Over the past few decades, the world of online learning has grown and expanded at an incredible rate. In 2019, its global value was around $200 billion, and today, thanks to its increasingly common presence in universities, startups, and global organizations, statistics suggest that this value will increase to almost $400 billion by 2026. This rapid growth not only reflects the high demand for ever more agile and flexible online education, but also the need for trained professionals who know how to design effective and engaging learning experiences.
Naturally, e-learning designers are key players within this ecosystem. They are the ones responsible for creating courses and educational materials that not only pass on knowledge to students, but also optimize information retention and user engagement. So, whether you’re a professional who’s looking to become an e-learning designer, or a leader eager to improve your company’s in-house training experiences, then this is the article for you.
Below, we’ll explain in full detail what an e-learning designer is, the skills you’ll need to succeed in this field, and the steps you can follow to get your career going in this sector.
Step one: understand what e-learning designers do
As we’ve already outlined, an e-learning designer or instructional designer is a professional responsible for the design of didactic, interactive digital content. They combine pedagogical skills, technological know-how and creativity to design quality educational training programs. These can then be used in a variety of environments, from in-house corporate training to higher education.
However, contrary to popular belief, these professionals are not just responsible for designing e-learning courses, but any type of digital, pedagogical resource that can serve as a support for learning. Examples include interactive videos, educational games, simulations, podcasts, guides, and animations.
The roles and responsibilities of an e-learning designer
The roles and responsibilities of an e-learning designerIn order to design truly effective and engaging training experiences, e-learning designers must perform a range of duties, carefully structuring courses that help students to achieve their training goals. Here are some of their main responsibilities:
- Needs analysis: Before starting to design any content, e-learning designers need to carry out a thorough analysis of the learning needs of end users. This involves holding interviews, distributing surveys, and reviewing existing data to identify knowledge and skills gaps that need to be filled.
- Instructional design: Next, using the principles of pedagogical theory, e-learning designers set about creating a plan to structure the educational content they want to share. This includes establishing clear learning objectives, designing interactive activities, and choosing assessment methods most appropriate to the intended audience.
- Content development: Once the design has been fixed, designers can begin developing the content itself. This may involve: writing video scripts; creating multimedia presentations; preparing games and simulations; and producing podcasts and other interactive resources.
- Technological integration: e-learning designers also need to keep up to date with the latest trends in learning technologies and tools. These can include developments in authoring tools, video and audio editing tools, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
- Evaluation and feedback: After implementing a training program, an eLearning designer needs to collect relevant data and analyze it in order to measure the content’s effectiveness and make continuous improvements. This involves conducting satisfaction surveys, holding simple knowledge tests, and analyzing usage data.
- Updating content: In a constantly changing professional landscape, it’s vital that educational content is kept up to date. eLearning designers must regularly review and update their materials to ensure they remain relevant and effective.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration: Finally, e-learning designers work closely with other professionals – such as subject matter experts, web developers, graphic designers and marketing specialists – to ensure that content is not only pedagogically sound, but also visually appealing and technically functional.
Understanding these roles will give you a clearer view of what being an e-learning designer entails, and help you determine which skills you need to develop if you want to become a successful professional in this field.
Step two: focus on skills development
Now you know what e-learning designers do, and understand their various responsibilities as they go through the process of creating learning resources. However, in order to carry out these responsibilities effectively, certain skills are required. Let’s take a closer look at these:
Pedagogical and instructional design skills
An e-learning designer must always be aware of different learning theories, such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, and know how to apply them practically in the design of educational materials. They must also know how to develop learning objectives, which closely guide the design of content and assessments within courses.
Another skill that any professional who wishes to progress in this field must master is to be able to design attractive, engaging activities that promote active student participation. These types of activities include questionnaires, games and practical exercises.
Technological skills
Technological skillsUnderstanding how to use authoring tools is crucial for e-learning designers. These are the basic tools which allow you to create interactive e-learning content. Most of them work by providing a series of base slides on top of which you can add content and multimedia resources, building your courses without the need for design or programming knowledge. With an authoring tool as simple, intuitive and easy to use as isEazy Author by your side, you’ll never need experience or training to create spectacular e-learning courses in minutes.
Graphic Design and UX/UI Skills
Graphic Design and UX/UI SkillsUnderstanding the basic principles of graphic design will allow you to create visually appealing content. Learn about typography, color and layout to improve the student experience. Ensuring that content is easy to navigate and interact with is also important, so having some knowledge of UX and UI will make it possible for you to design user-friendly and effective interfaces.
