Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime

From Roger C. Schank—one of the most highly respected thinkers, writers, and speakers in the training, learning, and e-learning community—comes a compelling book of essays that explore the myriad issues related to challenges faced by today’s instructional designers and trainers. The essays offer a much-needed perspective on what trainers do, why they do it, and how they do it. Lessons in Learning, e-Learning, and Training serves as a barometer to the issues that often perplex trainers and helps to illuminate three main points: what can and cannot be taught; how people think and learn; and what technology can really effectively provide. In addition, each essay is filled with practical guidance and includes a summary of ideas, tips and techniques, things to think about, checklists, and other job aids.

From the Back Cover

“Stories are the jewels of learning and Roger Schank is the prince of storytelling. This collection of training stories is a must read!”
—Elliott Masie, founder, e-Learning CONSORTIUM

“Learning has become a strategic advantage in business over the last decade, but in trying to ‘optimize’ that advantage we’ve sterilized the process. In this book, Roger reminds us that teaching and learning can be fun and effective. It’s like having a long personal conversation with Roger—it’s fun, interesting, and illuminating.”
—Tom Kelly, vice president, Cisco

“Roger Schank is a genius, his ideas are insightful, and provocative. His latest book is a must read for those who want to stay at the leading edge.”
—Brandon Hall, lead researcher and CEO, Brandon-Hall.com

About the Author

Roger Schank—one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence and applying cognitive learning theory to education—founded Socratic Arts, a company dedicated to helping schools and companies build meaningful curricula online. A prolific writer, Schank is the author of twenty-five books and in 2000 was recognized by ASTD for his “distinguished contributions to workplace learning.”

E-learning Tools and Technologies: A consumer’s guide for trainers, teachers, educators, and instructional designers

A comprehensive guide to help you cut through the hype in order to select the best E-Learning tools and vendors for your specific needs

With its ability to both reduce operating costs and train more people, E-Learning is an attractive option for companies that are trying to balance business and educational goals. But in order to implement an E-Learning program, you’ll have to wade through hundreds of learning management systems, learning content management systems, authoring schools, and collaboration environments to determine what solution will work best for your situation.

In this in-depth book, recognized E-Learning experts William and Katherine Horton survey the entire field of E-Learning tools for you. They provide you with a systematic way to identify, evaluate, and choose products and services based on different E-Learning scenarios.

In this no-holds barred look at E-Learning tools, the authors:

• Arm you with a complete list of questions to ask vendors before you commit to a product
• Describe product limitations throughout each chapter and include special Rant sections that you must read
• Present tips and tricks as well as common mistakes to avoid
• List potential vendors and contact information by tool category

The companion Web site contains design forms, checklists of features to look for in the various tool categories, spreadsheets, and lists of specific tools and vendors.

About the Author

WILLIAM HORTON is President of William Horton Consulting where he advises large and small companies in developing online training and information strategies. He is also the author of several books including Leading E-Learning, Evaluating E-Learning, Using E-Learning, and Designing Web-Based Training.

KATHERINE HORTON is Vice President of William Horton Consulting and designs and builds E-Learning prototypes. She is also the Webmaster for the horton.com and designingwbt.com Web sites.

Designing World-Class E-Learning : How IBM, GE, Harvard Business School, And Columbia University Are Succeeding At E-Learning

The majority of corporate training programs are weak, ineffective, costly, and inconvenient for the time-pressed employees they are supposed to train. Designing World-Class E-Learning explores on-line learning­­–today’s hottest business training topic­­–and explains the “learning-by-doing” approach that the author and his firm have used to develop effective on-line courses for Harvard Business School, IBM, GE, Columbia University, and other world-leading organizations.

Roger Schank, a leading E-learning guru and innovator, demonstrates steps and strategies proven to excite employees, make them want to learn, and decrease training costs while increasing productivity. Schank’s approach to E-learning involves:

• e-Learning by doing
• Encouraging learners to fail–­­and learn from failure
• Just-in-time storytelling from experts
• Powerful emotional impact

From the Back Cover

Designing World-Class E-Learning explains how Web-based simulations and role-playing scenarios can be used to radically rethink the process of providing training in organizations. Roger Schank­­widely recognized as a leading e-Learning guru and innovator­­demonstrates steps and strategies proven to excite employees, make them want to learn, and decrease training costs as they increase productivity. Schank’s approach to e-Learning involves:

• Encouraging employees in training to fail­­and learn from that failure
• Just-in-time storytelling from experts
• Powerful emotional impact

Designing World-Class E-Learning explores the ways in which the Web can improve the content of training programs, by placing employees in virtual work environments, that allow them to experiment and practice without fear of failure. Written by Dr. Roger C. Schank, creator of custom-designed, interactive training programs for many of today’s largest corporations and universities, this innovative book examines the known components of effective training, then explores how they can be greatly enhanced by technology and the Web.

