Learn to do more than design instruction. Learn to solve learning and performance problems. The field of learning design is changing quickly. Today’s professionals need more than expertise with an authoring tool or a single design model. They need to understand how people learn, identify the right problems to solve, work effectively with stakeholders, make evidence-informed design decisions, evaluate results, and adapt as technologies and workplaces change.
George Mason University’s MS in Learning Design and Technology prepares you for that broader role.
Develop a broad, future-ready skill set. Our curriculum goes beyond traditional instructional design and learning theories. You will develop knowledge and skills across learning and instructional design, learning experience design (LXD) and user experience (UX), e-learning, accessibility and inclusive design, learning analytics, emerging technologies, online learning, and the business of learning design.
Rather than preparing you for one job title or one set of tools, we help you build capabilities that can transfer across roles, technologies, organizations, and industries.
Connect research with real-world practice. At Mason, you will learn both why learning and performance solutions work and how to design them.
Courses connect theories and research about learning, design, technology, and human performance with authentic professional problems. You will analyze needs, make design decisions, evaluate evidence, work with data, develop solutions, and communicate recommendations to others.
In some courses, students may also work on authentic projects and live-client consulting experiences. These experiences provide opportunities to practice working with stakeholders, navigate the ambiguity and constraints of real projects, and produce work that can become part of a professional portfolio.
Learn to make thoughtful decisions about technology—not simply use it.
Technology changes. Good designers need to know how to evaluate what comes next. You will encounter current and emerging technologies while developing the judgment needed to ask more important questions: What problem are we trying to solve? What does the evidence tell us? Who are the learners and other stakeholders? Is this solution accessible and inclusive? How will we know whether it worked?
That foundation matters whether you are working with an LMS, e-learning authoring platform, learning analytics dashboard, immersive environment, artificial intelligence, or a technology that has not yet been invented.
Prepare for growth and leadership. The Mason LDT curriculum is designed to develop not only foundational instructional design competencies but also advanced and managerial capabilities.
You will learn to collaborate with subject-matter experts and organizational leaders, analyze technologies and trends, manage learning-design projects, use evidence and analytics to evaluate results, and connect learning initiatives with organizational needs.
That makes the program relevant not only to people entering the field, but also to experienced professionals preparing for roles with greater strategic, consulting, or leadership responsibility.
Learn from faculty who bridge scholarship and practice. Our courses are taught by award-winning faculty (insert hyperlink to LDT faculty page) who bring together research, teaching, consulting, and professional practice in learning design, instructional technology, workplace learning, performance improvement, and related fields.
That means we want you to engage with state-of-the-art science—but we also want you to be able to use it. You will be encouraged to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, explain the reasoning behind your recommendations, and translate what you learn into decisions you can make in professional practice.
Build your professional identity and network. Graduate education should help you build more than a transcript or credential.
Throughout the program, you will have opportunities to develop your professional identity, network with classmates who bring experiences from different organizations and industries, create a portfolio filled with relevant work samples, and connect what you are learning with the career you want to build.
Our students include recent undergraduates, career changers, and experienced professionals, creating opportunities to take on stretch assignments at all levels from just starting out through leadership. You'll get to work with and learn from people who bring different perspectives from education, business, government, nonprofit organizations, technology, healthcare, and other settings.
Earn two credentials within the MS curriculum. Students completing the 30-credit MS degree can also be eligible to earn Mason’s 15-credit Graduate Certificate in E-Learning without adding additional coursework.
That gives students an opportunity to graduate not only with a master’s degree in 18 months but also a specialized graduate credential after only one year.
Study online without studying alone.The MS in Learning Design and Technology is 100% online and designed for working professionals. Courses are offered in a mostly asynchronous format, giving students flexibility in when they complete their work while still engaging with instructors, receive personal feedback, work within authentic constraints such as deadlines, strengthen collaboration skills, and belong to a learning community that extends beyond graduation.
You do not have to put your career on hold to prepare for what comes next.
Choose Learning Design and Technology at Mason. Choose us if you want a program that will help you become more than a user of learning technologies.
Come here to become a thoughtful designer, problem solver, collaborator, evaluator, consultant, learning professional, and leader—someone who can make informed decisions about learning and performance even as the tools, technologies, and workplaces around us continue to change.
The tools will change. Your ability to understand people, analyze problems, evaluate evidence, design responsibly, and improve learning and performance will travel with you as your career grows.
