In today’s tech-heavy world, we face a constant barrage of Twitter posts, TikTok videos, instant messages, and other online distractions. To combat this information overload and the distracted thinking that goes along with it, today’s educators and trainers must work harder than ever.

Fortunately, the tenants of instructional design and technology provide a systematic approach to instructional design and development that can cut through the clutter by following logical steps toward clearly defined goals. Perhaps most importantly, this pedagogical methodology looks closely at the specific students or trainees needing instruction and the ways they take in information and, ultimately, learn.

What Is Instructional Design and Technology in Education?

Also known as instructional systems design (ISD), instructional design and technology (IDT), is a set of educational theories with roots that date back to the early 1940s when military instructors were looking for useful new ways to train soldiers to complete extensive and complicated tasks. IDT is the practice of creating, forming and delivering education and training that meets unique student needs and obtains desired learning outcomes. The seamless implementation of technology into the instructional design process is also a key component of the IDT approach.

Basics of Instructional Design

Carried out by specialists in instructional design, IDT employs a set of academic theories and models that strive to make teaching skills or imparting knowledge to learners as efficient and effective as possible. These specialists present a broad spectrum of instructional experiences to learners through the development of educational units and support materials, as well as guidelines for the presentation and use of those units and materials.

IDT also places a firm emphasis on the cognitive processes that drive learning. With a better understanding of these processes, instructional designers are better equipped to deliver instructional experiences adjusted for the particular learning attributes and tendencies of the individuals receiving instruction.

The Instructional Design Process Understood

Although they typically involve similar instructional design processes, the stages or steps of instructional design will vary depending on the specific model you chose to employ (see “What Are the Stages of Instructional Design?” below). However, some essential elements of the instruction design process that are common to most models include:

  • The analysis and identification of clear instructional goals
  • The analysis and identification of specific learner objectives and needs
  • Content design with these goals, objectives, and needs, as well as other instructional requirements and limitations firmly in mind
  • Extensive feedback participation and learning experience analysis to evaluate the efficacy and guide potential redesign efforts

Why Is Instructional Design Important in Education?

Simply put, instructional design offers a straightforward, step-by-step approach to creating, implementing, and running successful education and training programs. Here are just a few ways that IDT can give a leg up to educators and those who rely on their instruction:

A Strong Framework for Curriculum Creation

Instructional design is a great method to develop academic courses, professional training, and other educational programs based on efficient and effective learning. Drawing upon the advantages of the latest technological advancements, this method employs highly systematic foundational processes that take a “learners-based” rather than a “teachers-based” approach. IDT curriculum-building stresses the importance of working toward clear learning objectives through a series of incremental steps.

A More Effective Approach to Training

IDT professionals work toward the use of learning objectives using applicable modern tools to create learning experiences that are explicitly designed to be stimulating, memorable, practical, and realistic. Although IDT itself is broken down into a series of steps or stages, it is not expected that students learn by only following sequential items on an agenda. Rather than simply telling students how to do something, best IDT strategies help to create each step of the process into an engaging activity, either virtual or face-to-face, that allows students to actually experience that step while studying it in detail, working independently with guided instruction.

A Way to Ensure Quality of Instruction

One key benefit of IDT is its ability to help students focus on the most important information immediately, using a curriculum that is structured to prevent students from getting bogged down by secondary and extraneous information. Because the IDT approach is based on the objectives and cognition of learners, they can easily find what they are looking for in an IDT program if it has been properly structured.

What Are the Stages of Instructional Design?

As previously discussed, there are many different models of instructional design and each of these models comes with its own specific series of steps or stages. Here are just a few popular instruction design models broken down into their contingent parts.

The ADDIE Model

Probably the most popular and widespread instructional design model, ADDIE has been used to create and guide countless courses and training programs. Many instructional designers consider the ADDIE model the gold standard of learning experience development. Let’s break down each step in the ADDIE process according to each letter in this handy acronym.

  • Analysis – As the first stage in the ADDIE process, analysis lays the groundwork for the development of future educational materials. Centered around the identification of instructional problems, analysis begins with targeted needs evaluation. Instructional designers will survey the target audience of students and the environment in which they will be learning. After determining key factors such as existing students’ knowledge and skill levels, they can go on to set clear and focused learning objectives.
  • Design – Instructional designers solidify their learner-centered course or program goals at the beginning of the design step in the ADDIE process. After setting these goals, they can start to outline the various elements that will move the course or program forward. This involves planning learning experiences, exercises, lessons/modules, assessment instruments, subject matter analyses, media selection, and methods of delivery. Think of the design stage as a rough sketch or a storyboard of the educational or training endeavors.
  • Development – After designing the basic concept of a course or program, instructional designers must develop appropriate learner-based content around that concept. This means structuring and composing learning materials and performing quality assurance testing to ensure that it falls under appropriate design parameters. Beyond developing written learning materials, instructional designers generally incorporate a range of technologies to teach students through pictures, videos, and interactive digital media, sometimes scripting, shooting, editing, and programming these instructional elements themselves.
  • Implementation – By the fifth step in the ADDIE process, instructional designers are ready to implement plans, placing all course or program elements within a comprehensive package for instructor and student access as appropriate. This stage will look quite different depending on what method of delivery was selected during the design stage. For distance learning or online courses, instructional designers will likely work closely with IT professionals and other tech specialists.
  • Evaluation – Post-implementation, the ADDIE process follows through with the final essential step of evaluation. This means that the course or program is never complete until it is as good as it possibly can be. By monitoring learning outcomes and collecting direct feedback from learners, instructional designers can ensure that their learning goals have been adequately reached. While this step was originally conceived as a final step, today, it is widely practiced as a continuous process that can lead instructional designers back to any of the other four phases at any time.

