Careers in Elearning: What distinguishes educational designers from Elearning developers?
The technology floods our lives and our online education being more popular than ever, the field of learning and development (L&D) emerges as a highly desirable choice for future professionals as well as a basin of talent sought for many companies. Although there are many titles and roles involved in the design, development and implementation of Eearning, those we hear most are Educational designers (IDS) And the developers Elearning. But did you know that these two roles are different from each other despite the operation in the same field and often side by side? In this article, we will dive into the subject of educational designers in relation to Elearning developers, highlighting their unique skills and their specific involvement in the different stages of L&D.
What is an educational designer?
There are many facets in the role of an educational designer, but one thing we can say to summarize what they are doing is that they are the architects of the learning experience. They use a methodology for the design of educational systems (ISD) to analyze learning models and theories in order to create effective and relevant educational experiences. Although they do not finalize the Elearning course, they do all the preparation work, the identification of learning objectives, the collection of information on the subject, the writing of content for the course equipment and even the supply of a script which describes how each module must progress and what the instructor must say at each point.
To summarize, the main skills and responsibilities of an identity document include:
- Apply theories and learning models to create effective learning experiences.
- Organize the content logically so that it meets the learning objectives.
- Creation of storyboards, contours, quizs, assessments, etc.
- Ensure content is relevant to the subject and in accordance with industry standards.
- Develop learning paths for learners with various learning preferences.
- Collaborate with experts in the field (SMEs) to design, refine and adjust the learning content.
- Identify and analyze skills gaps to suggest changes in the learning program for best learning results.
- Update and improve learning content regularly based on data -based information.
What is an Elearning developer?
The work of an Elearning developer begins when the work of the educational designer has finished. More specifically, the developer takes the scripts, materials and directions of ID and gives them life. The first step in their process is to examine the equipment that ID provided to them to identify the missing problems or elements. If this is the case, they will have to work alongside the educational designer to make the necessary changes. Once everything is finalized, the developer Elearning will use a creation tool to start building the course, incorporating the documents provided by the ID while making correct animation and programming choices to ensure a gentle learning experience at the learner.
Based on their role, the skills and responsibilities of an Elearning developer include:
- Storyboards inspection and identifying the problems that could hinder Elearning development.
- Develop a course prototype using quick creation tools to test the materials provided by the educational designer.
- Collaborating with ID and other professionals (videographers, Voices of Offgraphic designers, etc.) to find the best solutions for the subject, the planned public, the budget, etc.
- Expertise in publishing photos, videos and other resources to optimize the learning experience.
- Ability to use creation tools and take advantage of their web development skills to create engaging, visually attractive, friendly and high quality learning lessons.
- Make interactive learning using gamification, complex programming, multimedia and immersive technologies.
- Ensure that learning equipment is compatible with learning platforms, devices and browsers to increase accessibility and overall performance.
- Use of analysis and report tools to assess the efficiency of the learning course.
- Take consideration customer comments and provide exploitable solutions to their concerns.
Pedagogical designers vs developers Elearning: Which one do you need?
Now that we have explored in detail what each of these professionals does, it is much easier to see how different their contributions are to the design and development of Elearning courses. Therefore, according to the scene of your L&D team currently, you will have to seek the expertise of one or the other professional.
More specifically, you need an educational designer for the following elements.
Launch the Elearning project
You simply launch your Elearning project, and you need someone to analyze your target audience and their needs, identify the learning objectives and provide a full plan that describes the objective, the calendar and the budget.
Develop Elearning content
If you do not know what your Elearning course will understand, an educational designer can design activities, assessments, quizs and other materials that align with your learning objectives and the learning preferences of your audience.
Update or reformat the existing content
What happens if you already have an elearning course, but its content is exceeded or if the needs of your learners have changed? IDS can carry out the necessary research and collaborate with SMEs to ensure that your course is equal to industry standards.
Ensure the quality and efficiency of the
The educational designers are the professionals to turn to you when you are not sure of the effectiveness of your course. They can closely examine the content to identify if they are aligned with the needs and objectives of learners and offer appropriate improvements.
On the other hand, Elearning developers are best suited when you want to make one of the following elements.
Ensure LMS integration and multimedia
When you want to add multimedia to your Elearning course and / or integrate it into an LMS or other learning platform, you must work with an Elearning developer. Their vast experience in these fields guarantees transparent delivery and fluid user experience.
Implement Elearning content
Once the educational designer has completed planning, it is time to Contact an Elearning developer So that they can start implementing it using the right creation tools.
Maintain the Elearning course
Elearning courses must be updated regularly to add or correct the content and solve technical problems. Elearning developers are responsible for maintaining the content of the course and guaranteeing its smooth operation.
Increase conviviality
The Elearning developers ensure that the user interface and the overall design of the courses are intuitive and user -friendly. It is also their responsibility to regularly monitor these elements to maintain the levels of use and create a coherent user experience.
Wrap…
If there is one thing that you should keep in mind, it is because you cannot hire a person and expect them to fulfill the role of an ID and an elearning developer at the same time. These two roles are essential, and they attack the & D from different angles. More specifically, the educational designer faces the ideation and design of Elearning and the developer Elearning its development and its implementation. Therefore, when they collaborate effectively, they can ensure that your Elearning course contains the right equipment, meets the necessary learning objectives and offers learners a friendly and engaging learning experience that aligns their personalized development plans. Take the time to understand the main differences from educational designers compared to Elearning developers so that you can determine which you need, according to the Elearning development scene you are currently working on.
