Michael Allen's Guide to E-learning

As an international speaker and consultant to virtually every business sector over his more than thirty-five years of research and development in technology-based instruction, Michael Allen speaks out about his frustrations and disappointments with e-learning and brings fundamental issues to light. From his pioneering work on learning management and learning assessment systems, authoring systems, and instructional design with IBM, CDC/Plato, Authorware, and Macromedia, buyers and experts alike follow his leadership and respect his opinion.

This is arguably the "bible" for e-learning.

Volume1: Creating Successful E-Learning: A Rapid System For Getting It Right First Time, Every Time

"Michael Allen has written a terrific book for courseware developers and business leaders who are interested in launching e-learning programs that will have a true impact on people performance and the business. It is a must-read for everyone who wants to take e-learning to the next level."

Nick van Dam, global chief learning officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu; founder, e-LearningforKids.org
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Volume2: Designing Successful E-Learning: Forget What You Know About Instructional Design and Do Something Interesting

"While its target audience is instructional designers, this book should also be required reading for all training managers seeking guidelines on implementing world-class training. Allen bridges the gap from theory to practice on both training and educational programs. His guidance is as applicable to classroom-based as it is to e-learning based training."

Patty Crowell, director, Global Education Services, LSI Logic

Engaging Learning by Clark Quinn

Learning is at its best when it is goal-oriented, contextual, interesting, challenging, and interactive. These same winning characteristics also define the best computer games, which suggests that the most effective learning experiences are also engaging. Learning can and should be hard fun! The challenge is to get in touch with what it takes to design learning experiences that will excite your audience. Engaging Learning offers a much-needed guide for training professionals who want to create learning programs that are both effective and engaging. Clark N. Quinn Learning, a system designer, presents a unique framework for systematically aligning the key elements of learning and engagement with a proven design process for e-learning games. This nuts-and-bolts guide, which is both research-based and grounded in experience, offers the tools needed to transform learning experiences from humdrum to fun.

"Many so-called e-learning simulation games are neither good games nor good learning experiences. Engaging Learning bridges the chasm between the engaging world of great games and the essential elements of effective learning experiences in clarifying ways to create truly powerful e-learning."
--Michael W. Allen, CEO, Allen Interactions Inc., and author, Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning

Learning by Doing by Clark Aldrich

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.”

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

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.