Summary: Have you heard the famous expression: "How will you change the world, if you can't change yourself?". Probably, you have, but I want to ask you another question:"How will you motivate other people to learn, if you can't motivate yourself?"
HowTo Motivate The Instructional Designer
In 2010, Connie Malamed, aka the eLearning Coach, wrote an amazing post with the title Motivating The Instructional Designer that I highly encourage you to read. Based on Connie's informative post I was inspired to write the 7 Tips To Motivate The Instructional Designer. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!
As you already know great things were achieved with motivation and inspiration. When it comes to instructional design, everything is about motivating the learner. Don't get me wrong, I am not against it, but often this results in the burn-out of the instructional designer. In this article, I would like to draw more on how to motivate yourself. All the problems and obstacles you come across when designing a course, might be a great demotivator. It is easy to give up when the subject matter expert you are working with, has a totally different idea of what the course should be about and when your company is stressing you out.
For this reason, here are 7 tips to keep yourself as Instructional Designer motivated, inspired and going:
1. Your course will help someone.
Always remind yourself, that what you do matters to someone and will have a great impact on them. It will help people become more competent at work, achieve more and broaden their horizons. Some of your courses might teach people how to give first aid, how to handle dangerous equipment safely, or how to use technology and social media that will potentially reconnect them with their friends and families abroad. These are not only skills that will just help them become better, these are skills that might change their lives forever.
2. Remember, you promote and defend the interests of your learners.
You are there to help identify the gaps between their needs and their knowledge, help them grow and learn things that will enhance their skills and abilities. You work in their interest, taking them seriously, ensuring the material is spread throughout the course in manageable proportions and the tests are fair and objective.
3. Imagine you are the learner.
There is a video made by RSA Animation, called The Power of Outrospection. It is an inspiring call to be more empathic and to put ourselves in the shoes of other people, in order to take a new perspective. I am sure you are now asking yourself: “How will that help me?” I will tell you how! If you put yourself in the place of the learner, you will understand the value of the learning experience you provide. You will understand how your work is more or less shaping their world.
4. Look at other people's work.
I remember when I was a student, I found it easier to study in the library, because every time I felt the urge to put the books down and procrastinate, I lifted my head up and saw fellow students who wrote their essays, read their books, took notes and worked hard. This motivated me a great deal to get back to what I was doing. In instructional design, it works similarly. Looking at the work of others will not only motivate and inspire you, but will give you new ideas and will help you learn new strategies. You will instantly feel the urge to try some of the ideas yourself.
5. Get in touch with other instructional designers.
Surround yourself with people who have the same interests and experiences as you. According to the creators of Pokke.Me, a new social and professional network: “conversations are very powerful between interesting people who think alike and have similar aspirations.” (Gospodinov, 2012). Whenever you feel demotivated, seek the support and the company of other instructional designers. It is important to know that you are not alone in this.You may want to join theInstructional Design & E-Learning Professionals' Group Google Plus communityorInstructional Design & E-Learning Professionals' LinkedIn Group.
6. Analyze yourself and the reasons why you feel so demotivated.
Sometimes it is not the work that brings you down, but factors outside your office. It might be your family life, or other problems and dilemmas you are facing. Instead of trying to make yourself work, spend some time and find what is demotivating you.
7. Seek inspiration everywhere.
Read a book, that's completely irrelevant to your course and instructional design, spend some time outside, try exciting things for the first time, meet new people, re-decorate and de-clutter your office, start a journal, do a research on a topic that interests you. All these new experiences could be integrated in your course. It is not uncommon for instructional designersto try and explain an abstract theory, by giving examples from sports, everyday life and a number of other areas.
You may also find useful:
- What an Instructional Designer Do? 3 Myths Revealed
- How To Get A Job As An Instructional Designer
- Top 10 Instructional Designer Skills
- 3 Reasons Why Failing As Instructional Designers is OK and Encouraged
- Is it necessary for an Instructional Designer to be a Subject Matter Expert?
