40+ Instructional Design and eLearning Books | Experiencing E-Learning

Photo: Christy Tucker

Christy Tucker writes, "If your New Year’s Resolution is to read more books, you’ve found the right post. This is a compilation and update of my previous book list and review posts. Instructional Design. Design For How People Learn by Julie Dirksen is one of my favorite books in the field. I’ve recommended it many times. It’s easy to read and understand. Read my review for more details. Visual Design."

The Accidental Instructional Designer by Cammy Bean is especially good for career changers and those who landed in instructional design from other fields. It provides a model for the range of skills that fall under the umbrella of “instructional design.” It includes practical tips on topics such as working with SMEs and avoiding “clicky clicky bling bling” or flashy interactivity and multimedia for the sake of being flashy. The design models in chapter 4 are probably familiar to many with experience in the field but very helpful to beginners who want to do more than just the same type of course and interaction for every situation.

Training Design Basics by Saul Carliner is a perfect book for people just getting started in the field, especially those who are current students or are switching to instructional design or training from another career. Read my full review about this practical book.

Performance-Focused Smile Sheets by Will Thalheimer explains why most of our training evaluations don’t provide useful data and explains how to fix it. Read my  review of Performance-Focused Smile Sheets.

First Principles of Instruction: Identifying and Designing Effective, Efficient and Engaging Instruction is David Merrill’s effort to distill the common principles from multiple instructional design theories. A shorter, earlier explanation of these principles is available as a free PDF...

eLearning and Blended Learning

e-Learning and the Science of Instruction by Ruth Clark and Richard Mayer is one of the first books on e-learning I bought, and I still refer to it when I need evidence to justify decisions to clients. If you’ve ever wondered if formal or conversational style is better for learning (conversational) or if your on-screen text should replicate what’s on the screen (no, it shouldn’t), this book explains it with the research to back it up. It’s not perfect; the authors do sometimes disregard research that contradicts their own findings, and they sometimes make their principles seem more absolute than they probably are in real life. However, it’s still a solid reference.

Designing Successful e-Learning by Michael Allen tells you to “Forget What You Know About Instructional Design and Do Something Interesting.” All of Allen’s books are focused on helping people design e-learning that is interactive, engaging, and useful.

Although I have several of Michael Allen’s books, I haven’t read Leaving ADDIE for SAM yet. Several people recommended that (including some who said they wished their organizations would pay more attention to it and move to a more agile approach).

William Horton’s e-Learning by Design is Nahla Anwer Aly’s favorite book in the field. I read it a number of years ago. Although I don’t refer back to it as often as some of my other books, it’s a strong selection, especially for those early in their careers.
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Source: Experiencing E-Learning