Instructional materials are any collection of materials, including animate and inanimate objects, and human and non-human resources that a teacher may use in teaching and learning situations to help achieve desired learning objectives. They are tools used in instructional activities, which include active learning and assessment. The term encompasses all the materials and physical means an instructor might use to implement instruction and facilitate students achievement of instructional objectives.

Instructional materials can be used in both face-to-face and online classrooms, and they include the lectures, readings, textbooks, multimedia components, and other resources in a course. They provide the core information that students will experience, learn, and apply during a course, and they hold the power to either engage or demotivate students. Therefore, instructional materials must be carefully planned, selected, organized, refined, and used in a course for maximum effect. The planning and selection of instructional materials should take into consideration both the breadth and depth of content so that student learning is optimized.

Examples of instructional materials include textbooks, technology-based materials, other educational materials, and tests. They can be printed or non-printed, and they may aid a student in concretizing a learning experience so as to make learning more exciting, interesting, and interactive. Instructional materials play an important role in teaching and learning, as they can support and supplement the content of a lesson, help students learn new concepts, and provide practice opportunities.