Many people work as instructional designers, whether it is their job title or not. Some instructional designers work for large corporations, designing large scale training materials and programs. They often have large budgets, a good deal of planning time, and design relatively short courses.

Other instructional designers, such as teachers, work with a small learner audience and a small budget with a quick turn-around time. Regardless of the scale, budget, and timeline, these people all are engaged in similar tasks.

Instructional designers do not work alone. They often interact with a team of other professionals in related areas, including:

• Subject matter experts, who help determine appropriate objectives and content.
• Artists, who create instructional graphics.
• Multimedia developers, who create computer-based interactive learning materials.
• Editors and technical writers, who help make sure all written materials are clear and well-written.
• Project managers, who oversee the team and help keep everyone focused and on task.
• Instructional technology specialists, who help keep the course technology running smoothly.

As an educator, it is more than likely that you will fill each of these roles at one time or another. However, you may want to collaborate with other instructors to create activities and content for your online courses.