RETHINKING eLEARNING ENDORSEMENTS

Dr. Michael Allen’s profound impact lies in his singular ability to diagnose the core challenges of our industry. His work cuts through the noise and provides the strategic clarity a leader needs to get an initiative right from the start. He masterfully proves that beliefs, not just knowledge, drive behavior, showing why a learning program must change mindsets to deliver a tangible return. I also value his brilliant CCAF model, as it provides an elegant blueprint for moving beyond passively consuming content to actively practicing skills in a real-world context. His bold call to ‘design backwards’ is a crucial reminder, proving that the most effective path to a precise outcome begins by defining the end. For decades, his principles have been the mandatory foundation for my own advisory practice, a rare blend of academic rigor and pragmatic insight that few others can match. This book is the definitive evidence for anyone ready to transform technological promise into proven human capability.

Every few years, a new method for delivering elearning is invented. And the first thing everyone does is forget that this learning ‘art form’ has been around for over 50 years. The beauty of what Michael Allen has created is that it is based on, literally, a lifetime of knowledge, skill, experience and, yes, wisdom, that can serve as a foundation for exploring how new technologies can be used to efficiently and effectively help others to learn.

Michael brings clarity to many of the unspoken intuitions I’ve carried as a learning designer. His insights into the often-overlooked affective dimensions of learning—clearly articulated through principles of learner engagement in his CCAF model and brought vividly to life through numerous examples—distinguish conventional instructional design from the practice of learning experience design.

Michael Allen is the consummate master of designing engaging, impactful eLearning. Every professional in L&D and higher education should read this book to reinvigorate their design practices and elevate their instructional strategies.

In a clear and engaging writing style, Michael distills decades of experience into actionable principles, processes, and inspiring examples for crafting learner-centered, results-driven eLearning. Whether you’re a newcomer to instructional design or a seasoned expert, this book has the power to transform your approach and elevate your impact.

Michael Allen reveals not just what makes eLearning effective, but how to achieve it—through proven design principles, inspiring examples, and designer insights that make you want to put them into practice immediately. Again and again, while reading this book, I felt compelled to get up and apply what I was learning—rethinking current projects, fine-tuning strategies, and improving my design process for the better.

This is the most insightful and practical book on eLearning design I’ve ever read. Infused with profound designer wisdom, inspiring examples, cutting-edge strategies, and an adaptive iterative design process model, it’s a trusted companion for any learning design professional.

Too many instructional designers remain stuck in content-centered, legacy models that no longer serve today’s learners. This book provides a clear and compelling pathway out—helping designers break free from outdated mindsets and practices. Having worked with faculty and instructional designers in online course design for decades, I can say with confidence: this is essential reading for those ready to revitalize their craft for 21st-century learners and environments.

Imagine you’re at an L&D conference, browsing the bookstore with just enough space in your luggage for one book. Among all the strong contenders, Rethinking eLearning stands out as the smartest choice—and one you absolutely won’t regret.

This book is a practical goldmine for L&D professionals at every level. You don’t have to read it cover to cover; each chapter is designed to be a self-contained insight, allowing you to jump straight to the topic you need and quickly gain actionable ideas.

What really sets this book apart is how grounded it is in real-world practice. The examples aren’t just inspirational—they model the very principles the book promotes. From demystifying what is (and isn’t) learning, to navigating common pitfalls, understanding learner motivation, and applying sound design strategies, this book serves as a comprehensive guide to modern eLearning.

There’s also an entire section dedicated to managing learning projects—something often overlooked, yet critical for success. And woven throughout is a powerful message: L&D professionals should never waste a learner’s time. That ethos shines in every chapter.

While many books stop at theory or surface-level advice, Rethinking eLearning goes further by offering a treasure trove of online resources. These let you explore deeper and view examples of truly world-class learning in action from around the world.

In an age of ever-shinier objects it’s a delight to pick up a book that reminds us of the basics: Learner first. Relevance to that learner foremost. Managers don’t care what people know, but what they can do. This new book helps marry the shiny with the tried and true, describing the confluence of personalized training and AI with a refreshing focus on the human. And the dozens of live eLearning examples from world-class design shops bring it all home in helpful, concrete ways. Michal Allen brings another great addition to our L&D libraries.

