The FIT Role

One of the first questions someone asks me upon meeting for the first time is, “What do you do?” When I tell people that I am a Faculty Instructional Technologist, I often get this confused look with their eyebrows raised and the next question I get is, “What is that?” Well, I think the most important part of my title is the instructional part. Technology, no doubt, is part of my job, but the instructional part is what makes me, my job. Outline below are differences between an Instructional Designer and an Instructional Technologist:

Instructional Designer	Instructional Technologist
Someone who applies a systematic methodology based on instructional theory to create content for learning events	Apply research in learning theory, psychology, and developing technologies to solve instructional and performance problems
An individual who develops the methodology and delivery systems for presenting course content	Test new technologies to discover new and better ways to enhance instruction
	Assist faculty in discovering methods of improving their instruction with and without technology
	Conduct training sessions teaching faculty and staff how to use new technologies
	Conduct research studies evaluating the use of technologies and their impact on student learning
	Create training materials to accommodate the self-learners and offer resources for our faculty
	Propose new technologies on-campus for the use of instruction

The above list (on the right) gives an overview of what I do on my job.  I would assume that most Instructional Technologists have similar job descriptions, but depending on the type of environment, their work could vary.