Today’s Instructional Designer: Competencies and Careers

The field of instructional design is growing. Yet the moreopportunities expand, the harder it becomes to answer a seemingly simplequestion: What should a competent instructional designer be able to do?

In this new report, Today’s Instructional Designer:Competencies and Careers, Cecelia Munzenmaier examines the role of theinstructional designer. She traces it back to its beginnings during World WarII, when the US military had to train large numbers of draftees to operateunfamiliar equipment in stressful situations. The training had to be quick, andthe results had to be consistent.

The field has since evolved immensely, but it has alsobecome more difficult to define its parameters. Is an instructional designersomeone who can keep up with all the latest technologies? Someone who canmanage all phases of a learning project from needs assessment to completion? Aprofessional who has the theoretical and practical knowledge to designeffective instructional solutions? Barriers to entry into the profession arehigh, expectations keep increasing, career paths are changing, and disciplinesare converging. The role of the instructional designer continues to change—findout where the profession is today, and where it’s going tomorrow.

This report features a preface by Allison Rossett.