Course Brief
- Use when
- "Can you just make it a course?" arrives with the format and the date already chosen
- Output
- The request restated as a problem, what is fixed and open, a "course, job aid or neither" line, a reply the requester can sign
· 10 min read · 32 skills, free
32 Claude Skills for Instructional Designers, From the Request to the Release
Scope the course, get the real case from the expert, design it, write it and build it. Then check it: accuracy, whether it teaches, accessibility, your own run-through, the expert round and a learner pilot. Claude drafts and checks; a named person signs.
01What these skills are
One course, from the request to the release, as installable Claude skills
This pack is for instructional designers, learning experience designers, e-learning developers and the L&D person who builds courses alone.
The skills follow one course in the order you build it, in eight stages, from the brief that restates the request as a problem to the sign-off record and the release note, with the check group at the centre.
The red line: Claude drafts and checks, but you decide what the learner needs, you run through the course yourself before anyone else does, and a named person signs it off. Nothing invented is passed off as real, and no learner’s result is ever used to grade them.
Each skill holds one method or one artifact, with the inputs it needs, where it breaks, a fixed output template, a finish line and the next skill to run.
On facts, Claude flags and never fixes: it lists what it cannot trace to a source you approved, and the expert corrects it. The package and the tracking happen in your authoring tool and your LMS.
Download all 32 skills
One zip: ready-to-install skill zips, readable SKILL.md files, and the sources behind every method. Free, no signup. The same 32 skills live in our open repo, if you would rather read them before you install them.
Install in Claude Code
Two lines, and every skill in the pack loads at once.
/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills /plugin install instructional-designers-pack@polar-bear-skills
Using Claude on the web instead? Download the zip above and upload each skill from its install folder under Customize → Skills.
02The catalog
The 32 skills you get
The set follows one course in eight stages: scope the course, get the content from experts, design it, write it, build it, check it, ship and improve, and your practice.
1 · Scope the course
Learner Analysis
- Use when
- The brief says "all staff" and nobody has asked who will sit in front of the screen
- Output
- Learners by role and task, device, place and real time, each line marked evidence or assumption, five questions for real learners
Action Mapping Workshop
- Use when
- The sponsor's list is everything people should know and nothing they should do
- Output
- A one-hour run of show, the map (goal, actions, causes, practice, minimum information), replies to "but they need to know", the cut list
Course Estimate and Timeline
- Use when
- The sponsor expects it next week "because AI writes it now"
- Output
- Effort by phase from your own past builds, three scope options for the date, review gates, the scope line the sponsor signs
2 · Get the content from experts
SME Interview Script
- Use when
- You asked the expert for answers and got a slide deck, or pages an AI wrote
- Output
- A pre-interview note asking for one real case, questions in three passes, a live notes sheet, the decision-point table, the follow-up message
Source Content Triage
- Use when
- The source is a 147-slide deck, two manuals that disagree, and a page nobody can date
- Output
- An inventory with dates, owners and conflicts, the practise, remember, look up, cut table, AI-written passages marked, a cut list the expert accepts
Review and Sign-Off Plan
- Use when
- Six people will review the course and nobody has said who breaks a tie
- Output
- Who reviews what at each gate, one named decider, rounds and dates, the change rule, the sign-off table
3 · Design it
Measurable Learning Objectives
- Use when
- The only objective on the page is "understand the policy"
- Output
- One objective per action with condition, verb and criterion, the level the job needs, the evidence each will need
Course Design Document
- Use when
- The sponsor sees finished screens and none of the decisions that made them
- Output
- Need, audience, strategy and practice per objective, format choices with reasons, the decisions log, the sign-off block
Course Curriculum Map
- Use when
- The course grew lesson by lesson and nothing connects
- Output
- Modules and lessons in order, objective, practice and check per lesson, the gaps, the learner's path
Assessment Blueprint
- Use when
- The quiz is written last, from whatever is on the slides
- Output
- Objectives by level, evidence type and number of items, where practice ends and assessment begins, what a result is used for
4 · Write it
Branching Scenario Script
- Use when
- Learners pass every screen and still freeze on the real call
- Output
- The setup, numbered decision nodes, options from real mistakes, consequence and feedback for each, a path map with every ending
E-Learning Storyboard Template
- Use when
- The build starts from the expert's slides and ends as narration over bullet points
- Output
- One row per screen with text, visual, narration, interaction, build note and alt text, coverage by objective, the cut list
