Designing Web-Based Training. - Review - book review

Training & Development, Sept, 2000 by Brooke Broadbent

By William Horton

I am a designer I love to design things. I have won international awards for user interfaces, manuals, technical papers, and books I have created. A kitchen and bath co-designed with my wife were featured in Better Homes and Gardens.

William Horton

In Designing Web-Based Training, Horton lives his passion. He shows us throughout the book that he loves to design--and does it expertly.

The beauty is that Horton does not stop at telling us how to design WBT; he shows us how. He designs examples of approaches discussed in the book and makes them available on a companion Website (www.designingwbt.com). When it comes to developing the Website, Horton the architect morphs into engineer and carpenter--or should I say, cabinet maker? He builds his own site. While we're using the metaphor of author-as-handyman, I'll let you in on a secret: Horton tells me that he and his wife Kit also laid out all 600 pages of the book--in Word 2000, no less.

Horton is preoccupied with the look and feel of the book and Website. His philosophy is that less is more. It reminds me of the dictums of Mies van der Rohe. Functionality is everything in this book and Website. And like van der Rohe's IBM Building in Chicago, structure predominates.

For a design concept, Horton chose a computer manual, peppered with screen grabs and conveniently chunked information. Structure is everywhere in Designing Web-Based Training, as it is in van der Rohe's work, but Horton is also preoccupied with environmental aesthetics a Frank Lloyd Wright: Simple lines, simple design, usable objects. Those are a few of his favorite things.

Designing Web-Based Training will help you if senior management has given you marching orders to convert existing training programs to e-learning and you feel frustrated by your inability to choose among hundreds of e-learning providers. It might even convince you to design your own. But be warned: What seems relatively simple for Horton might be difficult for the rest of us. For the persevering types, Horton lays out all of the principles you need for designing leader-led e-learning.

A word of caution to the novice training designer: This is a book, not an encyclopedia. Horton couldn't squeeze everything into it. Consequently, there are no tips for comparing e-learning providers, nor does Horton tell e-learning leaders how to develop their skills in project management, risk management, or change management. Horton doesn't delve into the why of designing Web-based training or explore conventional wisdom about learning, management techniques, and software selection.

Horton is a thinker. He does a huge amount of thinking about design, and he puts his thoughts into action. Some readers will chime in with, "That's the way I like it, uhhuh." Others might prefer to have an instructional systems design model as the skeleton of the book, as Driscoll does in Web-Based Training and Lee and Owens do in Multimedia-Based Instructional Design. But let's leave the ISD debate for another time; it's a bit too throny for me.

Horton is a wordsmith, an author's author. Phrases such as "software rots," "gizmania," and "tools-for-fools" engage readers. A little irony and exaggeration help, too. But are we to take Horton literally when he says, for example, in the introduction that if there are good ideas in the book, they probably come from the designs of children? "Children--undaunted by technical hurdles, unaffected by training fads, and unfettered by dogma--design naturally and directly. I hope I was as good a student as they were teachers." Read the book and decide for yourself whether Horton is pulling your leg. But it seems to me that it's Horton's rendering of the principle, simplicity is king.

Horton further captures his thoughts about simplicity in a presentation called "Simple Things That Work: The Emperor's New Fashion Consultant," which is available on the Website. In it, Horton explains common-sense rules about WBT design:

* Say no to plug-ins, or use only well-supported plug-ins.

* Keep learners active.

* Let learners talk in class.

* Play games with learners.

* Design training only when it's absolutely necessary. Telling, prompting, or reminding might be enough.

* Make a place for learners to look up information and use it after the training.

* Use the existing resources of the Web for teaching.

Sounds simple enough, but how do you do it, other than reading the book? An additional way that I think Horton would approve of is to identify what works for you. What has helped you learn in the past? Collect similar thoughts from other people. Now design your e-learning to replicate what works in the classroom. Yes, I said classroom. It requires some creativity, but think about it: We learn in the classroom by discussing information. Using information. Discovering new associations. Applying information. Nurturing. Questions and answers. Praise. Feedback. Yes, e-learning provides opportunities for all of that--at least, leader-led e-learning does.