By Marcia Shannon

Cammy Bean. 2014. ASTD Press, Arlington, Virginia. [ISBN-13:978-1-56286-914-4, e-ISBN: 978-1-60728-407-9. 202 pages, including resources, bibliography, and index. US$32.95 (softcover).

Cammy Bean has written a twelve-part survey course of instructional design in one entertaining, informative, energizing book. She uses a breezy, good-humored conversational style, making this information-heavy book easier to manage. Do not expect to read this in one sitting. If you like to highlight relevant bits, every page will be day-glo’d in minutes. I took two weeks to read the book, taking time to process what I read.

This is a tour of instructional design and learning theories and their applications. The pages are thick with memorable quotes, tips about the learning and design processes, and insights into the instructional design community. The information value is high, but the text is readable, enjoyable.

The Introduction is the story of how Cammy wandered into instructional design. Having landed there, she decided to become an intentional instructional designer by researching and learning about ID. Noting that her journey was not unique, this book is her way to help other accidental instructional designers who struggle to figure out what to do next.

Part I defines instructional design. It introduces the e-learning pie (learning, creativity, technology, and business). The author discusses what design is in general and why does design matter. Part I starts the reader thinking about the ID experience, laying the groundwork for Part II.

Part II addresses the e-learning design process. Its ten chapters illustrate what works when constructing an e-course. Cammy weaves the theories and methods of learning and instruction into examples, test cases, anecdotes, making the information understandable and applicable to our own work.

Part III is a single chapter, Taking It Forward. Cammy encourages the reader to “Let this book be a gateway—a first step on your journey from an accidental instructional designer to an intentional one.” An elegant way to close the book, with advice and encouragement to the reader to find the path that fits the best.

The title prompted me to read this book. I am an accidental technical writer and occasional instructional designer myself, so I was eager to learn about someone else’s journey. My curiosity was satisfied. I felt energized to continue researching ID and finding opportunities to work in instructional design. I recommend you read this book.

Marcia Shannon, CPTC-Foundation, is an STC Senior Member, Carolina Chapter member, Secretary for the Instructional Design and eLearning and Membership Manager, Technical Editing SIGs, member of the Women in Technical Communication SIG. Her 30+ years of business experience cover IT, consumer goods, mortgage banking, and health insurance. She has written procedures, trained users, and provided user support in each field. Currently, she is on sabbatical, preparing for new adventures in writing.

The O*NET program contacted the IDL SIG to invite experienced Instructional Designers and Technologists to add their career information to the O*NET database.

Please read the invitation and consider participating in the program. If you know other instructional designers outside the IDL SIG, please share this invitation with them.

Dear Colleagues:

The O*NET Data Collection Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, is seeking the input of expert Instructional Designers and Technologists.  As the nation’s most comprehensive source of occupational data, O*NET is a free resource for millions of job seekers, employers, veterans, educators, and students at www.onetonline.org.

You have the opportunity to participate in this important initiative as it will help ensure that the complexities of your profession are described accurately in the O*NET Database for the American public for career exploration and job analysis.

You are considered an Occupation Expert if you meet the following criteria:

• At least 5 years of experience with the occupation. Includes those who are now supervising, teaching, or training IF you have at least one year of practice during your career.
• Currently active in the occupation (practicing, supervising, teaching and/or training) and based in the U.S.

If you meet these criteria and are interested in participating as an occupation expert, please email or call Tammy Belcher at the O*NET Operations Center at RTI International (the O*NET data collection contractor) 877-233-7348 ext. 119 or tbelcher@onet.rti.org and provide the following:

• Name/ # years of experience
• Address with city and state
• Daytime phone number
• Email address
• Do you have at least one year of practice in the occupation and are you still active?

Process and Participation Incentive:
A random sample of experts responding to this request will be invited to complete a set of questionnaires (paper or online versions available). $40.00 in cash and a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Department of Labor will be included with the questionnaires.

We encourage you to consider helping to keep information about your profession accurate and current for the benefit of our colleagues and the nation. Thank you very much for your support.