Instructional Design Portfolio: What to Include (A Guide for Teachers)

If you're a teacher moving into instructional design, your instructional design portfolio is what gets you the interview. The good news: you don't need another degree to build one, and you've probably already written part of it. Here are the four things every instructional design portfolio needs, and how to make each one show how you think.

1. One to three projects you're proud of

Pick work an employer or client would want to see. One strong, finished piece says more than five half-done ones. For each project, show your thinking: the learner problem, your objectives and the design choices you made, not just the final screens.

Where to start: a lesson you already teach, rebuilt as a short online lesson with one clear objective. You already know the content, so all your energy goes into the design.

2. Your instructional design philosophy

If you taught, you probably wrote a teaching philosophy before you ever stepped into a classroom. In instructional design, it becomes your design philosophy, and interviewers often ask for it.

Include:

• Your professional mission
• The core values that guide your work
• Your commitment to your learners, your clients and your community, including equity and inclusion

As you write it:

• Think about your audience: hiring managers and clients.
• Keep it short, with simple sentences.
• Write in first person, present tense.
• Be specific, and give one real example.
• Play up your strengths, and stay true to your values instead of chasing trends.
• Credit the people and ideas that shaped you.

3. Your resume

Translate your classroom work into the words hiring managers use. Lesson planning becomes designing learning experiences. Differentiating instruction becomes designing for different learner needs. Lead with the results your learners got.

4. A simple home for it all

• Google Sites: quick and free to set up, with fewer design options.
• Weebly: customizable themes.
• Wix: portfolio templates and the most room to customize; it may cost a little more.

Pick one and publish. You can always move it later.

Why this works: hiring managers are picturing how you'd work with their learners. When your portfolio shows how you think, that picture gets easy.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need another degree to build an instructional design portfolio?

No. You need a few strong projects that show how you think. A lesson you already teach, rebuilt for online learners, makes a great first piece.

How many projects should my portfolio have?

Start with one finished piece, then grow to two or three strong ones. Quality matters more than quantity.

What's the difference between a teaching philosophy and a design philosophy?

They share your values. A design philosophy speaks to workplace learners, clients and results, and explains how you make design choices.

Want feedback while you build your first piece? Try the eTeach Online membership free for 30 days.