Dr. Allen integrates academic rigor from his background in learning science and practical experience from leading the development of learning solutions at Allen Interactions to provide this comprehensive guide to making better learning. Whether you’re a novice or experienced practitioner, there’s gold in this wide-ranging but easily comprehended guide to how to design learning experiences that achieve real outcomes.

In Rethinking eLearning, Michael Allen invites us into a refreshingly honest, deeply insightful reexamination of everything we thought we knew about eLearning. With a masterful blend of examples, hard-earned wisdom, and practical design strategies, Allen challenges stale assumptions and reorients us toward what matters most: the learner. This book is a must-read for anyone serious about making learning meaningful, motivating, and human-centered. From the value of empathetic design to the integration of AI and gamification, Allen gives us not just a critique but a well scouted and traveled roadmap. If you care about the future of learning, this book should constantly be by your side and opened to the appropriate page.

Dr. Michael Allen has forged a guide that gets right to the point of the problems in the elearning world and wastes no time in offering up true solutions. This is his capolavoro, condensing into a few chapters all of his experience and knowledge as an acknowledged master in our field, all in highly readable prose that avoids highfalutin theories. We’re talking practical information that you can put to use right away. I have never failed to follow his lead whenever possible, and I’ve been rewarded for it many times. This is not a book on ancient history. Rather, it talks through all the challenges and opportunities we face today, including Artificial Intelligence and Experience-based Learning. I highly recommend this book to anyone who designs and develops eLearning. You will be amazed at the insights that so often are missed by us working in the trenches.

Over 20 years ago, the first “formal” training I had in instructional design was reading Michael Allen’s Guide to eLearning. It transformed my practice and pushed me from being a mere accidental ID to a more intentional one. There’s much to celebrate here with Dr. Allen’s newest offering Rethinking eLearning in which he refreshes our understanding of the core foundations of learning and the design and development of digital experiences, while setting the stage for new possibilities as we move into the Age of AI. Throughout, Allen keeps the focus on ways we can elevate the learning experiences we design, sparking not just competent performance in our learners, but joyful performance. A highly recommended addition to the library of both new and experienced practitioners.

I remember programming “instructional” web pages in HTML in the dark ages. Now, web-based platforms make far more interactive learning possible. So, are we “there,” yet? No, of course not. “There” is a continually moving target. Research, technologies, and design capabilities keep moving, and thus so must we.

In this book, Michael Allen gives us needed insights on what we should be aiming for right now when creating online (or e-) learning materials, resources, and more. But research shows that most online learning is behind research, technologies, and design capabilities. Most people struggle to complete online learning. We need to know what is needed and possible, and Rethinking eLearning is a fantastic source of better ideas.

Here are just a few insights that stood out for me: Relevancy is a key property of online instructional materials. Think your materials are relevant? Ask the people using them. What they need and how they need them is critical! We must design for affective influence (the impact of emotions on behavior). Too many of us think of instruction as a bunch of (supposedly) required content with (a too often poorly) written quiz at the end. This isn’t a good recipe for gaining hearts and minds. Without hearts and minds, we just can’t make the difference we need to!

Thanks for writing this much-need-right-now book, Michael!

Rethinking eLearning: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Missing is a rich re-examination of the complex intersection of learning possibility, design actionability and project management realities. Michael Allen delivers a thoughtful reflection on the value that elearning continues to offer its stakeholders, with the breadth and the wisdom that only a true industry veteran can provide. Michael’s gift for making learning actionable through design makes this essential reading for anyone who is serious about creating meaningful experiences for learning, engagement, and performance improvement. With perspective grounded in foundational principles and informed by practical experience and emerging innovations, he offers readers both anchor and sail for navigating an increasingly complex professional landscape.

Michael Allen once again challenges us to think differently and design better. Rethinking eLearning is a masterclass in creating meaningful, relevant, and human-centered learning experiences—an essential guide for anyone serious about improving elearning.

eLearning creation is absolutely going to be changed by AI tools, but the best tools in the world can’t help you if you don’t know what good looks like. No one is a more passionate advocate for great elearning than Michael Allen, and this book is full of the kind of examples you need to keep in mind when creating elearning for our modern work world.

I still remember the very first time I stumbled upon Dr. Allen’s work. I was hooked instantly, eyes wide open, thinking, “Wow! This changes everything!” And guess what? Reading his latest masterpiece, Rethinking eLearning, gave me exactly that same rush of excitement and discovery all over again.

