In this article, which was originally published in EDUCAUSE Review, instructional design staff from across the university share how CETLI's Instructional Design Working Group (IDWG) has helped them build community and discover professional development opportunities.
19Mar’26
March 19, 2026 by Erin Bartnett
The Penn Instructional Design Working Group: Professional Learning and Growth for ID Professionals
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is home to four undergraduate and twelve graduate schools. This decentralized structure enables the university to make decisions, innovate, and expand its impact in line with the needs and opportunities in each discipline. However, this structure also creates staff silos, and professionals who occupy similar roles across departments can feel isolated and lack a clear venue to find one another and share important information and effective practices.
This challenge became especially pronounced during a period of rapid growth in the number of instructional design (ID) professionals at Penn. These professionals were being hired to support new online degree programs, massive open online courses (MOOCs), and other noncredit online learning experiences, as well as to promote effective uses of online learning tools in residential classes. New staff members had to create their own resources, roadmaps, and networks to achieve their goals, and they were often unaware of what other schools and programs at the university were working on. Linda Lee, the technical director of instructional design for the Wharton School, said that when she was hired in 2015, there was no coherent sense of community among ID professionals at Penn.
ID is also a field that requires continuous learning and adaptation to successfully integrate emerging technologies, practices, and expectations into online learning experiences, making ongoing professional development essential for supporting these new roles.
To address these needs, the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CETLI) at Penn created an Instructional Design Working Group (IDWG) in 2017 so that these professionals could deepen their impact by having access to a supportive and collaborative community and a shared knowledge base of effective practices and lessons learned. According to Adam Zolkover, associate director for curriculum design and online education in the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine, being able to tap into this knowledge base is one of the most valuable aspects of the working group. "What IDWG has done, from my point of view, is give me a chance to be nosy and also to share and find out what other people are doing that I haven't thought of and vice versa, so that we're not working in vacuums and trying to reinvent the wheel with every single program," he said.
The IDWG began as a monthly conversation among twelve staff members on topics relevant to ID work at Penn. Over the last seven years, the group has grown considerably. It now includes more than one hundred staff members who have some aspect of ID work as part of their roles. The group has created a Slack channel for regular communication, a mentoring program, and learning cohorts to extend the level of support offered to ID professionals at Penn.
Building a Supportive and Collaborative ID Community
In the spirit of sharing effective practices and lessons learned, here are some of the characteristics that have contributed to the success of this group and continue to foster collaboration among ID professionals.
Flexibility
Flexibility in meeting format, subject matter, and participation enabled the IDWG to build a tight-knit community of instructional designers with a range of experiences. During the pandemic, for example, the group shifted from in-person meetings to Zoom. Members of the group said in-person meetings worked well for initial community building, but after moving to online meetings, the size of the group increased, and meeting attendance improved.
"No one is a lone instructional designer in a place that has a community of more than one hundred instructional designers in it," Lee said. "There's a really low barrier to entry with IDWG. And it's a huge benefit to all of us for that reason."
Members are encouraged to attend meetings on topics that appeal to them and skip those that don't. For example, some meetings might address issues relevant to instructional designers focused on for-credit offerings, whereas others might be more suitable for continuous education needs. Maxine Wicks, an instructional designer in the School of Nursing, said the format and tone of the meetings make them more productive and accessible. "I think it is the perfect balance of very present, helpful work information and a willingness to be friendly and informal sometimes. Nobody's nervous about their pets appearing on camera."
Wide-Ranging Perspectives
As the group grows, so does its composition. Zolkover said that as the working group has grown, it benefits from a much wider array of perspectives. "One of the key things . . . in making instructional design work is having a diversity of voices and having folks who are coming in from the perspective of having done instructional design in commercial settings, having been faculty, having worked in other kinds of administrative roles or in graduate affairs, or wherever else. Having those voices together means that it's much easier to figure out what solutions have been tried, what hasn't worked, and why . . . and how we can smooth over those friction points."
Conversations, Not Presentations
IDWG meetings rely on highly structured agendas and roles to encourage spontaneous, informal conversations. Sessions are structured to include one or more presentations for the whole group, followed by discussions in smaller group breakout sessions. Presentations are delivered by a group member who wants to share information on a relevant topic. Then, in breakout sessions—which include ample time for introductions—members are provided with a balance of highly structured discussion questions and open-ended topics to explore before coming back together as a larger group. Because meetings are not recorded, a notetaker is assigned for each breakout group. This role ensures the group can gather and share detailed notes after the meeting.
Wicks said that this structure is efficient and creates opportunities for connection. "It helps people become very at ease with each other and just have a really smooth working relationship," she explained. Brooke Bakan, the associate director of instructional design for Wharton Online, agreed, adding that the meetings are crucial for community building. "The breakout group conversations have been good places to start building community. I think the smaller learning groups and various in-person presentations have been the best ways to build on that and feel more connected with other folks."
