There are many websites out there to give you tips about nailing the interview. One of these is IDOL member Amanda Kulik’s blog where she shares many tips and useful links to help you prepare for the interview. You can even check out some common instructional designer interview questions. The Self Made Millennial Youtube channel is another useful resource to help you formulate your answers to some common questions. 

However, many of these resources focus on the questions the interviewer will ask you and how you can impress them. But, the interview is a two-way process. So, you should come prepared with some questions too, not only because you will be asked at the end if you have any, but also because you’d probably want to work out how the role...

Hi! I’m Learning Experience Design, but you can call me LxD for short. A lot of people ask me where I’m from because I’m kind of the new kid on the block. Some people even have the nerve to ask if I’m just a teacher dressed in sheep’s clothing. To which I say: yes! I’m a teacher, a graphic designer, an information architect, a data analyst, an interface ninja, and more! That’s just the upper fold of my Tinder profile.

But anyway, I get it. There are so many acronyms floating around LinkedIn nowadays that it’s starting to look a lot like alphabet soup. So, I guess the best way to tell you about who I am - or in other words, “what LxD is” - is to tell you the story of how my parents met.

My mom (ID) grew up in a family of proud third-generation instructional designers. All were summa cum laude graduates of the IDOL courses Academy. My mom was raised on a steady diet of educational pedagogy, neuroscience, and...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Before we get to goals and dreams, let's think about basic needs and motivations. What motivates you? What do you "need" to survive? What do you "need" to live comfortably? Everyone is different, right? Well, yes and no. You may remember Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from psychology class. A five-stage theory breaks down human " needs" into categories: biological, safety, love or belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. The underlying idea is all humans need to satisfy their most basic needs first; then, they can move up to higher-level needs.  

Where do you think employment and job security fall in Maslow's...

When I first came across the title “Instructional Designer” while looking for alternative career options, I was just as confused as anybody would be hearing about our job for the first time. I remember asking questions like: What does an Instructional Designer do? Why is it called Instructional Design? Wouldn’t a title such as Learning Experience Designer or Training Content Developer suit them better? How are their skill sets different from curriculum developers like teachers’? etc.

Then, the more I learnt about the different roles of Instructional Designers, and the more job interviews I had, ironically, the less clarity I had over the companies’ expectations of us. 

The truth is that the role of an Instructional Designer varies from company to company. What a person hired with the title “Instructional Designer” ends up doing depends on a range of factors such as the company’s training portfolio, the profile...

Whether you are seeking a major career shift or looking to grow your existing Instructional Design career, your confidence will deeply impact the journey.

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I got the keys to my first classroom and began preparing for my first year with students, I was...

7taps®  is Available in a Pro Edition in addition to the "Forever Free" Community Edition

Last month we talked about the brand-new authoring tool, 7taps®, that features a stack of cards you can customize as a microlearning asset.  You will recall 7taps® entered the market in October 2020 and boasts it delivers an astounding 99% completion rate in corporate training*. Some questions remain from our last discussion. Such as: is the 7taps® product professional enough for big business? Is 7taps® still a rookie when it comes to authoring tools? What are the differences between the Forever Free and Pro Editions? Who is their target customer? Businesses or individuals? Lots of questions! Let's get to the answers.

Porter's Five Forces

First, if you've ever taken a marketing class, then Porter's Five Forces should be familiar to you. You can see the...

If you’re like me about a year ago, trying to learn about Instructional Design as a career, I’d bet that you have dozens of windows open on your laptop, computer, or phone, all presenting exciting information, but taking you on a detour.

 If you then decided to focus your search and dive deeper, you might have selected some podcasts or Youtube channels to follow. You might have even enrolled in the IDOL courses Academy to guide you through your journey. 

And then when you get a bit more confident, you want to read books to really feel knowledgeable. 

 I am with you. I was there. 

I used to solely read fiction; I loved stories about unusual characters and different cultures. I still do. But when I started transitioning into Instructional Design from teaching, I went on a Non-Fiction binge.

If you ever googled “Instructional Design books”, you have come across lists of 10, 20, 40+ books, each of which could take weeks to finish...

7taps is All it Takes to Realize 99% Completion Rates*

7taps® is a brand-new authoring tool featuring a stack of cards you customize for microlearning. It launched in October of 2020, confirming a 99% course completion rate for its corporate training.* Whoa! What? 99% completed the compliance course?* Who gets that kind of result?! Well, before 7taps ®, the answer was "no one." 

Now, the answer could be "you," and it could also be "everyone!" 

Each of us has an investment in technology and tech-related entertainment. As such, you are probably familiar with trivia cards. Well, as you'll learn in IDOL courses Academy online cards are not just for trivia anymore. Now, you can add another tool to your instructional designer toolbox as 7taps helps you create online card stacks framed as microlearning. Brilliant, right? 

Microlearning is a Hot Topic in 2021

In weekly learning and development meetings worldwide, training managers and teams are clamoring to...

I don't know about you, but once I felt like my resume and portfolio were ready to share with the corporate instructional design world I knew my next step was to start applying for jobs.  This is the part that scared me the most.  I knew the time I spent learning in the IDOL courses Academy had given me the tools to build a strong portfolio and transition my teaching resume to instructional design.  If your resume and portfolio are not quite where you want them to be, check out these two great resources before jumping into your first interview.  IDOL Resume Writing Guide and Build Your Online Portfolio are helpful if you are looking for a jumpstart. 

I also felt confident in my ability to perform my instructional design skills once hired as an instructional designer in the corporate space.  The problem was that I hadn’t interviewed in over 8 years and that was for a teaching position.  I knew I needed to prepare for my...

You’re thinking of becoming an instructional designer, or maybe you’re ready to start applying for jobs. You think to yourself, how can I make myself stand out to employers? How can I build confidence as a new ID? The answer: a portfolio. 

Yes, really.

The power of a portfolio unleashes all of your darkest fears. Creating a portfolio allows you to take that leap into the unknown, and scream, “this is me and I want everyone to know it!” The first step to getting over imposter syndrome is to believe in yourself; so what better way to put yourself out there than with an organized, visual representation of who you are? 

Who are you exactly? You are a learner, curriculum developer, problem solver, eLearning developer, and instructional designer - and so much more!

Here’s a little backstory. 

I am new to corporate and higher Ed instructional design. Most of my pre-ID professional experience was as a high school science teacher. After...