In recent years, instructional design has become more important in the educational world, and it will continue to reshape how we educate students since the learning landscape changed due to Covid-19. Instructional designers (ID) and learning experience designers (LXD) are positioned to be “high-impact agents of change” in their institutions in the future. Their role is moving from a support role to that of a leading expert in teaching and learning (Brown et al., 2020; Vergroesen, 2020).
Learning design is a learner-centered process, and the IDs and LXDs are individuals who have course design skills and knowledge of how learning occurs. The courses they develop are student-centered, use evidence-based instructional strategies, have strong assessment components, and use innovative technology. Collaboration with instructors and others in the design team is important in order to create meaningful learning experiences. In addition to creating courses, IDs and LXDs also assess how students learn and their experience, and they assist faculty members by helping them become more digitally literate and proficient (Brown et al., 2020).
What does an Instructional Designer (ID) do?
IDs may have many job responsibilities depending on their location. One thing that all have in common is “structuring curriculum, designing courses, and creating training materials” (Vergroesen, 2020). IDs “look for gaps in knowledge and come up with ways to fill them, whether through games, tutorials or articles” (Khan Academy, 2021). According to Purdue Online (n.d.), IDs redesign courses, develop entire courses or curriculums, and create training materials. The instructional design process starts with an analysis, followed by design, development and production. (Malamed, 2021).
IDs may also manage projects and do administrative work related to that such as marketing, presentations and demos.
Other responsibilities IDs may have include: 1) testing out new eLearning tools to evaluate them for effectiveness, 2) making product recommendations and purchasing decisions, 3) designing or retooling learning models, 4) compiling and implementing feedback from program reviews, 5) running pilot programs, 6) designing instructional management systems, 7) creating educational podcasts, videos and content, and 8) researching new innovations in design and learning (Vergroesen, 2020; Purdue Online, n.d.).
IDs train faculty in the areas of technology integration, delivering content, and pedagogy expansion, especially in the area of transitioning a course to an online format (Vergroesen, 2020; Purdue Online, n.d.). IDs may also help create a supportive environment by managing online communities, using social technologies to encourage collaboration, gathering content, and by teaching others to do the same (Malamed, 2021).
What does a Learning Experience Designer (LXD) do?
LXD has two core values: human-centered design and goal-oriented design. It can be defined as the process of creating a course that focuses on both elements of the core values (“What is Learning Experience,” 2020).
LXD is more about learning than it is about teaching (“What is Learning Experience Design,” 2021). LXDs develop their courses with the learner needs in mind beginning with a learning environment and learner analysis. Then objectives, course outlines, scripts, user interface, and assessment methods are developed. They merge design thinking, cognitive psychology, and instructional design.
LXDs also use gamification and create virtual learning environments (Brown et al., 2020; “What is Learning Experience,” 2020; “Learning Experience Design,” 2021). They use a variety of tools (relevant graphics, audio, charts, animation, gamification) to teach. Their courses also allow the learner to choose the sequence of completion and provides real-life scenarios/simulations (“Learning Experience Design, 2021).
Courses designed by LXDs need to have several qualities: 1) high functionality, 2) reliability, 3) usability, 4) convenient to use on any device, 5) engaging and fun, and 6) meaningful. Since LXDs are designing with the student in mind, they will need to survey students to identify their gaps, select relevant content, test the course, and use feedback to improve it (“What is learning experience,” 2020).
What’s the difference?
Though there are many similarities, it is the main focus of ID and LXD that separates them. ID has a top-down focus on the instruction or content, and LXD has a more bottom-up focus on the learners and their needs. (Learning Experience Design, 2021).
Floor (2021) says that the differences between ID and LXD fall in five areas: perspective, skills, methods, tools, and results. He says ID has a scientific perspective, and LXD is more like applied art. This is because they originated from different fields. This perspective difference affects the skills, methods, and tools used to facilitate learning (Floor, 2021).
It has also been asserted by others that there is no clear distinction between ID and LXD, and that LXD is a type of ID. Both begin with a learner analysis (human-centered), have goal-oriented designs, and learning theories are used in both. Typically, the term LXD connotes a more innovative approach, and ID is more well-known and traditional (“Learning Experience Design vs.,” 2021).
Future Outlook
Learning designer (ID and LXD) positions are not limited to the education realm. “Well-designed digital learning is helping companies retain the best employees; shape employee growth; create a more connected company culture; promote inclusion; increase worker safety – and even increase revenue” (Learning Experience Design, 2021).
According to several job descriptions, instructional designers are sought to design and develop learning activities to help learners in a targeted audience to fill gaps and gain knowledge, skills and competencies (“Instructional Designer Job,” 2020; TalentLyft, 2021). Based on the job descriptions, there are many areas of overlap between ID and LXD, but some areas of specialization for each, as mentioned in the literature above. The future outlook for this position is good as employers and schools attempt to “upskill their workforce” (“Instructional Designer Job Description,” 2021).
References
Brown, M., McCormack, M., Reeves, J., Brooks, D. C., Grajek, S., & EDUCAUSE. (2020). 2020 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition. In EDUCAUSE. EDUCAUSE.
Floor, N. (2021, May 11). Learning experience design vs instructional design. Learning Experience Design. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://lxd.org/news/learning-experience-design-vs-instructional-design/.
Khan Academy. (n.d.). What does an instructional designer do? Khan Academy. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/career-content/educate/career-profile-instructional-designer/a/what-does-an-instructional-designer-do.
Learning experience design: Everything you need to know. ELM Learning. (2021, January 16). Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://elmlearning.com/learning-experience-design-everything-you-need-to-know/.
Learning experience design vs. instructional design. RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.devlinpeck.com/posts/lxd-vs-id.
Malamed, C. (2021, August 16). What do instructional designers do? The eLearning Coach. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/is-this-instructional-design/.
Purdue Online. (n.d.). What do instructional designers do? Purdue University Online. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://online.purdue.edu/blog/education/what-do-instructional-designers-do.
Vergroesen, L. L. (2020, July 9). What does an instructional designer do? · Eduflow blog. RSS. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.eduflow.com/blog/what-does-an-instructional-designer-do.
What is learning experience design? Learning Experience Design. (2021, May 3). Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://lxd.org/fundamentals-of-learning-experience-design/what-is-learning-experience-design/.
What is learning experience design and how does it impact employee training? Designing Digitally, Inc. (2020, February 6). Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.designingdigitally.com/blog/what-is-learning-experience-design-impact-employee-training.
Job Descriptions used for graphic:
Instructional designer job description. Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better. (2020, May 26). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://resources.workable.com/instructional-designer-job-description.
Instructional designer job description sample: Monster.com. Monster Hiring. (2021). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://hiring.monster.com/resources/job-descriptions/education/instructional-designer/.
Learning experience designer job in Manchester at Southern New Hampshire University. Lensa: Learning Experience Designer job. (2021, March 9). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://lensa.com/learning-experience-designer-jobs/manchester/jd/069e61837277429d9e676be49529a502.
Learning experience designer, learning & leadership. amazon.jobs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://www.amazon.jobs/en/jobs/1644697/learning-experience-designer-learning-leadership.
TalentLyft. (2021). Instructional designer job description template. Recruiting and Hiring Resources. Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://www.talentlyft.com/en/resources/instructional-designer-job-description.
Taskus is looking for learning experience designer. Jobvite. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from https://jobs.jobvite.com/taskus-inc/job/ozuGefwH.
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