Support Role 2.1: Instructional Designer Role and Responsibilities
The Instructional Designer supports the alignment and design of four openly licensed textbooks, as well as the development of 24 pilot courses and four resulting sets of ancillaries, also called course packs. Each textbook is piloted six times over a 2-year timeframe. The Instructional Designer ensures that authors, Pilot Instructors and Early Adoption Instructors can implement Open Curriculum Development Project’s Textbook Criteria for Success and Course Pack Criteria for Success. Please read Unit 0 for an introduction to the entire project.
The Instructional Designer is a key player on the project support team. The Instructional Designer facilitates training sessions, shares expertise in design frameworks, and partners with authors, pilot instructors, and other team members for course and textbook creation. This role requires compassion, initiative, and lots of creativity.
This is a full-time, salaried position at Linn-Benton Community College that reports to the Statewide Open Education Program Director.
The Instructional Designer will need to be familiar with the entire Open Curriculum Development Project training (this Pressbook) in order to successfully support all participants.
Year 1: Open Textbook Drafting and Development
During the project’s initial year, the Instructional Designer focuses on providing comprehensive design support to authors by introducing equity-focused practices throughout the writing process.
Key responsibilities during this phase include:
Figure 1 In the project’s first year, the instructional designer collaborates with leadership team to lead professional development and offer focused author support.
| Hours per week during Year 1 |
Task |
Result |
| 5-10 |
Professional development for authors |
- Develop and facilitate workshops and training sessions for authors to familiarize them with the instructional design frameworks this project uses:
- Transparency in Learning and Teaching (Year 1 and Year 2)
- Culturally Responsive Teaching (Year 1 and Year 2)
- Universal Design for Learning (Year 1 and Year 2)
- Open Pedagogy (Year 1 and Year 2)
- Offer ongoing support and resources to assist authors in integrating these frameworks effectively into their outlining and writing process.
|
| 5-15 |
Media support |
- Review and provide constructive feedback on the use of media within the developmental textbooks, ensuring that included media align with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and enhance the learning objectives.
- Advise authors on selecting and incorporating diverse and inclusive media elements into the flow of each chapter.
|
| 5-15 |
Interactive elements support |
- Collaborate with authors to brainstorm and suggest interactive elements that promote engagement, active learning, and WCAG 2.1 AA standards for accessibility.
- Provide guidance on integrating H5P and relevant interactive features seamlessly into the textbooks to enhance comprehension and retention.
|
| 5-15 |
Accessibility Guidance |
- Offer expertise and guidance on accessibility best practices for WCAG 2.1 AA.
- Assist authors in ensuring that all materials are accessible to learners with diverse needs and preferences.
|
Year 2: Piloting Course and Integrating Feedback
During Year 2, the Instructional Designer leads pilot course development. The {Course #} Pilot Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project [Google Sheet] is designed to track this process for each pilot instructor. The Instructional Designer works closely with the Project Manager to support Pilot Instructors with the following tasks:
Figure 2 During the project’s second year, the instructional designer initiates support for course design and development with pilot instructors.
| Hours per course during Year 2 |
Task |
Result |
| 20 |
Course development support prior to pilot |
- Communicate the pilot timeline, deliverables, and expectations to Pilot Instructors.
- Help Pilot Instructors conceptualize the work that will get them to each deliverable (e.g. break down their work into manageable steps, organize their time, and meet deadlines).
- Communicate with and/or meet with Pilot Instructors regularly to keep the project on track and provide 1:1 support.
- Support Pilot Instructors in designing and scoping a course map, assignment sequence, and associated grading rubrics that fully integrate with the openly licensed pilot textbook.
- Ensure alignment between statewide and institutional learning outcomes and course and module-level objectives.
- Complete an Equity-Minded Course Review prior to launch.
- Support the course site build in each instructor’s institutional Learning Management System (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, or D2L). The Project Manager will ensure access to the Learning Management System.
- Conduct a WCAG 2.1 AA course accessibility and equity-minded design review prior to the course launch.
- Compile an Assessment Package for Workforce Advisory Board review.
- See “Course Design To-Do’s” tab in the {Course #} Pilot Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project [Google Sheet] to track completion of these steps.
|
| 1 |
Midterm check-in with instructors during pilot |
- Consult with Pilot Instructors during the teaching term to capture priorities for post-pilot revisions.
|
| 5-10 |
Post-pilot revision support |
- Analyze and synthesize feedback from Student Experience Surveys and Workforce Advisory Board.
- Lead a post-pilot revision meeting to set priorities and create a Course Revision Action Plan.
- Transfer completed course content from the pilot course site into Google Docs in the shared pilot folder for post-pilot revision.
- Collaborate on revision to course content, especially regarding WCAG 2.1 AA standards, ensuring that pilot materials meet the course pack criteria for success.
- See “Course Revision Meeting To-Do’s” and “Course Revision Action Plan Priorities” tabs in the {Course #} Pilot Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project [Google Sheet] to track completion of these steps.
|
Year 3: Revising, Production, and Marketing
In the third and final year of the project, the Instructional Designer works with the Project Manager to complete the following tasks:
Figure 3 In the project’s third year, the instructional designer supports Early Adoption Instructors while completing alignment and quality review tasks in completed course packs.
| Hours per course during Year 3 |
Task |
Result |
| 3-4 |
Course development support prior to Early Adoption pilot |
- Communicate the Early Adoption pilot timeline, deliverables, and expectations to Early Adoption Instructors.
- Help Early Adoption Instructors conceptualize the work that will get them to each deliverable (e.g. break down their work into manageable steps, organize their time, and meet deadlines).
- Communicate with and/or meet with Early Adoption Instructors before and after the pilot to provide 1:1 support.
- Support Early Adoption Instructors in designing and scoping a course map, assignment sequence, and associated grading rubrics that fully integrate with the openly licensed pilot textbook.
- Ensure alignment between statewide and institutional learning outcomes and course and module-level objectives.
- Complete an Equity-Minded Course Review prior to launch.
|
| 1-2 |
Post-pilot revision support |
- Conduct a post-pilot revision meeting to select content to revise and share in OER Commons Group with an open license
- Support Early Adoption Instructors in sharing openly licensed course materials in OER Commons.
|
| 10-15 |
Quality Review for Launch Pressbook |
- Check chapter learning objectives for active verbs and clarity.
- Check figure captions for learner focus and alignment.
- Ensure H5P is complete and aligned with chapter learning outcomes.
- Ensure Launch Pressbook meets criteria for success for Accessibility.
|
| 5-7 |
Course Pack development + quality review |
- Align each Year 2 course pack with the revised open textbook, ensuring that all references to textbook content and learning objectives remain relevant and accurate (12 course packs in total).
- Conduct a WCAG 2.1 AA course accessibility review + remediation of each course pack.
- Conduct final quality checks to ensure valid textbook and chapter links and complete open license statements.
- Total hours of alignment and quality review (per Year 2 course pack).
- See “Course Pack Site To-Do’s” tab in the {Course #} Pilot Deliverables for Open Curriculum Development Project [Google Sheet] to track completion of these steps.
|
Licenses and Attributions for Instructional Designer Role and Responsibilities
“Instructional Designer Role and Responsibilities” by Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