Training Video Script
- Use when
- The script reads well on paper and sounds like a manual when said aloud
- Output
- A two-column script (heard, seen), a spoken-word rewrite, the shot list, caption and transcript text
Knowledge Check Questions
- Use when
- An AI can pass your quiz from a screenshot, so it proves nothing
- Output
- Items written to the blueprint as short decisions, distractors from real mistakes, feedback for every option, the retake rule
Job Aid Template
- Use when
- People need the answer in the middle of the task, and a module is the wrong place for it
- Output
- A checklist, decision table or one-page flow, the mistake next to its step, where it sits in the work, who updates it
5 · Build it
Interactive Practice Activity
- Use when
- You want to try a practice idea this afternoon, before anyone opens the authoring tool
- Output
- One practice activity as a Claude artifact to prototype and pilot, the spec behind it, a test log, a plain note on where it can live
Course Slides Build
- Use when
- Part of the course is delivered as slides, or your authoring tool starts from a deck
- Output
- A slide-by-slide deck from the storyboard, notes kept apart from slide text, the practice slides, an export check
Microlearning Series
- Use when
- Nobody will finish the long module, and chopping it into pieces is not the answer
- Output
- Short units of one action each, a retrieval prompt and a decision in each, the order and the gaps, what the series replaces
Live Session to E-Learning Conversion
- Use when
- "Put the workshop online" means a recording of slides
- Output
- What the room did, what replaces each part on screen, what must stay live, the new outline, what is lost and who accepts that
6 · Check it
AI Content Accuracy Check
- Use when
- The draft reads beautifully and nobody can say where its numbers came from
- Output
- Every factual claim traced to an approved source, untraced and conflicting items flagged for the expert, the expert's decision per flag
Does It Teach Review
- Use when
- The course looks finished and you suspect it teaches nothing
- Output
- Per objective: shown, tried, feedback that explains; screens that tell against screens that ask; fixes for the designer to accept or reject
Accessibility Check
- Use when
- Accessibility is found after the build, when every fix costs a rebuild
- Output
- A first pass marked pass, fail or cannot check here, the list a person must test with assistive technology, fix owners
Designer Run-Through
- Use when
- You built it, you reviewed it screen by screen, and you have never once taken it
- Output
- A protocol for taking the whole course yourself as a named kind of learner, an issues log with severity, your own verdict
SME Review Round
- Use when
- Comments arrive in four formats, two contradict each other, and one reopens the objectives
- Output
- The brief for one round, a comment sheet by lane, comments consolidated with conflicts side by side, a change log, the reply
Learner Pilot Test
- Use when
- The course is about to go to everyone and not one learner has tried it
- Output
- Who to invite by role, the "we are testing the course, not you" wording, a think-aloud script, findings by screen
7 · Ship and improve
Release Sign-Off Record
- Use when
- Launch is tomorrow and "it was reviewed" is the only evidence
- Output
- The result of each check with its date and who ran it, open issues with owners, the decision: release, fix first, or stop
Course Release Note
- Use when
- The course goes live with a file name and nothing else
- Output
- Purpose and audience, version, what changed in the learner's terms, known limits, owner and review date, the upload note
Course Data Review
- Use when
- The report says nearly everyone completed it, and that is all anyone reads
- Output
- Questions most people miss and the option that draws them, where people leave, comments in aggregate, a ranked fix list
8 · Your practice
Course Project Setup
- Use when
- Every chat starts from zero and Claude fills the gaps with plausible detail
- Output
- A setup sheet for one course in Claude: approved sources, standing instructions, what never goes in, a version naming rule
Learning Content Style Guide
- Use when
- Three courses sound like three different organisations
- Output
- Voice and reading level, terms, how feedback is worded, rules for examples, a before and after pair per rule
Portfolio Case Study
- Use when
- Your portfolio is screenshots, and the decisions behind them are what make you worth hiring
- Output
- The problem, your decisions and why, what you checked and changed, what Claude drafted and what you did, a confidentiality check
03How to use it
Pick the workflow that matches your week
Start with the course brief: it restates the request as a problem before anything is designed. After that, bring the one real thing in front of you.
Scope the request
A request arrived with the format and the date already chosen.
Get the content from experts
The expert sent slides, and six people will review the course.
Design before you build
The only objective is “understand the policy” and the quiz would be written last.
Write the course
The blueprint is agreed and the screens are still blank.
Prototype and build
You want to try a practice idea before anyone opens the authoring tool.
