The E-Learning Question and Answer Book: A Survival Guide for Trainers and Business Managers

By Allan J. Henderson

"The application of technology-based learning to employee development has spawned a multibillion dollar industry that continues to grow. For all its potential, though, e-learning is a complex issue... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814471692
• ISBN13: 9780814471692
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.0" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 17 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Still the best, concise intro to e-learning

Although this book is now a few years old, it's still 100% applicable to the e-learning situation in today's workplace. This book is still the most consise and most readable quick overview of e-learning. A busy person like me will find that an investment of less than a couple of hours will give you a comprehensive overview, and let you really understand the issues and the tradeoffs at stake. After reading this, I feel I could hold my own in a discussion with experts that have years of experience.

Great e-learning resource for novices and veterans

Al Henderson does an excellent job of demystifying e-learning by describing the many facets of corporate e-learning in a style that is both informative and enjoyable. This book will appeal to a wide audience, whether the reader is new to e-learning or has spent many years in the field. The book can be used a reference, an introduction, or a guide to the capabilities and possibilities that e-learning has to offer. The case studies are useful in linking concepts to practical application. Readers will enjoy the perspectives on the future of e-learning provided by industry thought leaders. If your organization is considering e-learning, I would recommend reading this book and reviewing the concepts with your stakeholders to ensure your are pursuing e-learning for the right reasons, and are approaching it with realistic expectations.

Great practical guide to e-learning

Henderson's book on e-learning is one of the most straight-forward, honest looks at e-learning that I have seen in recent years. His Q & A format allows the reader to quickly jump to points of interest without spending time on topics that do not pertain. As a person who has had to deal with business training "gone wrong", Henderson's suggestions for a successful e-learning environment make a lot of sense. As other reviewers have pointed out, I believe that this book and the concepts it describes will translate over to academia readily. Universities and Junior colleges would greatly benefit from taking a step back and focusing on the basics. Schools that are currently attempting online classes could be improved if the took to heart the topics that Henderson describes. Since his experience at IBM has given him a first hand look at how online learning can be done right, companies and learning institutes would be wise to pay attention to what he has to say. By focusing on technical details, real-life cost, and the practicality of using learning on the web, the reader is able to quickly get up to speed on all the issues that must be considered when online training is attempted. The practical guide was very useful; it was so easy to find information quickly that I am recommending it to my company's training division.

E-learning ---- Recommended!

For those of us new to the business of training over the internet this book provides an insightful and comprehesive approach to the subject. Written for the business user, the question and and style was particularly appreciated by this reader for ease of reading. Also, apparent were the author's efforts to give clear, concise and relevant information pertaining to the cost and benefit tradeoffs of e-learning. Add this book to your recommended reading if you have any interest at all in this subject.

The ROI of Boundaryless Learning

The title is somewhat misleading. True, Henderson asks and then answers hundreds of important questions but he offers more, much more, in one of the most thoughtful and carefully organized business books I have ever read. The Q & As are correlated within a narrative which explains eight major components of e-learning: What it is all about, its variable costs, strategies and tactics by which to implement it within a business, different e-learning styles, its building blocks, major factors which can affect a business' e-learning system, development and delivery of programs, and the system's "residence." Henderson devotes a separate chapter to each of these components. There are three other chapters: "Let's Be Specific -- Some E-Learning Case Studies" (Chapter 2), "What Do Today's E-Learning Thought Leaders Say?" (Chapter 5), and "Where Is E-Learning Headed in the Future?" (Chapter 11).Although Henderson focuses primarily on e-learning's options and opportunities for businesses, I think his book will also be invaluable to decision-makers in schools, colleges (especially junior and community colleges), and universities as well as to decision-makers in major health care organizations, especially those which have international commitments. Henderson's writing style is "reader friendly." For example, within each of the eleven chapters, he inserts "Tell Me More" several times to ease the transition from one key passage to another. He also makes brilliant use of various checklists and summaries. (Now you understand why I suggested earlier that this book offers more, much more, than questions and answers. The lively narrative gives both questions and answers a context.) Henderson is obviously an e-learning enthusiast but suggests "You should get excited about e-learning only to the extent that you can clearly see how it can improve your business"; specifically, in terms of cost saving, learning quality, rapid training rollout, and coping with shortened knowledge lifecycles. According to Henderson, e-learning can help to achieve objectives such as these:"1. You can replace learning events that are already taking place in the classroom setting or at least as a face-to-face presentation. You can replace a costly series of classroom courses with a sequence of e-learning courses or events."2. You can create new learning opportunities; you can do training that is almost impossible to do when everyone has to gather face to face. You can, for example, train a group of new managers in bite-size chunks over a year's time if the managers are widely distributed in locations around the world."For many organizations, these are indeed highly desirable objectives. Those about to become involved with e-learning have three basic choices when determining where an e-learning system will reside: They can build it themselves and run it on a private intranet; they can use a public e-learning system at a Web site to which everyone else also has access; or get private acces