Instructional Design Master's or Graduate Certificate Programs

It's not quite a degree, but in the UK I'm doing a Digital Learning Design diploma through the Digital Learning Institute. We have a couple people from Nigeria and Europe joining in too so it's not just available for UK. I'm currently up to Module 3 and still learning quite a bit despite having been creating eLearn courses for 2+ years

After being an elementary classroom teacher with a Master's Degree in education, and not being able to land a stable teaching position, I transitioned to E-Learning and Online Teaching, through the University of WI, Stout.  Great online program.  Learned a lot!  Thought I'd use it to teach but there weren't many full-time teaching opportunities for me.  Wish I'd done the ID route instead.  I'm almost positive Stout offers that as well. 

I currently work for the State of MN in the Department of Agriculture and we are just now beginning to create online trainings for our inspectors utilizing Articulate. 

Has anyone completed the master's program in Instructional Design at Virginia Tech? I'm considering that program since it's near where I live, but I'm also interested in starting out with a graduate certificate from a university like Purdue that would count towards a master's if I wanted to commit to that later. I already have a masters in English which I fortunately received full funding for, but I discovered ID while in the program and decided that's what I want to pursue.

Is there any standard certification program for eLearning Developers and Instructional Designers to become certified professionals like the Microsoft Certification, Cisco Certification, or Oracle certification, etc.?

I decided to go the route of a Master's Certification in Instructional Design from ATD, rather than traditional universities or colleges.  This was mainly because I wasn't interested in investing in a Bachelors or Masters degree...my research showed me that the return on that learning investment wouldn't pay off with today's job market in this line of work.  I really liked the ATD certification program!  I enjoyed the structure, meeting like-minds from around the globe, and sharing knowledge and experience.  I also liked that the return on that investment would pay off quickly.  Here's a link!  https://www.td.org/education-courses/atd-master-instructional-designer-program

Hello, I've been working in HR for almost a year now and I'm really interested in transitioning my career into instructional design, as I'm very passionate about teaching and inspiring others. Ideally, I would like to be a corporate trainer, and eventually work freelance. I'm thinking of enrolling in a certificate program at a school that also has a masters program that I could potentially enroll in after. Does anyone have recommendations??

The cert. program I'm primarily interested in right now is Boise State, as their admissions process does not require letters of recommendation (I have been out of school for about 2 years now and my current employer does not know about my interest in transitioning out of general HR work, so I'm hesitant to ask her for a rec). I'm located in San Diego and was looking at SDSU and CSU Fullerton, but they both only offer Fall entry dates (I'm looking to start ASAP). Any suggestions other than Boise?

Also, can anyone tell me the difference between ID and e-Learning? I have seen certificate programs for both at the same institution, but the descriptions sound very similar? birdman

Hi, all. University of Baltimore County, Maryland (UMBC) has a great graduate program MA, Learning Performance Technology as well as a Graduate Certificate program in ISD: https://professionalprograms.umbc.edu/learning-and-performance-technology/master-of-arts-in-learning-and-performance-technology/

Chuck Hodell, was a professor at UMBC and he has written many books that universities use to teach their students instructional design.

Oooh this is such a great thread, I’ve googled this stuff in the past. So great to read up on what programs people have taken! Thank you for posting this, Allison!

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I recently received my M.Ed in Learning and Technology from Western Governs University. They also have an Instructional Design program. Both courses have ID courses. The difference is L&T includes technology courses while ID includes measurement and evaluation courses.

HIGHLY recommend WGU. I had a wonderful experience and finished in about 10 months (this is a competency based program), many people finish in 1 term (6 months).

This degree aided me in obtaining my current position as an Instructional Designer. Myself and the other ID are both WGU alum.

• Here is my refer a friend link: https://mbsy.co/3ZGptj
• Link to ID Masters: https://www.wgu.edu/online-teaching-degrees/instructional-design-education-masters-program.html
• Link to Learning and Technology Masters: https://www.wgu.edu/online-teaching-degrees/technology-education-masters-program.html

Hi Allison,

I completed a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design and an MS in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The program is delivered entirely online. The ID certificate leads directly into their MS Ed program, but you'll end up with two valuable credentials. I currently work as an instructional designer on the strength of the portfolios and experience gained from both programs.

I've been part of the interview team for several instructional design candidates. The first thing to note is that candidates MUST have an excellent portfolio. You should make sure to include Storyline projects, which will almost certainly impress your interviewers. It will demonstrate that you are a cutting-edge candidate.

My program was superb and gave considerable attention to building several beautiful instructional design and education portfolios. These are closely tied to action research, stats, interactive learning projects, and project planning for ID.

I am confident that the coursework and self-promotional items in both programs led directly to my current position. UW Stout is very serious, with pragmatic intent, about finding ways to improve your job hunting/advancement prospects.

Check out both of the programs. Enroll. Succeed. It really works.

Commit to actually doing it.

UW Stout Instructional Design Certificate

UW Stout Master of Science in Education