Forum Discussion
Instructional Design Master's or Graduate Certificate Programs
Hi everyone!
People reach out to me all the time asking which Master's or graduate degree programs they should enroll in to become an instructional designer. With so many programs out there—and ma...
Hi, all!
Like Chantel, I'm currently enrolled in Boise State University's Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning (OPWL) program. I'm currently pursuing my M.S. in OPWL and certificates in Workplace E-Learning Design and Development and Workplace Instructional Design. The program is fully online, which not only makes it possible for me to learn from my home base of Houston, TX, but also provides great insight into what it's like to be an online learner and to practice collaborating with peers remotely.
I found my way into the program when I decided I wanted to shift from being a training facilitator at a Fortune 500 FinTech to an instructional designer. I was considering several programs, but when the VP of our division told me he "would never hesitate to hire someone with an OPWL degree from BSU," I was sold. The program has definitely lived up to its accolades. It is incredibly well-designed with professors who are excellent online learning facilitators. It also includes a great mix of theory, practical tool knowledge, networking, learning application through projects with real clients, personal portfolio development, and opportunities for additional research and practice. As an added bonus, the community of professors and learners is impressively strong for a distance learning program: I have had an incredible amount of support at all points in my journey. This experience and the OPWL community have boosted my experience, my confidence, and my credibility in the field. (I've now been an instructional designer at the same Fortune 500 company for 2 years.)
In short: I highly recommend Boise State's OPWL program - especially if you hope to work with online and distance learning.
I totally agree with what Carissa and Chantel have said about the OPWL program at Boise State. I'd like to add to their points that there are different graduate learning options depending on your goals and background. Since I already have a master's degree in another field and have years of experience creating instructional materials in an educational setting, I decided to pursue their graduate certificate in instructional design. Of all the programs I looked at, this seemed the most efficient and practical way to develop skills in areas such as storyboarding, scenario-based e-learning, and using authoring programs like Articulate. I love how the courses provide a lot of practical experience combined with theory on best practices. For example, the course that covered Articulate Rise and Storyline provided a lot of opportunity to delve into multimedia principles, accessibility, and forward-thinking topics like exploring how we can make e-learning more immersive through audio.
One more thing that really stands out about this program is how much they care about their students. I applied to one local program as well, and this other institution couldn't answer questions about when the classes I needed to take would be offered. On the other hand, Boise State sent me a full schedule to consider the timeframe in which I could complete the degree. Similarly, there is a great focus on helping students in their career searches by developing their portfolios.
It's been a great experience in Boise State's OPWL program.
I gotta say it sounds like BOISE STATE has really UP'd their game! In 2009 I thought I was going after their MS in IT & PT. I took Foundational Instructional Technology and Performance Technology.
I kid you not. It was a Lotus Notes Discussion board. You got a .swf of the lesson to watch, and then were expected to perform an activity/exercise based on it. It felt really detached from itself. I felt no sense of community. Just "watch-this, do-this, review-these-3-peoples' work", one week at a time. (eg. Here's Learning Objectives. And here's how you do it with the ABCD method. Now YOU write 3 learning objectives based on ABCD method. And NEXT!)I wound up doing a blended M.Ed program at Penn State (at the Great Valley Graduate School). And I think I turned out. Ok. :)
Although I've started looking around at post-Masters educational opportunities. Like, if I have a MEd in Instructional Systems Design, and the non-profit that employed me nuked their entire learning department, what's the NEXT thing to do? Are Graduate Certificates worth it? Or are those for Bachelor degree people who don't want to do a whole Grad school stint?
