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Learn more about the rapidly growing field of Instructional Design
The Foundations of Instructional Design online course dives deep into the theories and practices needed to create effective educational content. Whether you’re an educator, e-learning developer, or passionate about personal and professional skill development and have a desire to make your own courses, this course equips you with tools to design engaging and informative instruction. Throughout the course, students will learn to apply instructional design principles to a variety of educational settings, from schools to corporate training programs and beyond. They will gain insights into learner needs, learning objectives, and effective strategies for engaging and assessing learners.
Upon completion of MSU Denver’s Foundations of Instructional Design course, participants will gain the skills needed to craft instructional materials that are not only informative but interactive and that cater to different strategies to meet diverse learner needs.
This introductory online instructional design course serves as an ideal starting point for those eager to pursue careers in instructional design and can stack into an MSU Denver credential or degree.
Why take this course?
Flexible schedule
The course can be completed in 4-8 weeks and is self-paced online.
Career advisement
Receive a personal advising session with an industry leader.
High job demand
Gain a competitive edge.
Brief introduction to the Foundations of Instructional Design course
Career pathways in Instructional Design
Approximate return on investment for each academic pathway
Pathway 1: Enter the workforce quickly. Complete the Foundations of Instructional Design course and immediately enter the workforce with your new instructional design skills.
- The median salary is $35,000 a year.
Pathway 2: Continue your academic career to earn an Instructional Technology Undergraduate Certificate, which will allow you to increase your earning potential. This instructional design certificate prepares you to help curriculum designers implement educational materials within online courses and in-person learning experiences.
- The median salary is $42,000 a year.
Pathway 3: Continue your academic career to earn a Minor in Instructional Design and Technology, which will allow you to increase your earning potential. Job roles include instructional media production, corporate training, classroom and online instruction, and more.
- The median salary is $63,000 a year.
Pathway 4: Enhance your earning power with an Online Instructional Technology Post-baccalaureate Certificate. This gives you the ability to work with a professional certificate as a full Instructional Designer in different types of organizations.
- The median salary is $65,000 a year.
About the Foundations of Instructional Design course
The Foundations of Instructional Design course instructs students in key theories and practices for creating impactful creative content within their curriculum. A central objective of this instructional design course is the methodology and strategy of tailoring instruction to meet the diverse needs of learners within the landscape of contemporary education while crafting an engaging learning experience.
As part of this interactive story, you create training courses, and learning experiences, and even design a mini-course using a real learning management system for module development to win an instructional design contract for your virtual company.
The course is $450, with a $35 transaction fee per payment. There are no books to purchase.
- Registration opens in December
- Course begins – February 3, 2025
- Last day to register – February 10, 2025
- Course ends – April 4, 2025
- Registration opens in April
- Course begins – September 2, 2025
- Last day to register – September 9, 2025
- Course ends – November 2, 2025
Once you successfully complete the course, you can immediately enter the workforce with newly learned instructional development skills. You will receive a digital badge embedded with the competencies learned. You can include this badge on your resume, LinkedIn page, portfolio, or share it with an employer. Students will also receive a certificate of completion.
MSU Denver students who complete the Foundations of Instructional Design online self-paced course can pursue career opportunities in a wide array of career fields with demand across sectors such as training, consulting, and skill development. Some in-demand industries where someone with a certificate in instructional design strategies and methodologies include:
- Corporate Training
- Education
- Manufacturing and Industry
- Non Profit Organizations
- Finance
- Government
- Healthcare
- Human Resources
- Freelance and Entrepreneurship
Students can also convert the course to three credits and continue to an MSU Denver certificate or degree. See FAQs for more information.
- Instructional Design Theories and Applications
- Curriculum Development and Project Management
- Assessment Strategies and Learning Objectives
- Project Planning and Resource Management
- Professional Development and Portfolio Building
About your instructional design course instructor
Instructional Design instructor
A former decorated US Army Military Intelligence Noncommissioned Officer who, after graduating from Basic Combat Training, Defensive Language Institute (Presidio of Monterey), and the Electronic Warfare Signals Intelligence Programs, spent most of his military career overseas, Alex McDaniel earned his BS in Organizational Communication from MSU Denver, his MA in Instructional Design and Adult Learning from the University of Colorado Denver. Alex has more than 20 years of professional instructional design and leadership experience and currently supports MSU Denver as the Associate Director of Instructional Design. Alex has also developed and taught numerous face-to-face and online courses including: Instructional Design Thinking (EDT-2050), Games, Applications, and Instructional Interaction (EDT-3050), Intermediate Interactive Production (COM-3450), and Producing Digital Documents (COM-3630).
Since 2005, Alex McDaniel has worked with individual faculty members to create and improve hundreds of online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses. After watching a speech from Sal Khan (of Khan Academy) in 2012 about the power of open instructional resources and platforms, Alex began a deep investigation of OERs, including mastering so many subjects offered via Khan Academy that he became one of the few people in the world to earn a Black Hole Badge. Throughout this time, Alex actively sought ways to infuse OERs into course design processes in order to maximize student learning and make each learning opportunity more affordable for Colorado students. In his current role as Associate Director of Instructional Design, he has worked with his team to increase the overall adoption and creation of OERs within the design of online and hybrid courses at MSU Denver, resulting in saving students hundreds of thousands of dollars and dramatically increased access to students who might have otherwise been excluded from continuing their education.
Recent awards include the MSU Denver Extraordinary Service Award, Roadrunner’s Who Soar Award, eLCC’s Learning Technologist of the Year, Blackboard Catalyst, and the Online Learning Consortium Effective Practice.
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Metropolitan State University of Denver
Innovative and Lifelong Learning
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Denver, CO 80217-3362