Fast Facts

The College of the Liberal Arts is seeking an Instructional Designer to lead the development and management of online courses, focusing on collaboration with faculty to enhance student learning through innovative course design.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include collaborating with faculty to design online courses, reviewing content for quality, managing course development timelines, and ensuring accessibility standards are met.

Skills: Required skills include advanced knowledge of learning theories, project management capabilities, strong communication skills, and experience with learning management systems like Canvas.

Qualifications: Preferred qualifications include a Master's degree and 3+ years of relevant instructional design experience.

Location: The position is located at University Park, Pennsylvania, USA, and is not fully remote.

Compensation: $56200 - $56200 / Annually

The Learning Design team within the College of the Liberal Arts is seeking an Instructional Designer to oversee all aspects of designing, developing, and managing online course portfolios.

This position is not focused on technical support. Instead, the key responsibilities of the Instructional Designer are centered on collaborating closely with faculty authors to ensure course content and assessments enhance learning and support student success. This involves the evaluation of online lesson content and assessments using knowledge of online pedagogy, interdisciplinary research, and evidence-based best practices.

Specific responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Meeting with faculty authors to design and develop content for asynchronous online courses that enroll traditional and non-traditional students.
• Providing guidance to faculty authors based on established learning frameworks.
• Reviewing faculty-created course content and assessments and providing research-based recommendations to enhance student learning.
• Acting as the project manager for courses in development to monitor progress; determine, set, and ensure others on the team adhere to schedules and deadlines.
• Collaborating with multimedia specialists in the creation of course-related multimedia elements (animations, illustrations, videos, virtual environments) and managing the completion of these elements within an established timeframe.
• Overseeing the work of Instructional Design Assistants for the setup and maintenance of approximately 35 courses each semester.
• Ensuring that all course content follows copyright and accessibility standards.
• Researching and promoting innovative trends and technologies that impact online learning in higher education.

Please note that this is not a fully remote position.

Application Instructions: Applicants are required to submit both a cover letter and resume that highlight the qualifications and experience that prepared them for this position.

They are also required to provide a link to an online portfolio (or attach samples) demonstrating knowledge of online pedagogy via relevant school and/or work projects .

The cover letter, resume, and portfolio must all be submitted to be considered for this position.

System limitations allow for a total of 5 documents (5mb per document) as part of your application. Please combine materials to meet the 5-document limit.

The Instructional Designer will join the team at the Filippelli Institute of e-Education and Outreach. More information on the Institute can be found at https://filippelli.la.psu.edu/ .

The College of the Liberal Arts is supportive of flexible work arrangements when aligned with the ability to meet the needs of the unit and the essential duties of the position. Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process.

To review the Annual Security Report which contains information about crime statistics and other safety and security matters and policies, please go to https://www.police.psu.edu/annual-security-reports , which will also explain how to request a paper copy of the Annual Security Report.

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

Qualifications:

• Advanced knowledge of learning theories, best practices for online learning, and current research in the field.
• Ability to draw from the above knowledge in their course design, reviews, and recommendations.
• Outstanding project management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication (written and verbal) skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with team members and faculty partners, and be comfortable delegating work to others.
• Experience with Canvas or another learning management system.

MINIMUM EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS

Master's Degree

3+ years of relevant experience

Required Certifications: None