Designing World-Class E-Learning examines every aspect of designing and implementing Web-based, user-friendly training programs , from three essential steps you must take before creating an e-learning course to methods for assessing and measuring the results of your e-learning program. Opinionated, innovative yet down-to-earth, the book explores:

• Examples of flawed e-learning initiatives, with analyses of how each could have been improved
• Methods for orienting new-hire employees through interesting, interactive activities
• Strategies for teaching complex tasks and attitudes to all employees, even those with lower educations or skill levels
• Seven criteria for assessing the effectiveness of an e-learning course

When organizations simply transfer existing training programs to the computer screen, they miss out on 98 percent of the Internet’s impact and interactivity. Designing World-Class E-Learning explains how to design an e­learning program to leverage 100 percent of the delivery and content advantages of the Web, substantially decreasing training costs as it increases overall productivity and training results.

About the Author

Roger C. Schank, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and the founder and chairman of CognitiveArts, a leading e-Learning development firm. He also runs Schank Learning Consultants, an is an acclaimed author, lecturer, as well as the inventor of powerful multimedia training tools. He was the founder of the Institute for the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University and the director of the artificial intelligence project at Yale university. One of the world’s leading artificial intelligence researchers, Dr. Schank is the author of more than 125 articles and publications.

E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age

Internet and intranet technologies offer tremendous opportunities to bring learning into the mainstream of business. E-Learning outlines how to develop an organization-wide learning strategy based on cutting-edge technologies and explains the dramatic strategic, organizational, and technology issues involved.

Written for professionals responsible for leading the revolution in workplace learning, E-Learning takes a broad, strategic perspective on corporate learning. This wake-up call for executives everywhere discusses:

• Requirements for building a viable e-learning strategy
• How online learning will change the nature of training organizations
• Knowledge management and other new forms of e-learning

From the Back Cover

Learn what companies like AT&T, Cisco Systems, Dell Computer, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Merrill Lynch, Prudential, and U S West and others have accomplished with e-learning

It isn’t just the promise of impressive technology that is driving people to e-learning. Businesses need to get rapidly changing information to large numbers of people faster than ever. They need to lower the overall costs of creating a workforce that performs faster and better than the competition, and they need to do this around the clock. It’s no longer a question of whether organizations will one day implement online learning, but whether they will do it well.

Most organizations that need to train their employees are experimenting with some form of Web-delivered learning. But most organizations have focused on the technological challenges, buying the right software, getting enough bandwidth allocated for Web-based training, designing courseware, etc. These are important first steps but the larger strategic issues remain unsolved: how to make e-learning part of the daily work culture, and fully implement its power. E-Learning is the first book in this exciting new field that addresses not just the technological challenges of Web-based training and knowledge management, but how to develop a comprehensive organization-wide learning strategy.

Author Marc Rosenberg discusses the technological issues but more importantly, assesses the dramatic strategic, organizational, and political issues involved in the process of making e-learning a reality.

E-Learning explains the basic principles of a comprehensive Web-based learning strategy—how to link your organization’s Web sites, Web-based training, courseware, and all the other components of online learning. With an underlying focus on the “why”—and not just the “how”— Rosenberg provides a roadmap for growing and sustaining an e-learning culture that’s based on twenty years of observations, best (and worst) practices, and conversations with leaders in the learning technology fields. Divided into three parts, E-Learning offers an essential balance between building great e-learning (design and technology issues) and implementing it (acceptance and support issues). Within each chapter, examples illustrate many key components of an effective e-learning framework.

Unlike other technology-focused guides to Web-based training, E-Learning is the first book that tackles the overarching strategic issues—problems facing any organization experimenting with the tremendous promise of Web-based learning and knowledge management.

“The biggest growth in the Internet, and the area that will prove to be one of the biggest agents of change, will be in e-learning.” —John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems

“Marc Rosenberg is one of the key thinkers in the ever-changing world of learning and technology. This book offers a pragmatic and powerful set of resources for any organization walking the sometimes slippery e-learning pathway.”—Elliott Masie, President, The MASIE Center

“If there is any reason to fear e-learning, it’s that we will fail to understand why we are doing it. This book combines the right amount of reflection on why with a heavy dose of sound advice about how to. It has a lot in common with it’s subject. It’s just what we need, just in time.” —John W. Cone, Vice President, Dell Learning Dell Computer Corporation

“Marc Rosenberg has nailed it. He surfaces the issues, realistically describes alternatives and operationalizes what a true e-learning strategy is. Good cases. Good ideas. Good writing. You need this book!” —Gloria Gery, Consultant in Performance Support and Learning

