Instructional Designers
Overview
Introduction
Instructional designers design, develop, and deliver instructional materials and courses for colleges and universities, elementary and secondary schools, companies, nonprofits, government agencies, and other employers. They have a wide range of skills, including those in pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching), information technology, and digital design.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
PayScale.com reports that instructional designers earned salaries that ranged from $52,000 to $93,000 in 2024, according to salary data provided by instructional designers at corporations, consulting firms, educational software and textbook companies, and colleges and universities. They earned average salaries of $70,074.
Employers offer a variety of benefits, which can include any of th...
Work Environment
Instructional designers work in typical office settings at schools and other employers. The widespread usage of project management and video conferencing software allows many instructional designers to work from home or other remote locations some or all of the time.
Instructional designers have cited a lack of buy-in to their work by teachers as the biggest obstacle to success in the wo...
Outlook
In a September 2024 blog post, Josh Herron, Ph.D., of the Online Learning Consortium called instructional designers the "unsung heroes of digital learning," noting that their contributions were essential during the COVID-19 pandemic as the 2020s began. This remained true during the middle of the decade as emerging technologies like generative AI and chatbots impacted the way people learn.
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