This is the first volume of six in Michael Allen's
e-Learning Library, a comprehensive collection of proven techniques
for creating e-learning applications that achieve targeted
behavioral outcomes through meaningful, memorable, and motivational
learning experiences. This book promises to walk readers through
the revolutionary processes of rapid prototyping and iterative
design as a means of sorting the conflicting and hidden agendas of
organizations, winning essential support, and generating creative
learning solutions. Does it deliver?
What does the book cover?
Allen's Creating Successful e-Learning is organized into
three sections. The first section, Organizational Realities, sets
the stage for e-learning projects. Each chapter presents a
real-world scenario that surveys the challenges e-learning often
faces. The point: managers must recognize the context of an
e-learning project and manage the individuals involved.
In the second part of the book, Allen takes a moment to look at
what hasn't worked and why. He reviews problems with typical design
processes and looks at what it takes to get started down a new
path. According to Allen, an iterative approach, rapid prototyping,
and timely involvement of key stakeholders are critical to
successful designs.
The final section, the bulk of the book, outlines the process of
successive approximation, which uses iterative cycles of design and
development to create e-learning programs. These chapters offer an
agenda with annotated events to help readers conduct dynamic design
solutions, beginning with a "Savvy Start" and moving through
prototyping, development, and assessment cycles.
Is it worth reading?
Michael Allen is well-known for speaking out against ineffective,
and Boring!, e-learning programs. Allen is equally known for
sharing common sense techniques for producing quality programs. In
Creating Successful e-Learning: A Rapid System For Getting It
Right First Time, Every Time Allen shares his own
tried-and-true process for developing programs.
Corporate instructional designers will find Allen's latest book a
valuable resource. Allen offers practical solutions and techniques
for developing e-learning programs, and he explains them in a
logical, strait-forward manner. More important, readers can find
comfort in knowing that the processes he describes derive from real
world, award-winning applications designed by Allen's own studio.