Instructional Designer

University-of-Albert; Edmonton; Hybrid; CAD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Job summary

The University of Alberta's Online Learning & Continuing Education (OCE) seeks an Instructional Designer to design, develop, and maintain online courses. Working with academics, SMEs, and instructors, you will lead discovery, course mapping, assessment design, and quality assurance for graduate, undergraduate, and non-credit offerings.

This hybrid Edmonton role reports to a Senior Instructional Designer and supports inclusive online learning.

Qualifications

• Experience in instructional design or course design is preferred.
• Familiarity with learning management systems and accessibility standards is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop online courses with subject-matter experts and instructors.
• Lead discovery, course mapping, assessment design, and quality assurance for online offerings.
• Ensure alignment with pedagogies and best practices for inclusive online learning.
• Support maintenance and enhancement of existing courses and non-credit offerings.

Job description

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person. Work primarily takes place at Enterprise Square, Edmonton.

This posting will be used to fill up to four positions.

Online Learning and Continuing Education (OCE) is a central University of Alberta (U of A) service unit that partners with colleges, faculties, and external partners to develop prioritized online programming. OCE primarily serves working professionals and mature learners by developing career-relevant online programs, including online graduate certificates, course-based master's, and non-credit micro-credentials. By leveraging OCE's deep expertise in online learning, the unit drives the development of quality, scalable programming to expand enrollment, reach new student populations, and provide accessible educational pathways.

Within OCE, the Online Learning team is responsible for:

• Strategic partnership & consultative support for new online programs
• Online program design and development
• Leadership in quality initiatives that elevate online learning across the university
• Guidance to launch new online programs in market

The Instructional Designer plays a key role in the design of quality, pedagogically sound online courses at the U of A. As part of the OCE team, the Instructional Designer will engage in course discovery, design, and quality assurance, making recommendations that provide a strong, supportive learning experience for students. The Instructional Designer may be assigned new online course development projects and/or may support maintenance of existing online courses. This work may span both graduate and undergraduate online courses at the U of A, and may also include non-credit courses as required.

The Instructional Designer is excited by the art of the possible in online learning. A creative yet pragmatic thinker, the Instructional Designer is eager to design experiences that are impactful, memorable, actionable, and align with pedagogies and best practices for online learning. The Instructional Designer is a skilled communicator who will work closely with academics, SMEs, and instructors to provide guidance, recommendations, and support throughout the course development process and to ensure that deliverables meet and exceed the expectations of all partners.

The Instructional Designer will lead the discovery and design of new course development projects. This includes project kickoff with the instructor, persona development, discovery documentation (course mapping, assessment matrix, and engagement strategy), content templates, and design recommendations. The Instructional Designer will also work closely with Learning Experience Developers - who build the courses in the Learning Management System, Canvas - performing quality reviews of developed modules.

The Instructional Designer also plays a role in course maintenance. This includes performing course reviews and evaluating course health, drawing on instructor feedback, course analytics, institutional data, and student feedback to guide recommendations. The Instructional Designer will lead the maintenance consultations, develop recommendations for maintenance work, monitor scope, work with the instructor and Learning Experience Developer through changes, and provide quality assurance reviews.

The Instructional Designer ensures quality across every experience, compliance with copyright and accessibility standards, and collaboration with internal partner groups to apply inclusive, accessible and culturally responsive approaches to online learning design, informed by the University's commitment to Indigenous Initiatives and Access, Community and Belonging.

The incumbent will work closely with Online Learning’s project management team to align resources and monitor projects, and reports directly to a Senior Instructional Designer, Online Learning & Continuing Education.