What I absolutely loved about this book is how wonderfully bite-sized it is! You can cozy up and read it start-to-finish or pick just the sections you want, which is perfect for busy days when you need a quick refresh. It’s like Dr. Allen knew exactly what we learning geeks needed!

And the examples are totally brilliant! Crafted by experts, they effortlessly translate theory into vivid, practical insights. But my absolute favorite section is the delightful and clever “Allenisms”! Short, sharp, and sometimes funny. I found myself nodding enthusiastically, saying, “Yes, Dr. Allen! Exactly!”

If you’re in the eLearning space and want your creativity sparked, your passion reignited, and your toolkit upgraded, this book is your new best friend. Seriously, grab a copy. You’ll absolutely love it!

Thank you, Dr. Allen, for keeping the magic alive!

Michael Allen’s Rethinking eLearning is exactly the kind of book our profession needs right now; it’s a book that asks hard questions about how we serve learners and challenges us to think differently about our work. Allen blends decades of instructional design wisdom with a willingness to rethink even his own long-held beliefs, modeling the kind of humility and curiosity that drives real innovation. His emphasis on relevance and empathy reframes eLearning not just as a delivery method, but as a human experience that can elevate both performance and dignity.

What makes this book stand out is its accessibility. Short, actionable chapters invite you to reflect, experiment, and return often as you tackle your own design challenges. The examples and resources aren’t prescriptive checklists; they’re springboards for creative, learner-centered thinking. If you care about creating eLearning that learners value and remember, this book will both inspire and equip you to make it happen.

Rethinking eLearning will become the new go-to guide from a pioneer who helped shape our field. In these pages, Michael Allen offers practical foundations for the next decade of workplace learning, turning his years of insight into tools you can use tomorrow. XEL (eXperience-based eLearning) joins CCAF and SAM as a new foundational approach to move beyond “tell-and-test” toward genuinely individualized, challenge-rich experiences.

Two features in this book make it particularly useful:

• Designer’s Notebook: A concise reference that keeps every experience you build focused, motivating, and measurable.
• The Buyer’s Checklist: A sharp lens for vetting vendor pitches—worth the cover price times $10,000!

Packed with learning design insights, real-world examples, and project know-how, this book leaves no excuse for boring or ineffective training. Whether you’re new to design or leading global L&D strategy, you’ll find actionable insights on every page and the inspiration to raise the bar for what learning can achieve.

Rethinking eLearning is Allen at his best: ditch the tell-and-test, lead with relevance and empathy, and design challenge-first, individualized experiences that actually change performance.

Michael Allen cuts through the noise with a modern, humane blueprint for e-learning: start by understanding how learners feel and what actually matters to them, then craft challenge-first experiences that adapt to the person—not the other way around. This book moves us beyond ‘tell-and-test’ to meaningful, memorable practice that transfers to the job.

Rethinking eLearning is the reset our field needed. Allen puts relevance and empathy at the center of design, then shows how to individualize with challenge-first experiences and sustained practice—so learning sticks and performance improves. He argues persuasively to treat training as an investment, not a cost, and replaces legacy ‘tell-and-test’ with experience-based e-learning that mirrors the real world. If you care about building e-learning people actually want to take—and that organizations can feel—this is your playbook.

Michael Allen’s latest book, Rethinking eLearning, provides readers with great tips for creating, as well as selecting, what he calls “awesome” learning experiences. The book describes the fundamentals for successful eLearning, with a particular emphasis on how to make eLearning an engaging, motivational experience. Moreover, the book is structured in a manner that makes it easy for readers to understand the key principles that are discussed. The clearly written prose is accompanied by numerous easy-to-understand charts, tables, diagrams and checklists. Each section of the book also provides two sets of brief and easily understandable summaries of the key principles, one set geared toward those interested in creating outstanding instruction, and the other set in the form of a “Buyer’s Checklist”, intended for those who want to buy off-the-shelf eLearning materials. Real-world examples are provided throughout, making it easy for readers to see how the principles described in the book have been, and can be, employed. In addition, the book concludes with a very useful discussion of 39 “Allenisms”, principles that Michael Allen and his organization have found to be valuable in their creation of outstanding eLearning experiences. In short, this book is a must-have volume for those who want to provide learners with engaging and effective eLearning.