Designing Digital Instruction, CAS

Master digital instruction from every perspective: designer, instructor, and learner.

Digital instruction is not simply classroom teaching moved online. It is its own discipline, with its own tools and its own methods for holding a learner’s attention across a screen.

The CAS in Designing Digital Instruction prepares you to build that experience deliberately, drawing on a framework of internationally validated standards for instructional designers, online instructors, and online learners.

Suggested Application Deadline varies by semester start | More admissions information

Why Designing Digital Instruction at Syracuse?

We offer a 360° view of digital instruction, built from three vantage points at once. You learn to design digital resources and online courses; you study what it takes to teach effectively in that format; and you examine the experience from the perspective of the learner sitting on the other side of the screen.

It’s that combination that distinguishes program graduates as professionals who design digital learning that works.

• A fully online format that matches its subject. You experience the same kind of digital learning environment you are training to design, which means every course doubles as a working example of the principles it teaches.
• A credential built for working professionals. The program is structured to be completed alongside a full-time job, with courses offered across fall, spring, and summer terms.
• Faculty at the forefront of education research. Courses are taught by faculty who are active researchers as well as teachers. Syracuse is an R1 research institution, and instruction throughout the program reflects that standard.

“The instructional design program was comprehensive, rigorous, and supported by outstanding faculty and staff. The School of Education provides you with a distinct advantage in the marketplace.”

—Steve Covello ’08, G’11

Who Should Apply?

Digital instruction exists in nearly every economic sector: health care, K-12 and higher education, human resources, business and industry, the military, retail, hospitality, nonprofits, and government. All these sectors rely on professionals who can design training, learning, and commerce experiences that work online. If you are responsible for building or improving that kind of instructional and user experience interface and want a formal grounding in how to do it well, this certificate is for you.

• Career changers and career builders: A bachelor’s degree is the only academic prerequisite, and a master’s degree is not required. Because the certificate is fully online, you can complete it from anywhere, on a schedule built around a full-time job.
• Professionals designing training in place: Many candidates come from roles in corporate training, higher education, the military, and government, where the demand for digital learning solutions has outpaced formal preparation to design them.

Program at a Glance

The Certificate of Advanced Study in Designing Digital Instruction is a 15 credit, fully online program that includes four required courses, one elective, and a culminating digital portfolio, all delivered in an online format.

• A strong foundation: Required courses include Technologies for Instructional Settings, Design of Online Courses, Strategies in Educational Project Management, and Advanced Instructional Design.
• Tailor the credential to your interests: Students also choose one elective from Planned Change and Innovation, Methods and Techniques for Teaching and Training Adults, Computers as Critical Thinking Tools, and Educational Technology in International Settings.
• A portfolio you can use: Every candidate completes a culminating digital portfolio built from projects and reflections created across the program. It is reviewed by your advisor as a final assessment, and it becomes a practical asset when you are ready to show employers what you can do.
• A standalone credential, or a pathway: Coursework can transfer into the M.S. in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation program, so the certificate can stand alone as a credential or serve as a first step toward a further degree.

More information on academic requirements available in the Syracuse University Course Catalog.

Note: This School of Education certificate programs is standalone, requiring a bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 GPA to apply. It can complement or can be taken alongside SOE master’s degree programs.

What Our Graduates Do

Graduates of the program work as instructional designers, curriculum specialists, and training and development professionals across business, health care, media, higher education, social services, nonprofit organizations, and government.

Employment of training and development specialists, the broader occupational category instructional designers fall under, is projected to grow 11% through 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because the certificate concentrates specifically on digital and online delivery, graduates are especially well prepared for roles that require building learning experiences for remote, hybrid, or fully online audiences.