Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Hobson

Luke, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

My story is a bit of an odd one. Most people know me today from what I share online about instructional design and designing learning experiences. What’s funny is that growing up, I hated school. I never saw the connection to what I was learning about in the classroom and how it would help me in the real-world. I ended up failing out of high school my junior year and after a ridiculous amount of make up courses, I was able to transfer to a public high school that offered music courses. It was the first time what I was learning about in the classroom made sense for my long term goals.

Fast forward several years later, I changed gears and thought about creating artwork for bands. This led to a pursuit of a graphic design degree and through this, the opportunity to become an academic advisor for graphic design students appeared. It was something I never dreamed of with helping students to achieve their goals, but it became a new calling. One of my responsibilities as an academic advisor was to guide students through their online courses. During this timeframe, I became so curious as far as for how courses were constructed. While networking at my university, I came across a person who called himself an instructional designer. I had never heard of that title before, but it blew my mind when he said he was the one responsible for designing the online courses I was walking my students through. After this, I knew this was what I wanted to be when I grew up.

The only problem was that I couldn’t break into the field. I was denied every job I applied for, until finally, I convinced the team at Northeastern University that I was the right fit. It was like drinking out of a fire hose, but I learned so much and I have to give all the credit in the world to my two mentors, Sarah and Will. After some time, I had the opportunity to apply to MIT with designing their online learning experiences, and I’ve been here for 6 years. Now, I manage the instructional design team, and it’s been a phenomenal experience. With enjoying my role so much, it sparked an interest to share about instructional design with others. It wasn’t long until I had a blog, a book, a podcast, and a YouTube channel all about instructional design. I also started creating courses to teach others about this space and have been teaching at the University of Miami’s School of Education and Human Development with their Applied Learning Sciences Program.

It’s been a wild ride, but I wouldn’t change it!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

I don’t think anything about my road has been smooth. When I talk to aspiring instructional designers, I mention about how I could not land an instructional design position to save my life. It took me 2 years to finally make it happen. While at the time, this was incredibly frustrating, but it shaped me into who I am today. I learned that this wasn’t going to be an easy process and this has always helped me to stay grounded.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

For a living, I design learning experiences and teach others how to do the same. This has morphed and taken several different kinds of shapes with online learning, in-person events, and a blended combination of the two. I absolutely love thinking about how adults learn and designing an experience around this that will be truly impactful for their job performances or their academic journeys.

What I’m most known for is that I love sharing about instructional design practices and how to make a career in this space. To spread this message, I have a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, and a book about instructional design. While instructional design is still a niche field, the demand has grown tremendously over the years. I never thought that an instructional design YouTube channel would have 150K views or that a podcast would have 80K downloads, but that’s where we are at now as a society.

What I’m most proud of are my instructional design students. My students at the University of Miami and Instructional Design Institute keep me going. When you see the lightbulb moment go off over their heads, it makes everything worth it. Teaching about instructional design has brought me so much joy and I can’t thank my students enough.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Life is all about taking chances. Of course, these should be calculated and not thrown together haphazardly. However, you can’t grow unless if you push yourself. I try to become comfortable with the uncomfortable. The last thing I want to do is stay still.

In 2020, I wanted to write my own instructional design book, but I didn’t want it to be a mundane textbook. My writing style isn’t of a normal academic. It’s filled with sarcasm and dark humor. I also write exactly how I talk, which I thought was a negative at first, but folks reading my work said that they felt like they could literally hear my voice talking to them. After knocking on the door of several publishers, I realized that the best path would be for me to do things myself. Keep in mind, I have no idea how to write a book in the first place, but bit by bit, I managed to put everything together. While some publishers told me that they had no idea how they would sell my instructional design book, which later became called, What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming an Instructional Designer. It became one of Amazon’s best sellers for the instructional design field.

It was a risk to throw my name out there and to provide a guidebook for instructional designers, but it was successful. You’ll be surprised by what you are capable of if you push past your limits.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drlukehobson.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/393570904994506/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyij2luw0fnGw0B8Hkrhu4g
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-luke-hobson-podcast/id1513942867