An ESL Teacher’s Guide to Instructional Design

Teaching is a truly rewarding and fulfilling career, but let’s face it, eventually, we all reach a point of exhaustion. I’ve been there, too! That feeling of burnout and the need for change can be overwhelming, but we don’t have to feel stuck in this state. In my previous post, I talked about an exciting career transition opportunity for us ESL teachers to instructional design. I recommend checking that first if you want to get an idea about instructional design and what instructional designers do:

>> From Teacher to Instructional Designer?

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In this guide, I’ll show you how you can take advantage of your skills as an ESL teacher and apply them to the role of an instructional designer. You’ll also find some links to online courses that are either free or affordable and are suitable for beginners.

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As teaching has become increasingly digital -not to mention the great contribution of the pandemic-, if you consider yourself to be a tech-savvy language teacher, I don’t think it’d be wrong to say that your skills already overlap the skills of an instructional designer. As English language teachers, we actually have an abundance of experience, knowledge, and skills that we can apply to the role of an instructional designer.

Your Transferable Skills as an ESL Teacher

Problem-solving abilities to identify and solve issues in the design and development of materials.

Leadership skills to manage and coordinate the development of e-learning courses

Planning and organizational skills to manage varied projects and timelines

Teamwork skills to collaborate with subject matter experts, team members and stakeholders

Knowledge of learning theories to design an effective curriculum and e-learning solutions

Ability to employ a student-centred approach to focus on the needs and interests of learners

Empathy skills to understand learners’ perspectives and promote engagement

Communication skills to effectively communicate with the team and accept feedback throughout the design process

Scaffolding and breaking up the learning into chunks to break down complex topics into bite-sized modules

Writing and editing skills to incorporate story elements into e-learning

Training adults to develop training programs that consider the challenges of adult learners

What more would you ask for?

Let me tell you.

You also have some technical knowledge

• if you make use of presentation tools such as PowerPoint, Canva, Keynote, Prezi, etc.
• if you utilize a virtual learning environment such as Blackboard, Moodle, Google Classroom, etc.
• if you use web-based teaching tools such as Padlet, Quizlet, Mentimeter, etc.

in your classes.

See? We are already acting as informal instructional designers!

Upskilling, of course, will be necessary for e-learning design and development if you consider pursuing a career in instructional design.  It may help to begin with learning about common e-learning technologies such as authoring tools like Articulate 360 and familiarizing yourself with instructional design frameworks like ADDIE (short for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate).

It is noteworthy that coding skills aren’t a necessity for instructional designers.

The next thing you can do is look for online courses to develop your e-learning design skills.

There are plenty of online courses on Udemy and Coursera. I tried to pick the most suitable ones for language teachers. Here are some of the best online courses and certificate programs for beginners:

(Visit Udemy website for regular discounts. Prices can go as low as £15,99!)

1. Udemy – Instructional Design for eLearning £59,99
2. Coursera – Instructional Design Foundations and Applications free
3. Udemy – Create eLearning Courses with Articulate Storyline 360 £54,99 (Recommended!)
4. Udemy – Create a Course in Articulate Storyline 3 360 £34,99
5. NovoEd – Learning Experience Design free
6. Eduflow Academy – Build Engaging Digital Learning Experiences free
7. Udemy- The Complete Instructional Designer Course £74,99
8. University of Sheffield – Instructional Design for Language Teachers £375
9. Digital Learning Institute – Professional Certificate in Instructional Design £799
10. Duke University – Online Learning Certificate $400
11. IDOL Academy $1997 for full training (check the link for short courses)

You’ll also find courses on YouTube channels, Devlin Peck‘s being the most popular one. Check this link to see a list of the best YouTube channels on instructional design.

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As you can guess, even learning the basics of instructional design will help us enhance our expertise. And with the contribution of these new skills, there is a high chance we’ll refresh our passion for teaching, too. So, don’t be afraid to take the leap and explore this innovative world.

I hope you’ve found this guide encouraging and informative, my fellow teachers. All the best to you!

To learn about the authoring tools that are used to create e-learning courses, please check this post:

>> e-Learning Authoring Tools

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References:
https://thelearningrooms.com/transitioning-from-teaching-to-a-career-as-an-instructional-designer/
https://www.digitallearninginstitute.com/blog/transitioning-from-teaching-to-instructional-design/
Images by freepik, wayhomestudio, marymarkevich