Everyone likes to be up-to-date, professionally speaking.
Don’t you? There are many ways to do this, from professional development
activities such as courses, certifications, and seminars, to reading Weblog
posts and trying to keep up with Twitter streams.
Sometimes, though, you want a snapshot of the state of the art at a particular (recent) moment. Professional development takes time, commitment, and money, courses too often prepare you for a world that no longer exists, and with Weblogs and Twitter it gets hard to tell what’s significant or lasting and what’s evanescent or just the “fad of the day.”
This is where publication series such as The Pfeiffer Annual Series come to the rescue. Pfeiffer (a division of Wiley Publishing) began producing Annual compilations in 1972, to present “never-before-published materials contributed by learning professionals and academics, and written for trainers, consultants, and human resource and performance-improvement practitioners.” These books provide, year by year, a compilation of the best current thinking in their respective topic areas: Consulting, Leadership Development, Management Development, Training, and e-Learning.
To begin at the beginning
Michael Allen, the editor of the e-Learning Annuals, is a pioneer in multimedia learning technologies, interactive instructional paradigms, and rapid-prototyping processes. Michael is well-known in the e-Learning field. He is the Chairman and CEO of Allen Interactions, Inc., and the author of many books and articles, as well as being a popular conference speaker. In 2008, Michael, with Pfeiffer, launched the e-Learning Annual series. He says that his goal with these books is to present “the most current explorations, thinking, insights, case studies, challenges, guidelines, and other helpful aids for the e-Learning professional.”
However, Michael Allen’s e-Learning Annual 2008 started the series with a retrospective. The papers in that first volume looked back to some of the earliest non-military computer-aided instruction systems, such as TICCIT and PLATO, in the late 1960s. Other chapters addressed the development of learning technology over the succeeding decades. The last half of the 2008 Annual attempted to assess the lessons learned to date, and the future directions in which e-Learning may be going. This was a logical start, giving context and history to current-day efforts, although (for me personally, at least) it was more a trip down memory lane. I suspect that for readers whose careers in e-Learning started in the last dozen years, the archaic systems and concerns discussed in the first half of the 2008 Annual must have seemed, shall we say, quaint.
The 2009 e-Learning Annual: Controversy, diversity, failure, and success
The 2009 Annual, on the other hand, is truly up-to-date in its coverage and concerns. It does not shy away from controversy or from presenting a diversity of viewpoints. In fact, these seem to have been Michael Allen’s selection criteria for the papers included in the book.
Allen’s diagnosis
At the outset, Michael Allen says of the history of e-Learning, “multiple approaches have been successful, but far more have failed and continue to do so by almost any measure of performance.” He offers two justifications for this statement:
- Low delivery costs promote use of e-Learning whether it fits the needs or not. Too often, the result is e-Learning that is unable to produce learning or to produce improvement in behavior or performance.
- The most expensive instruction is instruction that does not work. Allen feels that most of e-Learning today is in this category, and wastes time, opportunity, and good will.
Allen’s prescription
The diagnosis above will not be surprising to anyone who has read Allen’s more recent books or heard him speak on e-Learning and instructional design. He offers a half-dozen quick ideas on what to do about it, ideas that the selected articles in the book support:
- Good design and development, supported by skill, creativity, and time, is the answer, not improvement in delivery systems.
- Meaningful learning comes from experience.
- Practice is essential for readiness to perform.
- Bored people are crippled learners.
- The primary advantage of e-Learning is its ability to individualize the learning experience.
- Success must be measured in terms of behavioral change.
It’s time for change, and of course there are many views about what change is needed. Each of the papers in the Annual reflects a different view, and these are sometimes at odds with each other.
The content
The book comprises a baker’s dozen of papers. Eight of the thirteen appear in pairs that tend to deliver divergent points of view. I summarize these in terms that do not appear in the Annual.
Schlimmbesserung
Schlimmbesserung (sometimes verschlimmbesserung), as I understand it, is a German word meaning, roughly, “an improvement that makes things worse.” The first pair of articles aren’t quite at odds with each other, but both certainly address ways in which advances in technology may not give the wonderful results we expect.
Larry Israelite, who is vice president and manager of human resource development at Liberty Mutual, explains his affliction: e-Mentia. He describes this as a loss of brain function, specifically, the “inability to or lack of interest in learning about, remembering, using, or communicating with others about the uses for and value of new technologies purported to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of, or otherwise have an impact on our day-to-day lives.” He is not particularly happy about the experience.
Ed Cohen, another long-time practitioner in e-Learning development and design, and the current chairman of the Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) Training Infrastructure Subcommittee, provides the second opening shot across our bow with his paper on the ways that the Internet damages learning. The Internet, he observes, gave us low cost, global distribution around the clock. At the same time, the limitations of the Internet set design back to the primitive level. He offers his analysis of the situation, and his recommendations on where the learning world should be heading.
Is there a “science of instruction”?
This is the first pair of articles in which there is a serious difference of views, each presented by a well-known and respected authority. The difference relates to whether there are true differences between “Gen Y” (the “digital natives”) and previous generations with respect to the optimum support for human learning.
Ruth Clark, past president of the International Society of Performance Improvement and an advocate for application of cognitive research to instructional design, presents her views and supporting evidence on the use of digital technology to accommodate human learning processes. She also identifies her differences with the approach advocated by Marc Prensky.
Marc Prensky, a renowned speaker and writer in his own right, disagrees strongly with Clark. He believes that there is no “science of instruction.” Prensky lays out his recommendations, supported by his observations of successful e-Learning applications and thinking.
