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The Instructional Design Brief

October 12, 2026

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Careers · October 12, 2026

Your next instructional design role might have a different title

You might scroll past a good opportunity because it never says “instructional designer.”Read the brief
The Instructional Design Brief: Your next instructional design role might have a different title

You might scroll past a good opportunity because it never says “instructional designer.”

The work can appear under curriculum, training, learning development, or instructional technology titles. For people who create courses and training materials, the useful question is: What will this person actually design, develop, and assess?

This careers brief brings together current occupational information and established professional guidance. The Bureau of Labor Statistics profile was updated August 27, 2026; ATD introduced its Career Pathways tool on February 24, 2025. The practical applications below are Sonja’s design suggestions.

  • Search for the work, not just the title.

    O*NET’s instructional coordinator profile includes reported titles such as instructional designer, curriculum specialist, instructional technologist, and learning development specialist. Its tasks include defining learning objectives, developing materials, and evaluating instructional effectiveness (National Center for O*NET Development, n.d.). Suggested application: expand your search terms, then read the responsibilities carefully. Similar titles do not guarantee similar jobs.

  • Show your decisions alongside your finished product.

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes training and development work as assessing needs, creating materials, delivering instruction, and evaluating programs. Its profile, updated August 27, 2026, projects 11% employment growth for training and development specialists from 2025 to 2035 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026). Suggested application: build a portfolio example that explains the learning need, intended outcome, design choices, and how you would assess learning. A polished course shows what you built. Your explanation shows why you built it that way.

  • Map your next skill to a role you want.

    ATD’s Career Pathways tool connects job families, common activities, and capabilities. Its February 24, 2025 introduction also notes that responsibilities vary between specialized teams and one-person departments (Hirt, 2025). Suggested application: compare three relevant job descriptions. Identify repeated responsibilities, match them to evidence from your work, and choose one gap to address through a focused project. That might be assessment, facilitation, learning technology, or project management.

What the evidence can tell us

These sources describe occupations and career pathways, not hiring guarantees. The BLS projection covers a broader occupation than instructional design alone and does not establish demand for remote or freelance work. Your career map can begin with the work you want to do, then help you recognize the titles attached to it.

Sources to explore

  1. Hirt, M. (2025, February 24). Discover the possibilities along your career pathway. Association for Talent Development.https://www.td.org/content/atd-blog/discover-the-possibilities-along-your-career-pathway
  2. National Center for O*NET Development. (n.d.). Instructional coordinators: 25-9031.00. O*NET OnLine. Retrieved October 12, 2026.https://www.onetonline.org/link/details/25-9031.00
  3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026, August 27). Training and development specialists. Occupational Outlook Handbook.https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/training-and-development-specialists.htm

Curated by Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.

Accessibility · October 11, 2026

The hidden accessibility barrier: What else does your assignment test?

A student understands the concept but struggles to demonstrate it in the required format. What does the resulting grade tell us?Read the brief
The Instructional Design Brief: The hidden accessibility barrier: What else does your assignment test?

A student understands the concept but struggles to demonstrate it in the required format. What does the resulting grade tell us?

An assignment may ask students to analyze evidence while also requiring fast reading, unfamiliar software, or polished video production. Those additional demands deserve a closer look when they are not part of the learning outcome.

CAST describes these as “construct-irrelevant” barriers: features that can interfere with measuring the knowledge or skill an assessment is intended to capture (CAST, n.d.). For instructional designers and developers, accessibility therefore includes examining the task itself, alongside its documents, captions, and navigation.

  • Check the hidden requirements.

    CAST’s assessment guidance recommends separating the skill being measured from unrelated demands (CAST, n.d.). Suggested application: list everything students must do to complete an assignment. If the outcome is to evaluate evidence, ask whether editing a video or navigating a complicated submission process adds a skill you never intended to assess. Keep requirements that support the outcome and reconsider the others.

  • Offer options with a shared standard.

    CAST’s UDL Guidelines 3.0 support using multiple media for communication when a particular medium is not essential to the learning goal (CAST, 2024). Suggested application: allow a written explanation, audio response, or annotated diagram when each can demonstrate the required reasoning. Use shared criteria for accuracy, evidence, and analysis. When writing or speaking is the skill being assessed, preserve that requirement and design appropriate support.

  • Make the route to completion clear.

