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The differences between course developers and developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a course developer and a developer. Additionally, a developer has an average salary of $100,076, which is higher than the $92,160 average annual salary of a course developer.
The top three skills for a course developer include instructional design, course content and course materials. The most important skills for a developer are javascript, python, and java.
| Course Developer | Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,160 | $100,076 |
| Hourly rate | $44.31 | $48.11 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 75,889 | 262,570 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A course developer specializes in developing and implementing course plans for educational programs. They are responsible for conducting industry research, conducting skills assessments to identify a company's training needs, creating plans and strategies, establishing timelines, developing programs, and securing supplies. Additionally, they must monitor the progress of a company's educational programs to make adjustments as needed.
Developers are usually system or application developers in a company who work on specific projects related to networks or applications from conception to implementation. They attend planning sessions to ensure that the program is feasible. They are responsible for designing the system through coding and basic user interface design. They also work on troubleshooting any challenges that may be met at the testing stage of the program's development. They solve challenges and ensure that minimal problems will arise upon publishing the system or application. They also manage the evaluation to ensure that the program's goals are accomplished and that the end-users are satisfied with the results.
Course developers and developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Course Developer | Developer | |
| Average salary | $92,160 | $100,076 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $128,000 | Between $76,000 And $131,000 |
| Highest paying City | Chicago, IL | - |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Washington |
| Best paying company | Udacity | - |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a course developer and a developer in terms of educational background:
| Course Developer | Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between course developers' and developers' demographics:
| Course Developer | Developer | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% | Male, 74.9% Female, 25.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 6.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 6.6% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 8% |