The Top 5 Careers in Instructional Technology

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Wondering what you can do with a Master's Degree in Instructional Technology? Program Coordinator Jay Lefkowitz highlights the possibilities
By Elizabeth Nelson

Are you thinking about pursuing a graduate degree in Instructional Technology, but aren’t sure what career paths will be open to you after graduation? Maybe you’re already a teacher and want to take your skills to the next level, and are wondering what having that Master’s Degree will mean for your job potential. Either way, now is a perfect time to look into the possibilities that a degree in Instructional Technology can offer you—and discover what makes Touro Graduate School of Technology’s program the right choice for you.

The field of Instructional Technology has never been more relevant, with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing schools to hold some or all of their classes virtually for the foreseeable future. Teachers are scrambling to adapt their contentfor an online classroom environment, while students adapt to attending class via Zoom or other online platforms. And while the hope is that schools will be able to resume in-person education at some point during the next year, there’s never been a better time to sharpen your skills in Instructional Technology, or even embark on a new career in the field.

We asked Touro’s Instructional Technology Program Coordinator, Jay Lefkowitz, to highlight some of the possible career paths alumni have successfully pursued, and he immediately rattled off a list of ten job titles off the top of his head, explaining that these are just a handful of the many opportunities out there for Touro ST grads.

“These are various real jobs that students can actually look for when they go to LinkedIn or Google. They can just type in these job titles and see the various openings available,” he said.

• Course Developer
• Technology Coordinator
• Online Learning Specialist
• Web-based Learning Manager
• Multimedia Designer
• Technology Integration Specialist
• Computer Learning Lab Coordinator
• Instructional Designer
• Corporate Trainer
• Educational Technology Sales Representative

Of these ten, Lefkowitz singled out his picks for the “top five” careers in Instructional Technology, and below, he explains what these people do, and what kind of person might do well in each role.

But first, he offered a disclaimer about terminology.

“When we’re talking about Instructional Technology, we’re also talking about Educational Technology,” Lefkowitz explained. “Some people call it Instructional/Educational Technology. Others call it E-learning, or Ed Tech. Years ago, people called it Computer-Based Instruction, or Technology-Enhanced Learning. It’s all under the same umbrella, all part of this whole big field.”

Graduates of the Instructional Technology Masters of Science program will be prepared for careers in K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and corporate settings. Here are the top five careers a graduate of Touro Graduate School of Technology’s Information Technology Master’s Degree program might pursue:

#1: Teacher
“The first thing you can do with this degree is to become an educator,” says Lefkowitz. Whether it’s on the K-12 level or in higher education, having a degree in Instructional Technology gives you a huge advantage in today’s classrooms, whether they are virtual or in-person. As teachers are increasingly called upon to develop distance-learning lesson plans and utilize online education tools, being tech-savvy is a must.

#2: Instructional Designer
“An Instructional Designer enhances classroom instruction by integrating technology into the curriculum,” Lefkowitz explains. This can mean designing games, tutorials, and tests, developing courses, and staying up-to-date on both the technology and educational fronts. They can work for schools, school districts, universities, or even large companies with employee education departments.

#3: Staff Developer
Who teaches teachers? Staff Developers do! “This is somebody who works within the school system, usually K to 12,” says Lefkowitz. “They prepare teachers to use technology effectively in the classroom; essentially, they’re teacher trainers.” They may design training manuals and prepare course materials, develop online learning modules, and train staff using a variety of instructional methods. Again, having knowledge in both the educational and technological fields is imperative inthis role.

#4: Educational Technology Sales Representative
“This role is more on the corporate side, supporting the schools,” Lefkowitz says. “Companies that sell software, hardware, smart boards and other equipment to the schools, are required to send someone in to train the teachers how to use it—and not just how to use it, but how to integrate it into the curriculum.” He says people who do well in this role have strong skills in both pedagogy and technology; that is, they know their way around technology and are also well-versed in educational theory and practice. “People who can combine those, they become a very valuable asset,” says Lefkowitz

#5: Corporate Trainer
The only one of these roles that does not work within the school system, corporate trainers are found in virtually all large companies, where they work in the in-house training and education department, teaching employees to use the required equipment, software, and programs. For this job, says Lefkowitz, “You need people who have the pedagogical skills and the technology skills to do the training. When companies find somebody who has a combination of both, they are thrilled.”

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