FAQs
Get fascinated by the brain. Problem-solving is a motivating task. Your problem is how to provide an engaging learning experience that turns information into knowledge that gets transferred to real world situations. This takes understanding how the mind works and how people process information.
What motivates an instructional designer? ›
Get fascinated by the brain. Problem-solving is a motivating task. Your problem is how to provide an engaging learning experience that turns information into knowledge that gets transferred to real world situations. This takes understanding how the mind works and how people process information.
Why is motivation important to consider when designing instruction? ›
Students without motivation feel no impetus or inspiration to learn a new behavior and will not engage in any learning activities. Educational researchers have long recognized the role of motivation in learning and have studied motivation from various perspectives.
What makes your instructional design powerful and purposeful? ›
Identify your objectives and goals
What's the purpose or the desired outcome? Be clear and concise in your objectives and make sure they're measurable so you can evaluate your training or course outcomes. quantify them if you can.
What are the 3 major components of instructional design? ›
When it comes to designing a learning experience, instructional designers must take three main components into account to ensure the learning is effective: learning objectives, learning activities, and assessments. This is known as the “Magic Triangle” of learning.
What are the motivation of designing? ›
One of the most important motivators for graphic designers is having a clear and meaningful purpose for your work. Whether you are designing for a social cause, a personal brand, or a client's vision, you need to understand why you are doing what you are doing and how it aligns with your values and goals.
What does an instructional designer do all day? ›
Instructional designers are paramount in the process of learning. They are tasked with redesigning courses, developing entire courses or curriculums and creating training materials, such as teaching manuals and student guides.
What is most important when designing instruction? ›
A fundamental principle in all instructional design models is analysis. You can't just leap into course creation. Instead, you need to identify the goals of your learning. What skills or knowledge do we want students to acquire?
How a teacher provides the needed motivation during instruction? ›
Offer nonjudgmental feedback on students' work, stress opportunities to improve, look for ways to stimulate advancement, and avoid dividing students into sheep and goats. Give students as much control over their own education as possible. Let students choose paper and project topics that interest them.
What are the seven key elements in instructional design? ›
These elements are: differentiation, adaptivity, student engagement, direct instruction, practice, formative assessment with immediate feedback and student explanation of learning.
to be good communicators. They need to communicate essential beliefs regarding learning, such as the conviction that all children can learn. need to create a visible presence. This includes focusing on learning objectives, modeling behaviors of learning, and designing programs and activities on instruction.
Why teachers make the best instructional designers? ›
Teachers possess diverse transferable skills that they can highlight during the transition into instructional design. These include communication, collaboration, curriculum development, needs assessment, and project management skills.
What are the 5 C's of instructional design? ›
A core element of SCSD's Strategic Plan is a focus on the skills and conceptual tools that are critical for 21st Century learners, including the 5Cs: Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Communication, Collaboration, Citizenship (global and local) and Creativity & Innovation.
What are the 5 key stages of instructional design? ›
In this post we'll explore the five stages of the ADDIE model of instructional design—analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation—and how this process can help or hurt your learning evaluation methods.
What are the five 5 stages of instructional design? ›
The ADDIE model is an instructional design model used by training developers and other educators. It consists of five critical phases: Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate. Since its development in the 1970s, experts have used the ADDIE Instructional Design (ID) model to plan and design training programs.
What do you love about instructional design? ›
The fun part about this job though is that you will learn new skills in different subject matters and then it's your job to design the curriculum to instruct others. It's actually quite an amazing experience to see your own learning process as you are designing a course.
What is the psychology behind instructional design? ›
Cognitive psychology considers how people perceive, remember, and process information. Instructional designers then apply these findings to the design of learning experiences. This approach is focused on catering content to the needs of the learner.
What is the focus of instructional design? ›
One of the main goals of instructional design is to create learning experiences that are tailored to the needs of your learners. This means that instructional designers scope their learners in advance to gain a better understanding of their prior subject knowledge and motivations for taking the course or training.
Why do teachers make good instructional designers? ›
Teachers possess diverse transferable skills that they can highlight during the transition into instructional design. These include communication, collaboration, curriculum development, needs assessment, and project management skills.
