Michael Allen's Guide to E-Learning: Building Interactive, Fun, and Effective Learning Programs for Any Company

PART 2

DESIGN

The second part of this book turns to specific design principles that lead to positive learning experiences. Although the perspective imparted in Part 1 may be paramount to full success, I’m also convinced that the design principles described here will improve any e-learning design effort.

Who should read Part 2? Everyone interested in using e-learning to achieve success—to get people to do the right thing at the right time. This includes executives, business strategists, consultants, buyers, and others responsible for the success of organizations.

It may seem strange that principles seemingly of interest only to instructional designers are presented here for review by managers, buyers, and others. But, I do strongly recommend that both designers and managers read the design principles explored in Part 2, as it is important for all decision makers to be able to discriminate between weak approaches and powerful ones. Everyone needs to work together to adhere to essential values and principles. It is easy to go wrong, and there are so many false roads to success.

Background

Part 1 looked at the reasons why e-learning is so often a waste of time and money and how organizations are sometimes oblivious to both waste and lost opportunities. It also looked at what it takes to succeed with e-learning and how extraordinary the return can be when e-learning design is done well. The methods and principles that lead to highly effective e-learning seem simple and obvious when ...