Merrill’s Principles of Instruction (MPI)

First proposed by instructional design pioneer David Merrill, Merrill’s Principles of Instruction (MPI) is relatively simple yet highly effective. It consists of five key tenets to help learners extract optimum levels of knowledge and skill from any course or program:

  • Task-centered principle – Learners must encounter realistic problems that can be solved through specific tasks that the students must master.
  • Activation principle – Instructional designers must activate existing student knowledge before they can connect new knowledge to it.
  • Demonstration principle – Students better assimilate knowledge when course or program elements and experiences demonstrate that knowledge through means that might include text, audio, video or other forms of media.
  • Application principle – Instructional designers must supply tools that allow and encourage students to independently apply the knowledge they have acquired while learning from their mistakes.
  • Integration principle – Students should strive to extend the application of their new found knowledge into the larger world through reflection, discussion, and other means.

Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction

This instructional design model is the brainchild of educational psychologist Robert Gagne with a focus on education/training flexibility and learners-based situational adaptivity. Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction follows a series of sequential steps.

  • Gaining attention – First, instructional designers must capture the attention of students by presenting new ideas and unique reflections coupled with engaging sensory stimuli.
  • Informing students – With the full attention of students, educators can impart information regarding learning objectives and expectations.
  • Stimulating recall – Instructional designers must stimulate existing student knowledge before they can connect new knowledge to it.
  • Presenting the content – To maximize knowledge retention, course content must be structured in the form of cohesive lessons or modules.
  • Providing learner guidance – Educators support knowledge acquisition by working directly with students and providing complementary subject materials.
  • Eliciting performance – Unique learning activities and experiences are key to stimulating the application of knowledge gained.
  • Providing feedback – Educators must be able to clearly report and explain student performance in the form of extensive feedback.
  • Assessing performance – Educators must also test student knowledge in multiple ways using clearly-stated criteria.
  • Enhancing retention – Instructional designers can foster continuous improvement by constantly striving to boost the knowledge retention of their students.

How to Utilize an Instructional Design Process

Now that you know some of the key models of instructional design and why it has become so important in the worlds of education and professional training, you can consider putting the approach to work for you. Read on for just a handful of ways that you can apply IDT structure and skills once you’ve mastered them.

New Teacher Training

Professors and trainers in the field of education are keen to employ ADDIE and other instructional design models in the curricula that they introduce to new teachers. A solid foundation in industrial design gives teachers and trainers the fundamentals they need to develop successful courses and programs.

Developing New Course Curriculum

Any of the instructional design models above and many others can guide the development of new course curricula in a broad spectrum of academic instruction and professional training. Although instructional design is generally learners-based, it can also be tailored to meet the specific needs of educators.

Creating Course Syllabi

Quality instructors will generally present a clearly delineated course or program syllabus to their students at the very beginning of the learning process. Instructional design can guide these instructors, step by step, through the syllabus development process.

Improving Administrator Training

When it comes to instructional development training, the benefits previously outlined for new teachers apply equally to seasoned educators who have entered, or are aspiring to enter, the world of academic administration.

Developing Informational Materials

Even outside the K-12 or higher education realm Instructional Designers are used widely in business/corporations, as well as community institutions. Think about any educational materials you may have read from doctors’ offices or insurance companies, community health and wellness information, or even HR documents and training.

Learn More About Instructional Design and Technology!

If you want to learn more about instructional design and technology (IDT), contact an admissions counselor at the Keiser University Graduate School today. We are ready to help you achieve your educational and professional goals.

Our IDT graduate programs include an Education Specialist (EdS) in Instructional Design and Technology, a Master of Science in Education (MSEd) in Education with a focus in Instructional Design and Technology, a Doctor of Education (EdD) with two concertation options in Curriculum Leadership or Educational Leadership and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Instructional Design and Technology.

Committed to putting our students first, Keiser University offers small class sizes with personalized instruction at all levels of study. Let us help you find an IDT program that meets your education and career goals.