Instructional Design Now, a collaboration of the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), explores a learning landscape rich in emerging opportunities, populated by professionals eager to create and unleash content that drives employee development and organizational performance. But ATD and i4cp found that instructional designers don’t rate their profession’s overall efforts as highly as they might. Only about half of surveyed design and learning practitioners characterized their instructional design efforts as effective in helping to meet organizational business objectives. Far fewer believed that their instructional design was highly effective at addressing learning needs.

The diverse influences on instructional design today raise many interesting questions. Does formal education still play a valuable role in preparing designers for the challenges of the workplace? Are most organizations embracing high-tech options, such as mobile learning, social learning, and MOOCs? Which of the newer tools and approaches produce better learning results for companies? And what can instructional designers expect the next few years to bring?