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The differences between instructional designers and instructional design technologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an instructional designer and an instructional design technologist. Additionally, an instructional design technologist has an average salary of $64,845, which is higher than the $57,534 average annual salary of an instructional designer.
The top three skills for an instructional designer include instructional design, subject matter experts and project management. The most important skills for an instructional design technologist are customer service, professional development, and curriculum design.
| Instructional Designer | Instructional Design Technologist | |
| Yearly salary | $57,534 | $64,845 |
| Hourly rate | $27.66 | $31.18 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 50,321 | 87,908 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An instructional designer focuses on devising learning materials and content to aid every students' learning difficulties. These can include videos, books, and presentations. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis to identify the needs of students, crafting learning strategies in collaboration with experts. They are also responsible for developing tools and materials to help assess every students' progress, such as quizzes and examinations. Furthermore, an instructional designer needs to coordinate with all personnel involved with the project to ensure accuracy and timeliness.
Instructional design technologists are professionals who focus on the creation of curriculum for instruction solutions in companies. The technologists contribute to businesses' cost savings as they determine the opportunities of transferring facilitator lead training to eLearning. They create virtual assessments and offer feedback as well as recommendations to project teams. Their tasks may include collaboration with small and medium enterprises to better understand the systems and applications before documentation or training creation. Communication, people, and time management skills are necessary for this job.
Instructional designers and instructional design technologists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instructional Designer | Instructional Design Technologist | |
| Average salary | $57,534 | $64,845 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $79,000 | Between $46,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | Hartford, CT | Annapolis, MD |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | ServiceNow | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an instructional designer and an instructional design technologist in terms of educational background:
| Instructional Designer | Instructional Design Technologist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | English |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between instructional designers' and instructional design technologists' demographics:
| Instructional Designer | Instructional Design Technologist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 41.8% Female, 58.2% | Male, 45.2% Female, 54.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 5.5% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |