Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design & Technology

Prepare to integrate technologies into teaching and learning.

Enhance your career in just seven months! Instructional Design and Technology is a rapidly growing field with outstanding opportunities for career growth. Three global trends have served as the basis for a sharp increase of the demand for trained educators and professionals in this field: the demand for using technology to support and extend learning, a wide expansion of online education and new technologies as well as the growing need for organizations to train and develop employees, often in geographically dispersed environments.

The Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design and Technology is a three-course Emmanuel College program. Whether you are pursuing a new career path in instructional design and technology or seeking to develop and advance your existing skills Emmanuel’s program provides a personalized education with real-world experience. The certificate is appropriate for those working in a variety of educational settings, including K-12 educators, higher education faculty or instructional support staff; librarians; and more.

This program’s focus on practical experience sets it apart from other ID programs. By the end of the program, students will have a strong understanding of instructional systems design principles and practices and a robust portfolio of online and multimedia materials.

Why choose Emmanuel College’s Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design and Technology? 

  • Build a professional portfolio with real-world samples
  • Three-course curriculum designed by industry practitioners
  • Get personalized guidance and support from a mentor with relevant experience
  • Complete this fully-online program anywhere, anytime
  • All coursework is fully transferable to Emmanuel's Master of Education program.
  • Tuition discount scholarship for Boston Public and Catholic School teachers.

The Curriculum

This three-course program is designed for the busy, working professional. Each course takes place over an accelerated seven-week time period. Most of the work can be done in a self-paced format with a few live virtual sessions complementing the learning. All courses model best practices for online teaching.

Key topic areas include:

  • Essentials of learning and design
  • Organizational theory
  • Principles of instructional design
  • Designing courses and curriculum
  • Instructional technology

During the third and final course within the program, you will put into practice the principles you learned by planning, developing, implementing and assessing an instructional design project. Through this capstone experience, you will take a real-world problem and implement a solution. Students may choose to design and develop a course or design a more extensive curricula that is comprised of a few programs. This project is an outstanding resume-building opportunity.

View the 2023-2024 Academic Catalog to find course titles, numbers and descriptions.

Required Courses

  • EDUC 5903 Instructional Design Principles and Practices
  • EDUC 5905 Educational Technology and Media
  • EDUC 5907 Instructional Design Capstone

Cindy Berhtram

Cindy Berhtram is a learning technologist and librarian. She is passionate about the ways in which technology can foster engagement and learning. With more than 10 years of experience, Berhtram is currently an Academic Technology Specialist and Project Manager at Stanford University. She holds a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Connecticut.

Teodora Hristov

Teddy Hristov has 13 years of experience developing and applying learning solutions that bring results in a range of educational environments. As a senior instructional designer Emmanuel College, Hristov provided pedagogical consultation to faculty and implemented instructional strategies in course design, establishing standards and best practices. Hristov has also worked as an instructional designer and project manager in the Office of Distance Education at Boston University. She was the instructional designer on all banking and finance courses in the Master of Science in Banking and Financial Services Management online program at BU Metropolitan College, which was ranked eighth out of 236 ranked online graduate business programs in the U.S. for 2013. Her past experience also includes working at UMass Boston, both as a synchronous virtual classroom support and as a course co-developer. Hristov earned a M.Ed. in Instructional Design from UMass Boston and a Master in Pedagogy from Sofia University, Bulgaria. She also holds a B.A./B.S. in Graphic Design.

Misty Woodbury

As a teacher, writer and instructional designer, Misty Woodbury has been creating engaging learning experiences and teaching adult learners since 2002. Her professional roles have included adjunct professor at Northeastern University, senior curriculum developer at Amplify Learning, instructional designer at New England College of Optometry and freelance writer for various education publishers. In her current role as the Director of Academic Technology and Innovation Group at Emmanuel College, Woodbury helps instructors with the practical application of learning design principles and leveraging technology to transform teaching and learning in online and traditional courses. She earned a B.S and M.A. in English and from Northeastern University.