“Dr. Rosenberg’s vision, coupled with the useful advice peppered throughout his book, will guide corporate leaders of learning as we strive to harness the power of e-learning for the benefit of our people and our businesses. I intend to share the book widely with my business colleagues and professional associates.” —Pat Kelly, Vice President, People Development, AT&T Wireless Services

About the Author

Marc J. Rosenberg is an independent consultant specializing in knowledge management, e-learning strategy, and the reinvention of training. Prior to this, he was a senior direction and kowledge management field leader for consulting firm DiamondCluster International. A popular presenter with over two decades of experience in the field, Dr. Rosenberg is also a former president of the International Society for Performance Improvement. He lives in Hillsborough, NJ.

75 e-Learning Activities: Making Online Learning Interactive

This invaluable resource can help transform online courses into exciting, meaningful, and active e-learning experiences. 75 e-Learning Activities is filled with scores of e-learning activities and games that offer trainers and instructors a handbook for creating interactive and engaging online courses. Much like the activities and games used in traditional classroom training, these e-learning activities can be used to increase interactivity, engage learners, accomplish learning objectives, develop online relationships, promote active learning, and create learning communities. With many examples available on the CD-ROM for easy online transfer, the activities can help elaborate on course content through the use of online technologies such as chat rooms, email, or discussion boards.

From the Back Cover

The book’s recipe approach makes it easy to include any of the e-learning activities into most any online course. Designed to be flexible, the book’s activities can be used independently or in tandem throughout an online course. 75 e-Learning Activities also contains more than 80 tips and suggestions for increasing the interactivity in your online courses, a glossary of essential e-learning terms, and a list of useful online and text resources for instructors and trainers who want to create dynamic interactive training experiences.

Written by Ryan Watkins, an expert on e-learning and distance education, 75 e-Learning Activities also includes contributions from acclaimed trainers Mel Silberman and Steve Sugar.

“In this unique book, Ryan Watkins brings you instant recipes for making e-learning interactive. This is a wonderful collection of ideas that will transform any virtual community.”
—Mel Silberman, author, 101 Ways to Make Training Active

“Ryan Watkins now brings us a desperately needed resource book of ideas—ideas that are practical and inspired, and reach outside the confines of the prevalent e-learning designs that lead to insanely boring and ineffective e-learning. If you’re trying to have impact with e-learning and can take advantage of today’s electronic communications capabilities among learners and on-line mentors, you need this book.”
—Michael W. Allen, author, Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning; CEO, Allen Interactions Inc.

About the Author

Ryan Watkins is an associate professor at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is coauthor of three books, including Strategic Planning for Success: Aligning People, Performance, and Payoffs from Pfeiffer and has published more than 50 articles on the topics of strategic planning, distance education, needs assessment, return-on-investment analysis, and evaluation. He is an active member of the International Society for Performance Improvement and has served as vice president of the Inter-American Distance Education Consortium.

Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative (and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to e-Learning

Simulations and the Future of Learning offers trainers and educators the information and perspective they need to understand, design, build, and deploy computer simulations for this generation. Looking back on his recent first-hand experience as lead designer for an advanced leadership development simulation, author Clark Aldrich has created a detailed case study of the creation and deployment of an e-learning simulation that had the development cycle of a modern computer game. With this book Aldrich, a leader in the e-learning field, has created an intriguing roadmap for the future of learning while taking us along on an entertaining rollercoaster ride of trial and error, success and failure. Simulations and the Future of Learning outlines the design principles and critical decisions around any simulation’s components— the interface, the physics and animation systems, the artificial intelligence, and sets and figures. Using this accessible resource, readers will learn how to create and evaluate successful simulations that have the following characteristics: authentic and relevant scenarios; applied pressure situations that tap user’s emotion and force them to act; a sense of unrestricted options; and replayability.

From the Back Cover

“A compelling and deeply informative book that should be read by anyone who cares about the future of learning, and for those who seek to build a sustainable model.”
—Jonathon D. Levy, vice president, Online Learning Solutions, Harvard Business School Publishing

“Insightful and instructive. Any organization that is serious about developing human capital must become serious about simulation. If you are serious about embarking on a simulation project within your firm, you should not do a single thing until you have read this book.”
—Tony O’Driscoll, IBM Center for Advanced Learning

“Read this book, take the journey. Clark Aldrich takes us to learning in the 21st century. In this world managers and employees will have the dynamic skills needed to succeed in this dynamically changing workplace.”
—Gerry Lang, Worldwide Learning Platform and Services Director, Microsoft Corporation

“Essential reading. The tools are in place to provide everyone the ability to augment their own innate capabilities. This text will be considered one of the early beacons to shed light on how and when simulations will shape the learning revolution.”
— Dylan Schmorrow, Ph.D., program manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

