3 Questions for Instructional Designer Nicole Sanderson

I saw on LinkedIn that Nicole Sanderson has started reaching out about potential instructional design opportunities. Following my conviction that instructional designers are the world’s most important educators and most amazing humans, I asked if Nicole would be willing to answer my three questions.

Q: Tell us about your training and career path. What projects and initiatives that you have worked on are you most proud of? What are your superpowers?

A: I originally set out to become a documentary filmmaker. This led me to several internships and jobs in public television. While I was working at WGBH in the educational outreach department, we were just transitioning to putting materials like teachers’ guides online. I became fascinated by the work the interactive department was doing and decided to go back to school for a graduate degree in learning design and technology. After that, I worked at the Fletcher School at Tufts for a blended master’s program. There, I realized my real interest was in online education. So I moved on to Boston University, then Harvard University as an instructional designer.

While at BU, I worked on a course called Emotions 101, which was a collaboration with the psychology department. It was intended to help freshmen with mental health and emotional management as they transitioned into college. I was very proud to be a part of this important initiative. At Harvard, I think my most impactful course would be Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking. I think learning about rhetoric—both how to be persuasive and know when you’re being persuaded—is one of the most important skills that can be learned. Learners seem to agree—so many have reached out to the faculty over the years to tell him how it has changed their perspective and even their lives. This is what many of us get into online education for, and I was so lucky to achieve it with this course.

I think my greatest superpower is empathy. A wise former supervisor used to say, “We are the learners’ advocates.” I believe that 100 percent, but I would also say it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of faculty and your team and make sure, as much as it’s possible, to see that everyone’s needs are met. This can be a tall order. But instructional design, at its best, is so collaborative that it’s essential to try.

Q: If you were to design the unit, division or team that you’d want to join, what would that organization look like? In your experience, what are the cultural and structural elements that enable instructional designers, faculty, media educators, technologists and other professionals to all play to their strengths, keep internal motivation high and create amazing educational opportunities for learners?

A: As I mentioned before, I think true collaboration is the key. I’d love a situation where everyone—instructional design, videography, editing, graphic design, marketing, product—was consulted at the very beginning to decide the shape of the course.

A lot has been said about psychological safety lately, but it is so much easier said than done. As a manager, you can’t just say, “You can always come to me.” You also have to prove it through your openness and actions. Another important thing is to identify what makes your course unique in the market. If it’s the same as many others, the team won’t be as motivated to see it through. Finally, I would say to strike a balance between courses we make that we think will be both a great learning experience and drive revenue and those that might not be as profitable but are impactful at the individual and societal levels.

Q: For early-career instructional designers and other nonfaculty educators, what advice do you have about the skills, experiences, networks, capabilities and knowledge they need to develop to advance in the profession? What would you tell your early-career self about navigating a career as an instructional designer if you could have that conversation?

A: Another former supervisor used to refer to the best instructional designers as “four-legged stools,” skilled in pedagogy, technology, media and project management. I would advise anyone entering the field to develop all of these and strongly advise against skimping on project management. It is impossible to be a good instructional designer without it.

I like to tell people that it’s OK to take a job that’s not quite perfect, but adjacent to what you want to do. After graduate school, I had a hard time finding a job in ed tech. But I did find jobs as IT support at a middle school and then A/V support at a university. The skills I learned helped me secure my position at Tufts, which combined IT support, media production and instructional design.

I would also say don’t be afraid to make a lateral move if it gets you closer to what you ultimately want to do. I have done this twice and was eventually promoted twice. If I had not made these moves, I would never have met wonderful colleagues and friends or had such amazing opportunities as an instructional designer.