What is Instructional Design, and How Can It Help Fight Poverty?

Instructional design is the thoughtful, research-based creation and implementation of educational resources, trainings, and lessons. It’s a growing field that not many have heard of—but that doesn’t make it any less impactful.

In fact, instructional design (ID) likely led in a huge way to the nature of the world as we know it today: ID was instrumental in winning World War Two. WWII is often cited as the spark for the creation of the ID field, as getting important information in the hands of soldiers and civilians led to the new field of educational science. In an effort to make nations and individuals as war-ready as possible in as short a time as possible, science began to be applied to the processes of teaching and learning.

So, what does this have to do with poverty? 

Well, poverty is, in many cases, an issue of access, both to resources and to education. By creating educational materials which provide access to skill-building information, we bring opportunities for exiting poverty by creating paths forward and opening doors that would otherwise remain closed.

How can we create doors out of poverty with ID? Think of open, or free, educational resources in our own country and how they may help you or have helped you in the past: Khan Academy, for example, provides free chemistry, biology, and mathematics lessons, allowing students to better understand their homework and, through improvements in grades, provide paths forward out of poverty.

On a global scale, this could look like creating printable and digital educational content in local languages, distributing this content for free online, and working to support existing educational efforts through educational resources sharing their importance, as well as through direct financial report and volunteerism. 

To be more specific, here are three distinct scenarios where ID would help alleviate poverty:

A young woman is unable to continue attend school, as she must fetch water each day. She is able to read, but has limited reading skills and a desire to access to educational materials outside of the classroom. By designing and distributing educational materials with this scenario in mind (beginning with design surrounding limited reading skills, in her language and at an accessible-for-her reading level while maintaining relevance to her daily life), the negative effects of poverty may be eliminated. 

A young man is unable to access a college education, as he struggled with mathematics in high school and did not receive the help he needed from his teachers through no real fault of his own. By providing instructional materials through a website you design on the career you hold, in an effort to equalize education, the young man is able to learn career skills and land a good, high-paying job regardless. 

An aging senior struggles with recognizing scams, and is losing a significant portion of her limited income by failing to correctly identify what is and is not a legitimate communication. You create an online instructional resource sharing how to recognize scams for older adults, and regularly update with new blog posts and videos explaining new scams as they arise. Through your efforts, she is finally able to enjoy her golden years for the blessing they are.