10 YouTube Channels Every Instructional Designer Should Follow

YouTube is an underrated professional development tool for instructional designers. The platform hosts an enormous amount of high-quality, free content — from foundational theory to advanced tool tutorials — and the best creators update regularly.

These ten channels are not the ten biggest, but the ten most useful. Some are heavy on Articulate Storyline; others focus on design principles or career development. Which ones are most relevant depends on where you are in your career and what tools you use.

#Career entry and professional development

#Devlin Peck

73,000+ subscribers and over 4 million views — Devlin Peck is one of the most-followed instructional design creators. His content covers entering the field, ADDIE in practice, AI tools for instructional designers, and portfolio development. Particularly valuable for those new to ID or planning a career transition. Founded Peck Academy, which has helped thousands land their first ID roles.

#Dr. Luke Hobson

Senior Instructional Designer at MIT and lecturer at the University of Miami. Dr. Luke Hobson translates complex design concepts into clear, actionable content — covering design principles, scenario-based learning, and career development. Recognized as a top L&D influencer in both 2022 and 2023. His storytelling-driven approach makes technical content accessible without dumbing it down.

#Design and learning effectiveness

#Connie Malamed (The eLearning Coach)

Connie Malamed is one of the most respected voices in the field. Her channel focuses on visual design for learning, the psychology of learning, and design thinking applied to instructional contexts. Much of her content originates from conference talks and workshops — consistently substantive, rarely surface-level.

#Belvista Studios

The Australian studio goes beyond tool tutorials into UI/UX for e-learning, Human-Centred Design, Learning Experience Design (LXD), and storyboarding. For instructional designers who want to understand the conceptual foundation behind their tools, not just how to use them.

#Justin Sung

Justin Sung is a learning scientist and educator whose channel covers evidence-based learning strategies — how to encode information effectively, combat the illusion of understanding, build durable mental models, and structure practice for long-term retention. His primary audience is students, but his content draws directly from cognitive science research and transfers cleanly to instructional design work: understanding how people actually learn makes you substantially better at designing for it. He's also a useful counterpoint to the instructional design bubble — seeing learning discussed from outside the L&D lens surfaces assumptions you'd otherwise miss.

#Tool tutorials: Articulate Storyline

#Tim Slade – The eLearning Designer's Academy

Tim Slade is an Articulate Storyline Super Hero (an official certification) and runs one of the most structured channels for Storyline 360. Topics include branching scenarios, visual design, and interactive elements. Best for designers who want to build Storyline skills systematically rather than picking up ad hoc tips.

#Learning Dojo (Jeff Batt)

Jeff Batt is a Learning Experience Designer at Amazon and former eLearning Brothers Product Development Manager. His channel delivers step-by-step Storyline 360 tutorials, xAPI implementation, and complex interactivity — technically precise, clearly explained. For advanced users who want to push beyond standard features.

#Discover eLearning (Chris Hodgson)

15 years of experience and a consistent focus on what's coming next: AI integration in Storyline (ChatGPT, DALL-E for assets), animated characters, and novel interaction techniques. Useful for designers who want to stay ahead of where the tools are heading.

#Communities and events

#Articulate 360 Official

The software maker's own channel. Official tutorials, best practices, webinar recordings, and product update walkthroughs. Less creative than the independent creators, but authoritative — and a useful complement when you want the definitive explanation rather than a community interpretation.

#IDTX (Instructional Design Tips)

IDTX archives 800+ conference session recordings from L&D and instructional design practitioners on YouTube — free, no registration. The annual virtual conference produces new sessions each year. An underrated archive for anyone who wants to go deep on a specific topic rather than watching general overview content.

#The strongest German-language option

#Greator

Germany's leading coaching and personal development platform runs a YouTube channel with substantial content on Personalentwicklung, New Work, motivation, and leadership — featuring well-known coaches and entrepreneurs. For L&D professionals working in the German-speaking market, this is the most consistently relevant German-language YouTube resource.

YouTube shows you what's possible. Applying those ideas inside your organization requires the right infrastructure — an LMS that's simple to use and lets you build structured learning for your team. That's what Scibly is built for.