Topics Informed by Real Challenges and Needs
At a decentralized institution such as Penn, instructional design might mean different things to different programs. Lee acknowledged that from the beginning, IDWG has had to find a way to "thread the needle" of ID topics through the complex fabric of Penn's ecosystem. "There is so much complexity [at Penn]. And frequently, we need a way to be able to sort of see through it, talk through it, talk past it. The instructional design working group provides one way to help cut through some of that complexity."
In order for IDWG to be a meaningful group for the wide range of instructional designers at Penn, meeting topics must be informed by the real challenges and needs these professionals face. Successful meeting topics have included immediate and obvious challenges, such as remote teaching during the pandemic and academic integrity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as evergreen challenges, such as working with faculty, engaging students in asynchronous learning, and creating accessible and inclusive online learning experiences. Because of its close relationship with school-based staff, CETLI also learns about other common issues and can respond to them in IDWG meetings.
Learning Group Cohorts
To further meet the needs of the ID community, IDWG hosts learning cohorts, which are fully funded opportunities for group members to attend workshops and collaborate on applying that knowledge at Penn. Learning cohort members are also invited to present what they have learned at IDWG meetings. Bakan described the experience as professionally rewarding, noting that participation in the community strengthened her ID skills and confidence.
By creating opportunities for members to find out about, share, and discuss solutions to timely ID needs, IDWG has enabled them to learn from one another's experiences. "Because there's so much variety both in the work of instructional designers and in how departments function across Penn, I really enjoy this unique opportunity to learn from and compare notes with my colleagues," Bakan said. "From problem-solving to commiserating, it's helpful to know other people are working through the same challenges you are and exciting to learn about successes."
Erin Marshall, director of instructional design and learning technology at the School of Nursing, said that comparing notes with colleagues across Penn helps her advocate for instructional design to a broader audience. "Being able to point to a precedent set elsewhere at Penn goes a long way with school admin leadership (and often faculty!) and often helps my team's suggestions be taken more seriously by both groups. Overall, I feel that IDWG has done a lot to promote ID across campus as a serious and respected profession."
Intentional Community Building
In-Person Events
In addition to monthly Zoom meetings, members of the three IDWG learning cohorts meet each year for in-person lunches. IDWG members also gather informally at university events: for example, meeting for an ID lunch during the annual university-wide convention for IT staff. These face-to-face events provide a way to deepen the connections that community members are building online.
Slack
While online sessions and structured, timely meetings have implicitly fostered community, IDWG also established a Slack channel and a mentorship program that explicitly and intentionally celebrate the ID community at Penn.
When IDWG shifted online during the pandemic, Slack became a vital tool for expanding and strengthening the IDWG community. The Slack channel is a professional yet informal space where instructional designers from across Penn can connect with each other and pool and share knowledge. For many, Slack is a trusted, easily accessible tool for centralized communication about ID at Penn—a critical resource at a decentralized institution. For example, Zolkover said that when he was tasked with improving academic-integrity guidance for students in his program, the IDWG Slack channel was his "very first stop" for help. Members of the group also shared their uses of Harmonize for fostering online discussion and collaboration among online students, and within three months, Zolkover and his team integrated the tools into student workflows. He attributes this success to the IDWG Slack channel. "It all came together because we didn't have to start from zero," he said.
Mentoring
One of the goals for IDWG is to support new ID hires at Penn. To encourage this, the group developed a mentoring program that pairs a new instructional designer with someone who has been in the ID role for a while, often in another part of the university. Bakan recalled how valuable it was to be connected with someone who was working in ID in a different department. "The fact that my mentor was outside my department was refreshing since our conversations didn't feel supervisory at all. . . . My mentor was especially helpful to talk to when I was interviewing for my current position at Penn. They gave me advice about what they look for when interviewing for ID roles, and it was a good opportunity to talk through why I was excited about the role."
Erin Marshall, who has served as a mentor and encouraged new members of her team to become mentees, said that being a mentor has provided a valuable opportunity to give back, adding that the program has helped her develop her team.
Growing ID at Penn
Ultimately, IDWG's work to expand the ID network, provide timely, relevant information, and create a community for IDs at Penn has improved the university's ability to attract more ID talent. Lee said the IDWG has proven to be a significant asset in the hiring process. "Being able to point to the community of instructional designers as one of those resources that is available is huge. Absolutely huge. I see it as one of the selling points for being an instructional designer or in an instructional design–related role at the University of Pennsylvania."
The IDWG at Penn can serve as a model for other colleges and universities. In decentralized institutions, establishing such a group can help address both immediate and ongoing ID challenges, support professional development, and foster community among staff working in similar roles across disparate disciplines.
Originally published as Erin Bartnett, “The Penn Instructional Design Working Group: Professional Learning and Growth for ID Professionals,” EDUCAUSE Review, March 4, 2026.