The differences between these two authorities are deep and significant. I would recommend careful and thoughtful reading of both papers. Every reader will have particular biases, based on personal experience and training, but it would be a mistake (in my opinion) to simply follow your personal bias. It may well be that you will find your views (and your practices) changed once you take the time to understand what both Clark and Prensky have written.
Does instructional design provide value?
The differences between the writers of this pair of articles are not as sharp as in the previous pair. The question is about roles in development, rather than about learning theories. With the rise in popularity of rapid development tools and methods, many wonder if there is still a place (or a need for) instructional designers.
Margaret Driscoll, an associate partner in IBM Global Services (Human Capital Practice), and Saul Carliner, associate professor in the Graduate Program in Educational Technology at Concordia University in Montreal, provide an extended analysis of the instructional design function and the way it is changing in the face of increasing competiton. This is an excellent article for consideration by managers and educators, as well as by instructional designers. The bottom line is, instructional designers do offer value, but unless they can present their value proposition effectively, they will continue to find themselves marginalized.
Dennis Brown, co-founder of SkillSoft, agrees that instructional designers provide value, but if designers do not actually measure their contribution to business success, it doesn’t matter. However, rather than leave designers hanging, Brown offers an excellent and practical summary of methods for obtaining measurement data. He also makes clear that this data must be presented in a way that makes it clear that instructional design is focused on solving business problems, not on solving training issues.
Is course-based e-Learning still relevant?
The fourth pair of articles may be the most controversial, especially for readers who are committed to what might be called “conventional” e-Learning.
Jay Cross, champion of informal learning, Web 2.0, and systems thinking, advocates for his view that “courses are dead.” This is not a long paper, but it is well-reasoned and powerful. Those dedicated to creating courses would do well to pay attention to what Cross has to say.
Clark Quinn, founder of Quinnovation, looks for an overall strategy for development and deployment. The course isn’t dead, but there are definitely other options and Quinn offers his schema for effective deployment. If you need a comprehensive view, this is the paper that will probably be of most value to you.
The rest of the story
The remaining papers in the Annual are not paired up in Point-Counterpoint fashion. Contributors give their take on the value of the technology, what it takes to be successful, how to address resistance to change, and the possibilities of virtual worlds.
Jef Moonen and Betty Collis (Moonen and Collis Learning Technology Consultants B.V.) reframe learning technology from “instructor substitute” to “learning workbench” – from delivery issues to platform perspectives. This paper provides a good break from the intensity of the first four articles.
Chris Frederick Willis (CEO, Media 1) presents Appreciative Inquiry (AI), a constructionist approach, rather than cognitivist or behaviorist. Not everyone will find this shift acceptable, especially where regulatory compliance mandates certification. However, for principle-based, far transfer types of learning, Appreciative Inquiry may be just the ticket.
Lance Dublin’s paper is all about change management, not
about learning or about technology. (Dublin is a consultant, speaker, and
author based in San Francisco.) I would suggest that, for managers new to
e-Learning,
Bob Mosher’s paper reflects his career in creating learning systems that develop and support competency for job-related skills. (Mosher is global chief of Learning Strategy and Evangelism at LearningGuide.) There is a strong “Just In Time” emphasis, with elements of Electronic Performance Support. Mosher also does an outstanding job of presenting Conrad Gottfredson’s “Five Moments of Need” as a framework for building successful performance.
Finally, Karl M. Kapp (assistant director of Bloomsburg University’s Institute for Interactive Technologies) closes the Annual with an excellent introduction to instructional design for virtual world learning. While virtual worlds (such as Second Life) will not replace all forms of e-Learning, they are proving to be an excellent venue that present great possibilities for powerful learning experiences.
Closing thoughts and recommendations
Does Michael Allen’s e-Learning Annual 2009 belong on your bookshelf? Yes, if you are a consultant, a manager, or a lead designer. Your natural inclination will probably be to read it through once, dog-ear and maybe highlight the sections you agree with, and then put it back on your shelf. I would urge you not to simply leave it there. Re-read the parts you didn’t dog-ear. When you are putting together new projects in the next couple of years, get the Annual down and refer to it as you do your methods and means analysis. There are concepts, strategies, and techniques in these pages that will serve you well.
If you are new to instructional design, it seems to me that the Annual might possibly be a bit overwhelming. I recommend taking it a bit at a time, starting with those papers that are most different from what you were taught about ID. Rather than reject the new ideas out of hand, remember that all of these papers come out of the authors’ direct personal experience. None of this is unfounded theory. How did the authors make these ideas work? Talk to other designers and get their take on the content. By doing this, you will expand your professional horizons and discover where you need to extend and reinforce your skills and your repertoire.
Bibliographic and purchasing details
Allen, Michael W., Ed. Michael Allen’s e-Learning Annual 2009. (2009) San Francisco: Pfeiffer. 153 pages. ISBN 978-0-470-37145-9.
This book is available at a 20% discount to Members of The eLearning Guild, through our Book and Video Discount Program. Log in to The Guild Web site and see http://www.elearningguild.com/content.cfm?selection=doc.952 .
You may be interested, as well, in Michael Allen’s e-Learning Annual 2008, and in a similar collection of state-of-the-art papers, Best of The eLearning Guild's Learning Solutions: Top Articles from the eMagazine's First Five Years, both of which are also available through the Book and Video Discount Program.
