Jade Geary, 30, is a trained Instructional Designer, soon to be a Doctor of Education, and the owner of Wanderlust Course Create. In her Facebook Community — The Course Makers Corner, she serves over a thousand women to help them get clear on their course goals. She also connects with thousands of people on Instagram to help them take the confusion out of developing courses.
You mention you are an instructional designer. What is that?
That’s a great question! It wasn’t a term I was familiar with either until five years ago. Essentially, an instructional designer takes a learning situation and looks at the most effective way to design and develop the course. My goal is to not only make learning fun but to ensure that courses are effective and engaging.
To do this, I draw upon instructional design theories, adult learning theories, and learning theories. Everything I do and suggest is backed by research, but I make it much more fun for my clients.
How did you become an instructional designer?
There is no set path to become an instructional designer. There are degree programs and training programs but a lot of people, like me, just fall into this line of work.
I graduated with my Master’s in Library and Information Science in 2015. The university I work at needed an Instructional Developer, a great start to introduce me to instructional design. In 2018, I took a job as an Instructional Design Librarian. I started reading everything I could to learn how to make effective credit-bearing courses, webinars, tutorials, and more, but I still needed some help. I enrolled in a Doctor of Education program that I knew would help me give the skills to be the best at what I do.
Do you think having an instructional design background is important when it comes to helping people make courses?
Yes and no. I think my background really helps because I’m an expert at online learning, but there are definitely people out there making incredible courses on their own.
What is something you wish people knew about your work?
Something I have ran into is that people don’t want to work with an Instructional Designer if they aren’t familiar with the subject the course is about. The thing is, that’s what Instructional Designers are trained to do! It is a huge bonus to have someone looking over your course, who isn’t an expert on the subject.
The course maker brings all the knowledge to the course, but an instructional designer is making that everything flows and is presented in the best way possible.
What inspired you to start your business?
I have really loved working in higher education and freelancing with various educational institutions, but I had wanted to broaden my horizons. When COVID hit, it was the perfect excuse to push myself out of my comfort zone and start working with even more incredible people. I hastily launched in May 2020 as Jade Geary Designs but went through a rebrand in the fall and decided on Wanderlust Course Create.
If you could give some advice to our readers, what would it be?
1. A course is not the answer to every learning situation. That’s why we have programs and 1:1 coaching.
2. Always work on building up your audience before launching a course.
3. Check in with your audience to see if they are interested in your course. You don’t want to spend all that time making a course for people not to be interested.
