Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime

1.1. WHAT IS WEB-BASED TRAINING?

Web-based training (hereafter called WBT) marshals Web technologies to the task of training. Several definitions of WBT are common. Some people hold that WBT is limited to what takes place entirely within a Web browser without the need for other software or learning resources. Such a pure definition, though, leaves out many of the truly effective uses of Web technologies for learning.

As author of this book, I am empowered to coin whatever definition I want, though it only applies within the covers of this book. Being more practical than theoretical, I want a definition that reflects what clever designers are doing today. I define WBT as:

Any purposeful, considered application of Web technologies to the task of educating a fellow human being.

Notice a couple of things about this definition. The two adjectives purposeful and considered emphasize the fact that WBT is not just a Web site thrown together without thought for learning. The second point is that the word educating was chosen rather than training-not because educating is more esteemed than training, but because there no longer seems to be any clear difference.

WBT is the term that is used most often to describe the use of Web technologies for learning within industry, while the terms Web-based education and Web-based instruction are more common within universities. We will stick with WBT because the primary emphasis of this book is the kind of training provided by business organizations, ...