My Instructional Designer Self-Training Plan

I’m currently in a transition period between being an ESL instructor and an Instructional Designer (ID).

There are many transferable skills that I can utilize in my new career. These are not limited to curriculum planning, understanding learners needs, writing educational content and editing writing content.

I’m lucky in that I have some experience that can help me progress faster to an ID role. I’m hoping to get my first role in January 2022.

Tech skills IDs Need

The new skills I need to learn are mainly tech-based. They include using design-based programs such as Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, Adobe XD, Adobe Captivate, Adobe Illustrator (and possibly Photoshop), Camtasia, Vyond, MindMeister, new learning management systems and more.

I’m also lucky in that I’m quite a ‘design fan’ and so I am already familiar with using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. I also have experience in editing videos with Adobe Premiere Pro, so I presume that I will be able to learn Camtasia and Vyond pretty effortlessly.

My Instructional Designer career plan is currently as follows:

1. Learn the theory behind Instructional Design.
2. Progress on to planning my first eLearning demo course.
3. Download free trials of the essential ID computer programs.
4. Learn said computer programs.
5. Create my first demo project.

I’m trying to plan and follow a set path, almost like a self masters course.

It’s been excellent learning from other IDs who have taken ID master courses and have told me that they followed an almost similar process.

ID Theory

I’m learning the theory of ID through reading design-focused textbooks, YouTube videos from ID experts, relevant websites and community groups from Tim Slade, Sara Stevick, Cath Ellis, Devlin Peck and LinkedIn Learning courses.

I’ve spoken to some of these legends in the past week and each has been super helpful. I couldn’t make the transition without their helpful advice and would wholly recommend them if you are thinking about working in ID.

IDs on LinkedIn

It’s an exciting time. Please subscribe to learn about how I’ll progress in my ID career. You can also follow me on LinkedIn, where I’m happy to connect with you, no matter what area you work in.

The ID community has been so welcoming to me on LinkedIn. I wouldn’t be as confident as I am in training if I hadn’t made so many connections already!

I wrote about my first experience of the welcoming ID community on LinkedIn a few days ago.

Since then, I’ve made 103 connections (in 3 days), have nearly 200 followers, received 1,600+ post views, 50+ comments, 280+ LinkedIn page views and I’ve appeared in the searches of recruiters from some familiar brands.

Here are my stats from yesterday (as of 11/11 13:50 pm):

It’s crazy. There’s no way I’d get that here.

The main thing (and the most important one to me) is that I’ve been able to connect with other instructors who are also career-changing to ID.

Many people are in exactly the same position as me.

I’ve also been overwhelmed by the support of experienced IDs who want to help me become one. It’s almost head spinning. I didn’t realise people could be so nice. Even the ones at the top of their game.

It’s been a great experience. It’s even given me the confidence to approach senior IDs who are working for brands for mentor support.

Why not? There’s no harm in asking someone to help you get your dream job.

I didn’t realise LinkedIn could be so cool. I highly recommend it if you want to progress professionally and make connections in your work sector. I’ve even connected with some brilliant Medium and Vocal writers there.

I’m three days in and it’s pretty much changed my life for the better!