LD101: A Learning Design Career

Description

Learning design is a career that values your experience. If you’ve spent years teaching, training, lecturing or working in human resources, you already have the foundation for this work — this course helps you build on it.

Across six modules you’ll come to understand who employs learning designers in Australia, develop the skills that take you from the classroom to the course-build, and get to grips with the tools and platforms the job relies on. By the end, you’ll be ready to apply for entry-level learning design roles with clarity and confidence.

What you’ll be able to do

• Explore and discuss the sectors, roles, skills and terminology of learning design in Australia
• Plan your own career change — evaluating your skills, setting development goals, and preparing your application
• Understand how design principles and user-experience thinking apply to learning design
• Create a storyboard that embeds sound teaching principles and supports digital production
• Keep pace with education technology, including learning management systems and AI tools

The six modules

1. Employment sectors — LD terminology, the three main sectors (VET, higher education, corporate), sector fit, and the CV
2. Roles and skills — role types, core skills and tools, salary expectations, conditions and rights
3. Design principles — good design, inclusive and universal design, LD models (ADDIE, SAM, backward design, Double Diamond)
4. Storyboarding — the purpose and types of storyboards, pedagogic principles, active learning
5. Talking to the developers — visual style, mock-ups, marking up a storyboard, working with a production team
6. The LMS and beyond — how a learning management system works, comparing platforms, AI in learning design

Fully online and self-paced — study when and where it suits you. Every module blends readings, interactive activities, short videos with captions and transcripts, and a hands-on task that produces something for your portfolio. No exams, no grades: you’re here for the skills, not the certificate.

Who it’s for
Career-changers curious about learning design. Most come from teaching, lecturing, training or HR. You don’t need a background in technology or graphic design — just curiosity, an interest in how people learn, and a willingness to build new skills.