Soft Skills
Not all the skills you need to become an e-learning designer are technical – in fact, some of them are the famous ‘soft skills’. Social and interpersonal skills will allow you to successfully carry out the projects you plan, improving communication, preparation, time management, collaboration, and even creativity and empathy. All of these qualities are crucial for working within or leading teams.
How best to develop these skills?
There are many ways to develop both technical and soft skills. Some of the most common include: courses and certifications; internships; personal projects; mentoring or coaching; and even professional networks and communities dedicated to skill development. Check out this post from our blog for inside information on learning by doing, a key methodology for developing skills.
Step three: best practices for creating effective e-learning content
We’re almost there! The final step in becoming a successful e-learning designer is to know the best practices for creating effective, engaging e-learning content. So let’s take a look at them:
Know your audience
Before designing any educational content, it’s essential to understand who your audience will be. Designing learning resources for a school is not the same as putting together a corporate training program, for example. In order to overcome this issue, conduct an audience analysis to identify their needs, interests, existing skills and learning styles. This will allow you to personalize the content you produce, and make it more relevant.
Establish clear, achievable objectives
The basic intention of the training resources you design is to help students learn concepts, acquire skills, or develop competencies for their professional roles, whatever they may be. Therefore, be sure to set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) learning objectives. These objectives will provide a solid guide for the development of the content and give clear direction to both designers and learners.
Design learning experiences, not just learning resources
Structure the content you produce in a logical and coherent way, breaking it down into modules or short, themed units, to match the consumption patterns of the newest generations. Use concept maps, diagrams and outlines to help students visualize the structure and content of the course, but don’t forget about other interactive resources – such as videos, tutorials, podcasts and games – that can also enrich the learning experience, making it more dynamic and attractive.
Facilitate independent learning
Not all students are the same, or have the same preferences when it comes to learning. For this reason, you should provide additional resources that allow students to delve deeper into the topics that interest them – independently and at their own pace. Examples include supplementary readings, links to articles, videos and additional tools.
Design for accessibility
Make sure your content is accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. Use alternative text for images, subtitles for videos, and ensure that navigation is intuitive – as well as compatible with assistive technologies. Unsure about how to do it? Here’s a complete guide to creating accessible content with our authoring tool (spoiler alert: it’s really easy!)
Request feedback and take advantage of analytics and data
Request feedback and take advantage of analytics and dataAsk for feedback from students or stakeholders on a regular basis. Use this information to identify areas for improvement, and adjust your content and approach as necessary.
Next step? isEazy Author!
As we’ve seen, becoming a successful e-learning designer requires a combination of pedagogical, technological and creative skills, coupled with a profound understanding of best practices in creating educational content.
We’ve explored the essential steps you’ll need to take to enter this world, but in order to really succeed as an e-learning designer, it’s crucial to choose the correct tool to create your content. This is where isEazy Author comes in – an authoring tool designed to help you create accessible, dynamic and engaging e-learning courses, quickly and autonomously, and all without the need for experience.
Produce e-learning courses in record time with our intuitive interface and powerful features. Plus, automatically generate translations, voiceovers, automatic subtitles, games and exercises in just a few clicks thanks to AI. So what are you waiting for? Try the number 1 authoring tool on the market today!
Frequently asked questions: e-learning designers
An e-learning designer is a professional responsible for creating interactive, digital educational content. Their responsibilities include designing online courses, interactive videos, educational games, simulations, podcasts, guides, animations and other digital resources.
E-learning designers need to combine pedagogical skills, technological knowledge and creativity. This combination allows them to design training programs that can be used in a variety of settings, from in-house corporate training to higher education.
Although there is no single, fixed path to becoming an e-learning designer, some of the qualifications that could help you along the way are degrees or certifications in fields such as education, educational technology, and instructional design. Online courses and, above all, practical experience are also vital.
E-learning designers use a wide range of tools and software to create effective, interactive content. Some of the most common of these include authoring tools, learning management systems (LMS), graphic design tools, editing software, and even emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Instructional design knowledge is critical for an e-learning designer. This knowledge allows them to develop educational content that is not only engaging, but also pedagogically secure and effective for students. Understanding learning theories, assessment methods, and the principles of instructional design is key to creating training programs that truly enhance learning and performance.
Although the terms “e-learning designer” and “instructional designer” are often used interchangeably, there are several slight differences in their professional approach. An e-learning designer focuses specifically on creating digital educational content, using tools and technology to develop online courses and resources. An instructional designer on the other hand takes a wider approach, not only creating digital content, but also designing learning experiences in a variety of other forms, such as face-to-face and hybrid. In this sense, they apply pedagogical and learning principles more widely than e-learning designers.