    W3C’s foundational cognitive accessibility guidance recommends clear, step-by-step instructions (World Wide Web Consortium [W3C], 2021). Suggested application: separate what students will do, what they will submit, and how their work will be evaluated. Provide an example and test the submission process. Students should be able to spend their effort on the learning task without having to decode the directions.

What the evidence can tell us

These sources provide established design guidance, rather than a new experimental finding. Offering formats alone does not guarantee accessibility or equivalent assessment. Each option still needs usable materials, appropriate support, and alignment with the outcome. Before publishing your next assignment, ask: What does this task require beyond the learning I want students to demonstrate?

Sources to explore

  1. CAST. (n.d.). UDL and assessment. UDL On Campus.https://udloncampus.cast.org/page/assessment_udl
  2. CAST. (2024). Use multiple media for communication. CAST Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0.https://udlguidelines.cast.org/action-expression/expression-communication/multiple-media/
  3. World Wide Web Consortium. (2021, April 29). Use clear step-by-step instructions.https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG2/supplemental/patterns/o4p07-step-instructions/

Curated by Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.

Assessment · October 10, 2026

When AI can finish the task, what shows the learning?

A polished submission gives us a product. We still need evidence of the learner’s thinking.Read the brief
The Instructional Design Brief: When AI can finish the task, what shows the learning?

A polished submission gives us a product. We still need evidence of the learner’s thinking.

Start with the learning outcome, explain the permitted AI support, and ask learners to show how they reached a decision.

This is a research-informed brief, rather than a new-product announcement. A 2026 synthesis is read alongside a 2025 alignment framework and the published 2024 AI Assessment Scale. The three practical applications are Sonja’s design suggestions.

  • Align the task with the outcome.

    Stokkink’s framework argues that AI affects different learning objectives differently. Design suggestion: if the outcome is evaluating evidence, ask learners to compare sources and justify a choice, alongside the final answer.

  • Make the AI expectations visible.

    The AI Assessment Scale connects permitted AI use with learning outcomes. Design suggestion: state what AI can help with, what learners must do themselves, and what they should disclose before the task begins.

  • Keep the learner in the decision.

    Favero and colleagues examine cognition, agency, emotion, and ethics together. Design suggestion: add a short explanation of one decision, one rejected alternative, and what would change the learner’s judgment.

What the evidence can tell us

Stokkink and Favero and colleagues are cited here as arXiv preprints, not established experimental findings. These frameworks do not prove that adding a reflection or AI disclosure improves learning. Evaluate the evidence your task collects against the intended outcome, and check how the approach works with your own learners.

Sources to explore

  1. Favero, L., Pérez-Ortiz, J. A., Käser, T., & Oliver, N. (2026). AI in education beyond learning outcomes: Cognition, agency, emotion, and ethics [Preprint]. arXiv.https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.04598
  2. Perkins, M., Furze, L., Roe, J., & MacVaugh, J. (2024). The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS): A framework for ethical integration of generative AI in educational assessment. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 21(6), Article 6.https://doi.org/10.53761/q3azde36
  3. Stokkink, P. (2025). The impact of AI on educational assessment: A framework for constructive alignment [Preprint]. arXiv.https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.23815

Curated by Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.

Adult learning · October 8, 2026

The best training still needs room on the calendar

A course can be useful, well designed, and completely out of reach.Read the brief
The Instructional Design Brief: The best training still needs room on the calendar

A course can be useful, well designed, and completely out of reach.

Time, cost, and access belong in the design conversation. Before building the next training, ask whether learners can realistically take part.

These earlier reports have continuing relevance. The OECD examines participation barriers; the World Economic Forum reports employer expectations; UNESCO examines unequal access to adult learning. The practical applications above are Sonja’s design suggestions.

  • Can learners realistically participate?

    Estimate the full workload, including practice and assignments. Ask intended learners when they can complete it. For workplace training, arrange protected learning time before launch.

  • Does the course lead to a useful performance?

    Translate broad skill labels into observable tasks. Replace “understand data” with “interpret a dashboard and justify a decision,” then assess that performance.

  • Who is missing before enrollment begins?

    Consult people who rarely enroll. Use their feedback to revise delivery options, prerequisite support, and recruitment, then track whether participation changes.

What the evidence can tell us

These reports do not establish that a particular course format causes better learning. Workforce figures are projections, and the OECD report draws on the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills.

