As the Instructional Designer for the Distance Learning Department at Sierra College, I am continuously developing, teaching, and facilitating various workshops and trainings in online teaching for faculty professional development. These workshops focus on instruction and design, creating accessible online courses, software, teaching tools and methods, conferencing tools, and course design strategies in courses that support student motivation. I lead a process of reviewing and evaluating new online and hybrid format courses for accessibility compliance before the class is launched. I also consult one-on-one with faculty regarding curriculum design aspects of their course, the Canvas LMS, academic video recordings, and technology tools.
In essence, the role of an instructional designer can vary from assignment to assignment, but the value of the role goes beyond helping the instructor design a course. The curriculum designer works with the instructor, who has content expertise, to generate clear and accessible learning materials to support the student's success in the course. This is especially true in distance education where the technical interface can be an added barrier to many instructors as well as students. The design of a course affects the manner in which the student is presented with information in terms of methodology, how they interpret assignments within the curriculum, and how they associate themselves with assignments. Student motivation can be encouraged and supported by a thoughtful selection of course curriculum and communication technologies.