your own e-learning portfolio

In addition to over 10 hours of multimedia-based lessons with real-life examples, this course comes with practice exercises, quizzes, downloadable templates and resources, as well as an online community on Facebook.

          MIT's Mastering Design Thinking Course

Cost: USD $3,300 or discounted prices of $2,937 or $3,036.

Durée: 3 months

Graduation level: Graduate

Mastering Design Thinking is a certification training course designed for both teams and individuals that require an effective, consistent approach to new product development. While most people who take the course are (or would like to be) Product managers, UX designers, or even growth consultants, you can employ design thinking into your work as instructor designers, too.

Design thinking principles encompass everything from concept development as well as customer analysis, prototyping, and experimentation -- all of which are useful to design educational experiences that are tailored for specific populations of people.

In this course You'll be taught:

  • The design thinking skills are required to develop a new product or improve the quality of an existing product
  • How do you identify user requirements and then use these as the basis for the development of user-friendly innovations
  • What is the best way to conduct an economic analysis on the idea you have for your project, and then determine if it has a strong business justification
  • to apply the process of brainstorming, imagination, and concept generation in the creation procedure
  • What is the best way to choose and implement a product creation process that is in line with your project needs -either agile, spiral, or planned

Learning Design Thinking comes with 128 video lectures, 3 live teaching sessions, 3 group projects, seven actual-world scenarios, and the capstone project.

          UMGC x USMx's MicroMasters(r) Program in the field of Instructional Design and Technology.

Price: USD $1,196, or a pre-discounted price of $1,076.40

Duration: 8 months

Level of difficulty: Graduate

In this course will teach you how to:

  • Identify, evaluate, and integrate emerging technologies in online education
  • Apply data mining techniques to design and evaluate learning experiences
  • Select, evaluate, and design digital media that support education

In this course You'll get hands-on knowledge by creating and releasing online courses through the LMS or other platform of your choice. It will help you develop your skills of creating user-friendly and collaborative learning experiences, and advance the understanding of education theory.

UW-Stout's Instructional Design Certificate Course Course in Instructional Design at UW-Stout

Pricing: USD $5,712

The duration is 9 months 3-years

Level of difficulty: Graduate

This course in instructional design by the University of Wisconsin comprises 4 three-credit courses. Each being a general-interest course that consist of "trends and challenges regarding the design of instructional materials", "instructional strategies and evaluation methods", "designing computer-based training (CBT)", and "project management to support instructional development".

In this class will teach you what you can do:

  • Create effective learning materials suitable for all delivery methods
  • Use computer-based training and technologies to resolve instructional problems
  • Control the entire instructional design process
  • Make the most of your educational and career opportunities as well as volunteer network opportunities

Contrary to the beginner courses that you find at Coursera as well as Udemy, this course is extremely low-level. It will require a lot of amount of time to finish, and you'll be able to get the best shot with it if you're either a postgraduate or undergraduate student studying education or ICT discipline.

          the Harvard Extension School's Learning Design and Technology Graduate Certificate Course

Cost: USD $12,880

Duration: 1-3 years

Graduation level: Graduate

For you to pass this course, you need an overall grade of "B" for all of the classes and then you'll be awarded a graduate-level professional certificate with a specialization in Learning Design and Educational Technology.

In this class You'll be taught:

  • The fundamental instructional design theories and frameworks to develop learning experiences for digital platforms, including the writing process, expertise in content, and project planning
  • relevant technology, techniques and software, such as video, editing digital design interactivity media
  • Specificizations such as content management systems, development of websites, site design web programming, and site development.

This class can provide you with the knowledge that you require to begin (or advance) your career in the field of K-12 education, higher education, nonprofit museum education Corporate training, museums, and many other similar organizations.

How do you choose the right instructional course for design

There are many instructional design courses out there. In addition, as you've seen from the courses listed in the previous paragraphs, they differ in pricing, duration, and difficulty level. If you're struggling to choose the best instructional design program for yourself, here are a few suggestions for keeping in your mind:

Consider your career goals

A master's level degree in instructional design isn't for all. Getting a degree costs time, money, and energy that you may not be able to afford, especially if you're new to instruction design overall. A 4-hour video uploaded to YouTube or a free 3-week class could be the type of investment for you.

However, if you'd like to be a top-notch ID specialist or pivot away from to a management position, it's a good idea to take any of the master-level classes mentioned above. These are more costly and take longer however, you'll stand an increased chance to land a high-paying employment opportunity in ID with these certificates.

Examine the content in the course

Instructional design classes cover a ton of different topics. Some cover basic instructional design theories and digital pedagogy. Other courses include learning management systems curriculum design, prototyping as well as neuroscience and visual design among other aspects. Before you sign up for any of the courses, you should make sure that the material is in line with the direction you're looking to pursue for your career in instructional design.

If you're looking to create online videos for learning and then distribute via an LMS, enroll in a class that covers video design, editing, and platforms for digital learning. However, if you wish to develop special learning experiences specifically for people with disabilities or neurodivergent students, you'll need a course that covers gaming, neuroscience as well as concept creation.

Check the course duration as well as the flexibility

Before registering in an ID course, consider your schedule and plan around your schedule. If you work a remote, part-time job, you may be able to enroll in an intense, instructor-led, three- to nine-month program to improve the skills of instructional design. But if you're working two tasks at the same time and you're working from home, it might be practical to choose a course which is self-paced.

Think about the course's cost

The price of instructional design courses can range from completely free to as high as $15,000. If you want to select the perfect program for your needs it is important to establish your budget, and decide the amount you'll be able to invest in the ID course. If you're not making a lot or have lots of bills, you may select a no-cost or low-cost course. If you've got enough money to spare (or are willing to sacrifice your job) then you could take advantage of a more costly training.

Make a career in instruction design

The average salary of an instructional designer is $85,906 a year, according to Glassdoor. It's not just over the minimum wage instructors have the flexibility to perform their duties in a range of establishments, from schools for children to non-profit organisations and museums.

If you're considering starting a career in -- or shift to instruction design, you'll have to enroll in specialized classes that will help you achieve your goal. We've done the heavy lifting for you, and have listed 10 of the top ID classes that span from entry-level courses to graduate level that you can choose from. Think about your career goals as well as your budget and the timeframe you have set, then choose the course that best matches those requirements.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is an instructional design class?

Instructional design classes teach students how to create effective educational experience. The courses cover a wide range of topics including multimedia, eLearning, project management, and many more.

Why should I take an online instructional design course?

Online courses in instructional design offer versatility and comfort. They allow you to learn at your own pace as well as from within the privacy of your own home.

How do I choose the right instructional design program?

In selecting an educational design class, consider your career goals, the course content and duration, as well as flexibility and price.

Do the online courses in instructional design worthwhile?

It is true that online instructional design courses are worth it. They provide valuable skills as well as knowledge to enhance your professional career within the education or corporate training industry.