Technology-Based Training : The Art and Science of Design, Development, and Delivery (with CD-ROM)

Author: Kevin Kruse, Jason Keil
List Price: $45.00
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ISBN: 0787946265
Publisher: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer (18 February, 2000)
Sales Rank: 54,841
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Customer Reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5
Good overview and management advice; short on technology
This book is clearly good for the right audience: those new to technology-based training (which the author defines to mean CBT and WBT, not, for example, a flight simulator), training managers with external vendors, and those who are short of the soft skills necessary to navigate the rocks that frequently sink TBT projects. Engineers will also be well served by topics on selling a project internally, GUI design principles, project management, development vendor management, and lots on measurement of effectiveness (Kirkpatrick and ROI).

Unfortunately, you know you are in the target audience only if you read the introduction, which is not possible if you buy the book on line. The book's title and subtitle "art and science of design, development, and delivery" misled me into thinking that a book on TBT would place more emphasis on technology. For me, a learning technology engineer, this means how to efficiently develop cutting-edge web-based training with high volumes, multiple languages, interfaces to learning management systems (LMS), and compliance with the emerging learning technology standards. There was absolutely no mention of such issues; it is assumed that you will outsource to a vendor who will handle those "details". While the book is not short, completeness demands at least an introduction to learning objects, metadata, XML, and the CMI standard for exchanging data with an LMS, with further references provided. This was omitted entirely.

For those wanting technical details, I would give this book a 2, and recommend Horton's Designing Web-Based Training. For the proper target audience the book is a 4, which I will give it, because I could have read the table of contents here if I had noticed the link. In any event, any serious learning professional will buy at least two TBT books, and this one is certainly worth the time and money. A 5 for the content it has, but a 4 for the content it doesn't.


Rating: 4 out of 5
Solid overview of e-Learning fundamentals
Kruse and Keil cover a broad range of topics in this book. The authors provide an overview of available learning technologies, advice on how to tailor learning materials to different audiences, and tips on layout.

The nicest part of this book is the section on selling projects internally, which I also found useful as a guide to selling projects externally. The authors discuss the selling process, which benefits to emphasize, and how to quantify cost benefits of technology based training.

In short, the book provides a introductory overview of the leaning technologies that exist, some tips on how to get the most from various technologies, and advice of getting buy-in from stakeholders.


Rating: 5 out of 5
Well-written, practical information
A fine book that balances theory with application quite well. I work as a Technical Writer but have found that most of my work falls under the category of "Instructional Designer," so I did appreciate the background information that the author(s) provided on a variety of learning theories prominent in the field of Instructional Design.

Additionally, the CD-ROM wasn't just a novelty; there were several documents which provided some excellent ideas for corporate templates I was creating, and the sample CBT/WBTs really show how it's meant to be done. The highest feedback I can give is that I will walk away from this book armed with some great ideas that will make my manager and technical team members wonder if I just got back from a super conference. This book really shows you how to improve your processes.

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