Check it before it ships
A draft exists and nobody has checked it or taken it.
Ship and read the data
Launch is tomorrow and “it was reviewed” is the only evidence.
04Setup guide
Install it in five minutes
In Claude Code · two lines
/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills /plugin install instructional-designers-pack@polar-bear-skills
In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop · seven clicks
Download the pack, then open Settings
Unzip the pack: its skills folder holds all 32 skills. In Claude, click your name at the bottom left, then Settings.
Open Skills and click Add
Under Customize, choose Skills. Click Add, then Upload a skill.
Drop in a skill file
Drag the skill's file into the box, or click to browse. You can add several at once.
Pick the skill from the pack
In the pack folder, open skills, then the skill you want, and select its SKILL.md — isd-course-brief is a good first one.
Check the preview and upload
Claude shows the skill's name and what it does. Click Upload.
Make sure it is switched on
The skill opens on its own page. Its toggle should be on.
Try it in a new chat
Type / and the skill's name, then say what you need.
Then try one
Run isd-course-brief on the email asking for the course: [paste it here]
Run isd-ai-accuracy-check on this storyboard against my approved sources: [paste the storyboard and the sources here]
Run isd-does-it-teach-review on this draft against these objectives: [paste them here]
Lantern for instructional designers
Turn your design notes into posts about how people learn
Lantern drafts a week of posts from your notes and call transcripts, in your voice. You review them and publish the ones you like.
100 free credits, about ten posts. No card needed.
Try for free05Quick reference
Where to start
| Your situation | Skill to run |
|---|---|
| “Can you just make it a course?” arrived with the format and the date already chosen? | Course Brief |
| The brief says “all staff” and nobody knows who will actually take it? | Learner Analysis |
| The sponsor expects it next week “because AI writes it now”? | Course Estimate and Timeline |
| You asked the expert for a real case and got a slide deck? | SME Interview Script |
| A pile of source material, with two manuals that disagree? | Source Content Triage |
| Six reviewers and nobody has said who decides? | Review and Sign-Off Plan |
| The only objective on the page is “understand the policy”? | Measurable Learning Objectives |
| Need the checks planned before the content is written? | Assessment Blueprint |
| Learners pass every screen and still freeze on the real call? | Branching Scenario Script |
| Need the course screen by screen before the build starts? | E-Learning Storyboard Template |
| Want to try a practice idea today, before anyone opens the authoring tool? | Interactive Practice Activity |
| The draft reads well and nobody can say where its numbers came from? | AI Content Accuracy Check |
| The course looks finished and you suspect it teaches nothing? | Does It Teach Review |
| You built it and have never once taken it yourself? | Designer Run-Through |
| About to go to everyone and not one learner has tried it? | Learner Pilot Test |
| Launch is tomorrow and “it was reviewed” is the only evidence? | Release Sign-Off Record |
06Standards
The quality bar
Every skill in the pack holds the same standard:
07FAQ
Questions people ask
What is in the Claude for Instructional Designers pack?
32 Claude skills that follow one course in eight stages: scope it, get the content from experts, design it, write it, build it, check it, ship and improve, and your practice. Each skill holds one method or one artifact.
How do I install these Claude skills?
In Claude Code, two lines install all 32 at once. In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, download the zip, open Settings, Skills, Add, and upload the skills you want. Either way it takes about five minutes.
Do I need Claude Code to use them?
No. The skills work in Claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Claude Code. In the app you upload them yourself; in Claude Code one command installs the whole pack.
Do the skills work with ChatGPT or other assistants?
They are built as Claude Skills, and installing them is a Claude feature. Each one is a plain Markdown file, so you can read it and reuse the method elsewhere, but it will not load and trigger by itself outside Claude.
Does Claude sign off the course or grade learners?
No. Claude drafts and checks, but you decide what the learner needs, you run through the course yourself before anyone else does, and a named person signs it off. Nothing invented is passed off as real, and no learner’s result is ever used to grade them.
Is the pack free?
Yes. It is free to use inside your company and in client work, and not for resale. There is no signup: the download and the install command are on this page.
08Who made this
Lantern, by Polar Bear
These skills were written by Polar Bear, a people ops consultancy that runs its own company on Claude. The pack is free, and the same skills are open on GitHub.
Lantern is Polar Bear's content workspace. It turns your notes, documents and call transcripts into drafts for LinkedIn and other networks. You review them and publish the ones you like.