“I read through the entire book in one sitting. Clark Aldrich has achieved a similar effect to Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, The Soul of a New Machine. Clark compels us to the conclusion that there is truly no other way to learn than through simulations. His analysis of how an entire world of game players will probably learn little in traditional environments results in the realization that we are on a collision path with the current generation when we attempt to teach them with lectures and trivial interactions and exercises. Believe it or not, the book also made me laugh out loud. In addition, I learned more about leadership by reading about the simulation than I have in thrity-five years of management training programs and book reading. These are serious accomplishments for what I expected to be a technical book.”
—Gloria Gery, from the Introduction

About the Author

Clark Aldrich is one of e-learning’s most influential leaders. Analyst, columnist, author, speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, he recently lead the international team that created SimuLearn’s Virtual Leader, a “concept car” that redefines e-learning’s boundaries. Aldrich was the former research director at the Gartner Group where he was responsible for launching and building their e-learning coverage. He has was called out as an e-learning guru by Fortune and chosen as one of both Training magazine’s and ASTD’s visionaries of the industry.

Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences

Designed for learning professionals and drawing on both game creators and instructional designers, Learning by Doing explains how to select, research, build, sell, deploy, and measure the right type of educational simulation for the right situation. It covers simple approaches that use basic or no technology through projects on the scale of computer games and flight simulators. The book role models content as well, written accessibly with humor, precision, interactivity, and lots of pictures. Many will also find it a useful tool to improve communication between themselves and their customers, employees, sponsors, and colleagues. As John Coné, former chief learning officer of Dell Computers, suggests, “Anyone who wants to lead or even succeed in our profession would do well to read this book.”

From the Inside Flap

When it comes to education and training, computer games change everything. Generations of game creators have raised the bar on engagement, and opened the door to new types of material that can be formally learned. At the same time, leading academic, corporate, and military instructors have developed new types of interactive content. Most have worked dramatically better than the traditional alternatives, if only in specific situations.

Designed for learning professionals and drawing on both game creators and instructional designers, Learning by Doing explains how to select, research, build, sell, deploy, and measure the right type of educational simulation for the right situation. It covers simple approaches that use basic or no technology through projects on the scale of computer games and flight simulators.

The book role models content as well, written accessibly with humor, precision, interactivity, and lots of pictures. Many will also find it a useful tool to improve communication between themselves and their customers, employees, sponsors, and colleagues. As John Coné, former chief learning officer of Dell Computers, suggests, “Anyone who wants to lead or even succeed in our profession would do well to read this book.”

About the Author

Clark Aldrich has been called an “e-learning Guru” by Fortune Magazine, “Visionary of the Industry” by Training magazine, and a member of “Training’s New Guard” by the American Society of Training and Development for his roles as an e-learning analyst, consultant, and designer. He was the lead designer of SimuLearn’s Virtual Leader (Best Online Product of the Year, Training Media Review in Training & Development magazine, 2004) and author of Simulations and the Future of Learning. Aldrich has been a subject-matter expert on e-learning and simulations for almost every major news source, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CBS, CNET, Business 2.0, CNN, and U.S. News and World Report. Previously, he was the research director that had created and was topic leader for Gartner’s e-learning coverage. He lives in Madison, Connecticut.

Wondershare QuizCreator

Wondershare QuizCreator enables users to easily create interactive Flash-based quizzes, tests and assessments in minutes without the need for difficult programming. Users can make Flash-based quizzes from 9 question types, with images, screenshots, sounds, narrations and Flash movies integrated, and then publish Flash quizzes to Web or AICC/SCORM compliant LMS systems. QuizCreator supports customizing quiz player templates, setting feedback based on takers’ responses, and tracking test results online with Quiz Management System (QMS).

Wondershare PPT2Flash Professional

PPT2Flash Professional makes it easy for anyone to create professional Flash presentations in a few clicks. With PPT2Flash, you can easily add narrations, animations, interactivity, quizzes, and simulations to enhance your presentations and enrich your audience. PPT2Flash Professional lets anyone create Flash from PowerPoint by converting PowerPoint to Flash with great accuracy, no tech skills required.

PPT2Flash Professional features:

• Convert PowerPoint to Flash presentations in one click
• Template driven professional content creation
• Easy integration with simulations and interactions

eLearning Blogs

Recommended eLearning blogs:

• Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development
• Directory of Learning Tools
• e-Clippings
• eLearning Learning
• eLearning Pulse
• eLearning Technology
• eLearning Weekly
• Engaged Learning
• In the Middle of the Curve
• Jane’s E-Learning Pick of the Day
• Learnlets
• The Learning Circuits Blog
• Top 100 Tools for Learning

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