Sources to explore

  1. OECD. (2025). Trends in adult learning: New data from the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills. OECD Publishing.https://doi.org/10.1787/ec0624a6-en
  2. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2022). Fifth global report on adult learning and education: Citizenship education: Empowering adults for change.https://www.uil.unesco.org/en/grale5
  3. World Economic Forum. (2025). The future of jobs report 2025.https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/

Curated by Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.

Information literacy · October 8, 2026

A credible-looking source is only the beginning

“Find a reliable source” leaves a lot of the learning hidden.Read the brief
The Instructional Design Brief: A credible-looking source is only the beginning

“Find a reliable source” leaves a lot of the learning hidden.

Source evaluation is a performance we can teach. Ask learners who produced the information, what supports the claim, and how they reached their judgment.

The ACRL framework offers professional direction on information literacy. Research by Oswald and colleagues examines brief lateral-reading and online-search interventions, while IFLA describes libraries’ work in AI literacy. The practical applications above are Sonja’s design suggestions.

  • Teach two different checks.

    Require learners to answer both “Who produced this?” and “What supports this claim?” A credible organization’s name should begin the evaluation, rather than finish it.

  • Assess judgment after the introductory lesson.

    Include a later task with unfamiliar sources and ask learners to explain their decisions. Treat durable transfer as something to measure.

  • Bring librarians into assignment design.

    Co-design a rubric that evaluates evidence selection, verification, and uncertainty alongside citation accuracy.

What the evidence can tell us

The German study tested brief interventions and news-related judgments. Its findings should not be generalized directly to other countries, age groups, or academic research tasks. Professional frameworks and project announcements are not experimental proof.

Sources to explore

  1. Association of College and Research Libraries. (2026). Framework for information literacy for higher education.https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework
  2. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2025, October 30). Report: Libraries at the frontline of equitable AI literacy.https://www.ifla.org/news/report-libraries-at-the-frontline-of-equitable-ai-literacy/
  3. Oswald, L., Kozyreva, A., Herzog, S. M., Nickl, P. L., & Hertwig, R. (2026). Boosting media literacy using lateral reading and online search interventions. Psychological Science, 37(8), 527–539.https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976261453813

Curated by Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.

Learning design · October 8, 2026

Design the conversation after the simulation

The scenario ends. The learning conversation still needs a plan.Read the brief
The Instructional Design Brief: Design the conversation after the simulation

The scenario ends. The learning conversation still needs a plan.

Connect scenario development with reflection, facilitation, and assessment. Give observers something specific to notice and make room to examine the reasoning behind decisions.

INACSL’s standards call for planned debriefing in simulation-based education. The PULSE preprint explores a structured annotation tool for observers, and AHRQ’s primer discusses psychological safety and participants’ reasoning. The practical applications above are Sonja’s design suggestions.

  • Build the debrief into the learning activity.

    Write reflection questions alongside scenario decisions and feedback. Reserve time to examine reasoning and identify a next attempt.

  • Give observers something specific to notice.

    Try a simple observation form before considering new software. Ask observers to record a decision, supporting evidence, and a question for discussion.

  • Ask what made the decision reasonable at the time.

    Use prompts such as “What information were you using?” and “What would change your next decision?” Evaluate how these work in your own teaching, customer service, or leadership scenarios.

What the evidence can tell us

PULSE is a preprint reporting a very small preliminary comparison. Student ratings of debriefing quality do not establish improved clinical performance or patient outcomes. Applications outside healthcare need local evaluation.

Sources to explore

  1. Edwards, J. J., Wexner, S., & Nichols, A. (2021, November 18). Debriefing for clinical learning. PSNet. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/debriefing-clinical-learning
  2. International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning. (n.d.). Healthcare simulation standards of best practice. Retrieved October 8, 2026.https://www.inacsl.org/healthcare-simulation-standards-of-best-practice-
  3. Vatral, C., Hunt, J., Jesse, M. A., & Biswas, G. (2026). Designing PULSE: A realtime annotation tool to support simulation debriefing [Preprint]. arXiv.https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.09715

Curated by Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.

MEET YOUR CURATOR

Learning with purpose.

I’m Sonja L. Howell, Ph.D.—an instructional designer, author, and educator. I curate research and resources into brief reads that connect evidence with everyday learning design decisions.

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