The ASTD E-learning Handbook

Book excerpt: The entire training industry is undergoing dramatic change, as training is moved out of traditional classrooms and onto the Web. Training publications and conferences are now dominated by speakers, writers, and vendors talking about e-Learning. The e-Learning revolution is forcing companies to spend millions on new technology and new web-based courseware, threatening the role of traditional classroom trainers, and saving companies millions of dollars in housing and travel costs because trainees no longer need a plane ticket and 3 nights' accommodation to attend a corporate training program - the training can be delivered to each learner's desktop over the Web. But because e-Learning is still in the revolution stage, there are no clear standards and models for how to create and deliver e-Learning successfully. Everyone is asking the same questions: how does web-based training fit in with traditional classroom based training? What are the standards for designing high-quality e-Learning? How much interaction with an instructor do e-Learning participants need? What is the role of the instructional designer in online learning? The ASTD e-Learning Yearbook will be the first annual refe