Book review
Implementing e-learning
AT&D, October 2002
Authors: Jay Cross and Lance Dublin
Review by Donald Clark
One would expect a book on implementation to be written by
experienced implementers of e-learning, and this is indeed
the case with Cross and Dublin. This book is a welcome change
from the general texts on e-learning, now that the industry
is in its second wave, where practical rather than theoretical
issues have come to the fore.
The ten chapters cover those things beyond the technology
and content - the human factors and cultural resistance that
implementers face and the tools and techniques one can employ
to overcome these obstacles. The aim is to guide the reader
into producing an implementation strategy, with the first
half of the book covering planning and definition; the second,
the actual plan.
After a thorough grounding in change management theory, pulling
out summaries from the usual suspects such as Kotter, Jaffe,
Scott, Conner and Rogers, the book then gives advice on the
readiness of your organisation for e-learning. This includes
cultural readiness, technology readiness, organisational readiness
and leadership readiness.
It then moves into the theory behind communications, marketing
and branding. This is where it gets interesting. The short
chapter on communications is excellent. Less convincing is
the chapter on market research, where some idiosyncratic tools
are presented. Chapter seven moves up a gear with some excellent
tips, tools and techniques on launching your e-learning. The
book continues in this practical vein. Chapter eight covers
practical advice on copy writing and other marketing techniques
and chapter nine the sustaining of the marketing.
One of the problems with the book is a lack of clarity on a single
approach. Several theories are put forward on change management,
rather than a single, unified approach. Kotter's 8-step approach
to change management gets most billing, but it is not clear that
it is being endorsed or recommended by the authors. Indeed, the
rest of the book doesn't then follow the eight steps. There's lots
of signposting but no clear single route. As the authors have culled
lists and other pieces of advice from many different sources on
marketing, branding, communications, leadership and change management,
it makes the text seem a little piecemeal. On the other hand, it
leaves the reader free to pick the stuff that most appeals to them,
rather than being coerced into a single, recommended solution.
The book is also padded out with worksheets, some of which
are no more than a series of woolly questions. However, there
are several exceptions to this, including the very useful
action plan template at the back of the book.
An expensive buy at $33 for 130 pages, but well worth the money
if it leads to successful implementation of even the smallest of
e-learning initiatives. I would highly recommend it - but don't
expect a single, executable approach to implementation, so much
as an assemblage of hints and tips. Its practical advice is sure
to produce a good return on investment.
|
