The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age Paperback – May 16, 2014

Honestly, this was a great read. Carolyn (the author) has a great voice. Immediately, she grabbed my attention and kept me interested. I read the entire book in one day. Although it was a quick read, at some point I'll go back and re-read different sections.As an young professional, I wanted a place to begin my instructional designer journey. This is the place to begin. Carolyn provides several other leads to help further my reading.Overall: She's funny, relatable, and honest. All around great start to a long journey - good writing, structure, and makes you want to tell your co-workers.

Very entertaining and kept my attention. I must say I learned some things. Good tips to keep you researching and a the book is a good resource. It was a fast and informative read. If you think you can write a course. You will probably will after reading this.

As someone interviewing for an ID position, I was in need of a quick refresher in the field. This book was a great way to get my head back into e-learning, and I absolutely loved the resource list at the end. I now have a lot more books that I need to purchase, blogs to read and potentially conferences to attend.

Cammy lays it all out for you from what you can do right now to design better e-learning to resources to help you progress from accidental to intentional designer.I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. I too started out as an accidental instructional designer without the “requisite” degree and Cammy reminded me that I am not alone in that experience. Every chapter contains relevant knowledge that excites your brain (and heart) with material you can use to design your next course. From AIDA (not the opera) to seductive e-learning, you will walk away with actionable items that you can/will/want to incorporate in your next design project. After just the first reading, I am eager to join the “collective discovery” that is instructional design, accidentally and intentionally.Thank you Cammy.

Boring stuff first: this is not the first or only book I would give to anyone looking for Instructional Design help. It has lots of nice ideas (building your e-learning brand, how stories can make your e-learning come alive, etc.) but it seems short on the actual how-tos. Ms. Bean mentions several case studies, but even those are light on the details: "The e-learning modules provide an introduction to key concepts, within the context of the Coats's environment." What kind of e-learning? How do they introduce the key concepts? What are the key concepts? Can we see how the context of the Coats environment affects the key concepts? Because, you know, seeing how the environment of a corporation affects a concept is critical to being a good Instructional Designer, and it would be nice to get Ms. Bean's take on this bedrock issue.Now I rant: it ticks me off to pay $32.95 for a book that is so sloppily edited. The quote I put in above has a couple of problems we could argue about all night, so I'll stick to the egregious ones: "Real-word check-ins" instead of "real-world"? "You're on a path to intentional designer" instead of "being an intentional designer" or "intentional designerhood" or whatever the heck she meant?And it's not just the cost of the book that makes me demand an actual editor rather than just spellcheck -- it's the content of the book itself. Ms. Bean explains how you can, and should, "build your brand" for e-learning, that the look of your product matters, that the way you market it matters, that details matter, and that distracting things should be ruthlessly cut from your product. Then I get a book whose brand is apparently "We deliver ... something nobody's bothered to read!" I get a book that cannot market itself to anyone who knows spelling, punctuation, and grammar conventions. I get a book where details don't matter. I get a book full of distracting typos and mistakes and STOP JUST STOP GO BACK AND READ THE PROOFS FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE.Cammy Bean comes across as intelligent and good-humoured and I think I'd love to work with her. So I feel really bad getting so mad because of a tiny percentage of typos. Perhaps my growing resentment is a testament to how well she presents herself in writing. The technical stuff really shouldn't be getting in the way of my reading her engaging, informative book, but it does, and I want it to STOP JUST STOP.Don't get me wrong -- there is a lot to love about this book, way more than there is to hate. (The lists of theorists and theories on page 177 is golden.) But the things that bother me just bother the heck out of me. Obviously.

This book found me at a particular time in my life when I needed it most. I am an accidental designer myself. I’m at the point where I design well but I’m wondering if I am at the best that I can be. This book completely outlines my job from beginning to end which Cammy explains that can be very hard to explain to someone else. This book also encourages me to learn more every day. Thank you Cammy for writing this book. I’ll be checking out the books and theories you have mentioned in the secret handshake and part 3.

Exception "starter" book. I have been doing ID for a couple year without realizing it and this was the perfect way to dip my toes into learning, reading, and being more intentional with the programs I create. I will be using a lot of the resources she suggests (reading, conferences, blogs) and think anyone who has an interest in training (either internal or creating programs for your customers) could benefit a LOT from this book!

If you fell into the world of Instructional Design from a different career path, this book is an absolute must read. Informative and clarifying. If you’re on the fence, just get it.