Series 1: Workbook 1C Companion Course
Designing Instructional Materials
Course Description
Designing instructional materials is at the heart of what instructional designers do. After analyzing needs and planning a course structure, the next step is to bring learning to life with materials that are clear, engaging, and accessible. This workbook focuses on the essential skills needed to transform design ideas into usable, learner-centered content.
Companion Course 1C
Chapters
Select a chapter tile below to read the content and complete the activities.
Chapter 1
Course Structure and Organization
A course blueprint is like the architect’s plan for a house: it shows the big picture before you start building. Without one, it’s easy to get lost in the details, jump ahead too quickly, or forget how all the pieces fit together.
Chapter 2
Content Development
Designing a course blueprint is only the beginning. Once the structure is in place, the next step is to bring the course to life through the actual content that learners will engage with. Content development is where instructional design moves from planning to creating.
Chapter 3
Engagement Strategies
Even the clearest content can fall flat if learners aren’t actively engaged with it. Engagement is what transforms a course from a passive experience into one that sparks curiosity, motivates effort, and helps learners connect new knowledge to real-world application.
Chapter 4
Accessibility and Inclusivity
An effective course isn’t truly successful unless it is accessible to all learners. Accessibility ensures that individuals with disabilities can participate fully in the learning experience, while inclusivity broadens the focus to create learning environments where all learners feel welcomed and supported. Instructional designers have both a responsibility and an opportunity to design with these principles in mind.
Chapter 5
Assessment and Feedback
Instructional design is not complete until we know whether learning has taken place. Assessment and feedback are the tools that tell us if learners are achieving the intended outcomes and provide them with guidance on how to improve. Without them, even the most engaging and accessible course leaves a critical question unanswered: Did the learners actually learn what they needed to?