Instructional Designer Competencies

This book provides the most current and complete version of statements defining a competent instructionaldesigner, for those who are or aspire to practice in virtually any context, anywhere in the world. Theresearch conducted to update and validate these standards included obtaining feedback from over 1000senior to novice practitioners and scholars working in the North, South, and Central Americas, Europe,Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and African nations.This book is intended for those who hire, train, and prepare instructional designers and those who work (orplan to work) as instructional designers. It provides an updated description of the profession. It lays out themost critical competencies (e.g., knowledge, skills, and attitudes) of the successful instructional designer, regardless of the context in which they work(e.g., K-12, higher education, business and industry, government and military, private consultancy, informal or formal), the location in which theypractice (e.g., the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia), and the type of delivery for which they design (e.g., face-to-face, paper-based, digital,blended).There have always been questions about what instructional designers do... such questions led to the creation of ibstpi more than 30 years ago. Yet, thisquestioning is especially true today with the growing call for developers of e-learning and other technology-supported instruction. The term’instructional designer’ seems to have become a generic phrase that now lends itself to a broad range of meanings, and yet, it is a definitive professionwith a specific scope and focus. The more widely the label ’instructional designer’ is used, the more room there is for misunderstanding about what iscalled for in skills, behaviors, competencies, and outputs. What is called for in the midst of this learning boom is clarity, direction and uniformexpectations. With a common understanding, we can help avert poor design, especially in e-learningand technology-supported instruction, which often fails learners or has high attrition rates.Grounded on rigorous research, consulting hundreds of practitioners around the world, this bookarticulates and explains what is required to be a competent instructional designer. It includes the set ofstandards that clarifies the profession and provides a set of competencies for creating hiring schemes,professional development guidelines, performance assessments, work plans, and curriculum to prepareinstructional designers.The instructional designer profession continues to grow in wake of emergingtechnologies, new pedagogies, and virtual learning environments.However, many educators, instructors, and even training specialists often lack the competencies todesign, develop, implement, and evaluate these newer types of instructional solutions. This bookarticulates and explains the competencies that are required to be a competent instructional designer.