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I asked him what his secret was to maintaining and presenting with such dynamic inspiration. His answer: “Practice, practice, practice.” Quintessential Bill Horton!

No doubt he is a hard-working overachiever, one of those ultimate educators who can instruct us through his writing and pubic presentations. Here was an individual who had written the e-learning "bible,” Designing Web-Based Training (link to TMR review of the book) in 2000—a book that had helped many of us learn about and cope with yet another development and delivery technology for workplace education—and he was staying true to his no-nonsense design philosophy. (Amazon link for Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime.)

During the boom, while pundits advocating the purchase of million-dollar learning management systems distracted others, many remained grounded by Horton’s insistence that we apply practical solutions when creating e-learning. He has been spreading his message of simplicity and utilitarianism to the masses at conference sessions, at workshops, and in his books for over a decade.

This 2006 sequel to Designing Web-Based Training, E-learning by Design is 100% Horton in that it just keeps offering and offering. The reader will find a complete and updated cookbook on how to design e-learning. Like the book’s predecessor, it deserves four stars and is a must read for anyone not selling an expensive solution.

I hope I've been transparent enough and declared my bias. In this review, I’ll highlight the organization of the book while reviewing Horton’s outstanding contributions (Hortonisms) to the field of e-learning design for workplace adult education. I’ll provide a list of what I liked and didn’t like, and finally I’ll discuss different ways to apply this how-to book.

Book tour
The book begins with four chapters devoted to the instructional design process. If you can understand these chapters and put them into practice, you can be a qualified instructional designer. Horton’s process “requires selecting, organizing, and specifying the learning experiences necessary to teach somebody something.” He advocates identifying goals, explains how to write objectives, and touches on the concept of creating “learning objects.”

Hortonism: Focus time on writing good test questions instead of struggling through writing objectives. At the heart of e-learning design is the development of learning activities, which Horton categorizes into three types: Absorb, Do, and Connect.

According to Horton, these types of activities help people learn by getting them to “consider research, analyze, evaluate, organize, synthesize, discuss, test, decide, and apply ideas.” He devotes a chapter to each type, explaining various examples in depth. He provides examples like: using slide shows, video of live demonstrations, drill and practice, guided analysis, games, virtual machines and simulations, and "ponder" and storytelling activities.

In the Tests chapter, Horton explains the reasoning behind testing, details how to construct question types, and shows how to avoid trick questions. He also suggests that we “test early and often.” Savvy e-learning designers can even use test questions that engage learners and provide feedback.

Hortonism: “Each topic accomplishes one learning objective, that’s what makes them topics”.

Chapters Six and Seven cover topics and lessons. His earlier book helped straighten out the confusion concerning what to call a chunk of material that includes several topics or a group of learning activities. “Chapter” terminology is used in books. With e-learning material, we call a “chapter” a “lesson,” and a "section" equals a "topic."

Hortonism: “Most e-learning is structured in ways that reflect the needs of learners and the nature of the subject matter.”

His work in defining, in detail, the components of a topic and lesson help direct design towards creation of “reusable learning objects.” E-learning development teams should review Horton’s method of organizing lessons during the early stages of design.

The common kinds of lesson structure he covers in depth are “classic tutorials, book-like structure, scenario centered lessons, essential learning tutorials, exploratory tutorials and subject-specific structure lesson.”

Chapter Eight will be of interest to department managers. Horton discusses the following important “big picture” issues:

• Class size
• Instructor-led or learner-led learning
• Learning devices from desktops to PDAs
• The environment in which learners take a course
• Whether to use a blended approach
• The use of embedded e-learning

The topic of designing for reuse is covered extensively and may be of interest to managers who believe that mandating the systematic development of reusable learning objects will save their company money. Other strategic issues covered include: developing metadata standards, developing packaging standards, Section 508 standards, ADA accessibility standards, and setting your own technology standards—for example, “use platform independent standards.”

Hortonism: “Alas, we must compromise design for pragmatic concerns like government regulations, learner’s schedules, and limitations of authoring tools."

He suggests designers determine these compromises early in the process.

Since Horton is aware that many e-learning developers are busy supporting the use of live web conferencing sessions or instructor-led sessions organized by a learning management system, there is a chapter on designing materials for synchronous or asynchronous electronic classrooms. This includes use of email, discussion forums, instant messaging, whiteboards, application sharing, polls, and even audio conferencing.

Hortonism: “Good design is about solving problems, not drawing attention.”

I assume Horton views the use of high-end graphics negatively, especially if it does not enhance learning, calling it eye candy and superfluous. In that sense, he does not address graphic artistry and look-and-feel enhancement in this book. He does discuss course or web page appearance as it relates to organization and readability. He approaches graphic artistry under the topic of “designing the appearance of your e-learning.” The bottom line: make sure your e-learning has strong usability factors.

Hortonism: “Avoid the dump truck menu, which occurs when all topics appear at the same level in the menu without regard for how they are related.”

In the final chapter, Horton discusses the all-important questions of navigating throughout the electronic learning. He covers the topic of allowing the learning management system to set the navigational framework and whether to page or scroll. A quick review of the examples he and his associates provide shows that he favors a lefthand navigation or top page tabs.

Pros and cons
Here is what I disliked about the book:

• Not academic enough
• Too many graphic illustrations and examples
• Lack of a chapter on software simulation development
• Horton’s humor
  

What I liked:

• Instruction based on author’s applied practice with multiple examples
• Concepts broken down into easy-to-understand chunks
• Concentration on basic design principles
• Companion website provides real-world examples

Too many post-secondary courses focus on instructional design theory and on what Horton calls “ponderous instructional systems design methodologies.” Essential building blocks of interactive design are neglected.

Yet, the speed of technological change mandates that instructional designers be taught the skills of pragmatic interactive design that enable them to utilize new technology, yet stay focused on facilitating learning. This book should be required reading for graduates of curriculum and instructional design programs.

Putting the book to work
Let’s examine how you might put this book to work for you.

Does your e-learning development group have published standards for instructional design and course development? This book can help furnish a framework for reaching agreement among staff and clients. Or you can benchmark your current standards and definitions of quality e-learning against examples found in the book.

Time for professional development for you training staff is often hard to come by. You can assign readings from the book and discuss a few important points for five minutes before each staff meeting.

Post the companion website on your department Intranet. It contains wonderful examples that are indexed to each chapter, providing a great resource tool for igniting a brainstorming session.

Horton’s 2000 edition has been cited in academic texts. And if he weren't so cynical about advanced degrees, we would surely be calling him Dr. Horton. Yet, that is essentially what defines Bill Horton. He is our industry’s Henry David Thoreau.

Hortonism: "Essentialism blatantly shouts that the goal of education is not to teach everything about a subject but to teach just the things learners need in order to apply skills and knowledge in their lives. Essentialism attempts to identify what few things learners actually need to know, do not know, and cannot figure out or look up on their own."

Recommendation
Buy E-learning By Design if your work involves e-learning. Even if all you do is browse it or use it as an occasional reference to resolve a disagreement among team members, you will come to realize that Bill Horton's “practice, practice, practice” work ethic has once again produced a book chock full of value.

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