Instructional Design on a Shoestring

Design Effective Training Programs Despite Limited Resources

Instructional Design on a Shoestring offers talent development professionals a process for developing effective training programs, even with limited resources. Expert instructional designer Brian Washburn applies the ADDIE model of instructional design and the Build-Borrow-Buy approach to provide guidance, quick tips, and shortcuts for designing a range of training modalities, including in-person, virtual and asynchronous, and self-guided e-learning. 


With this book, you will learn to build the structure of the instructional design process, effective formal and informal learning experiences, and an ecosystem that supports the learning initiatives. This crash-course of a book also guides you on working with subject matter experts, supervisors, and early testers and drawing learning design ideas from unfamiliar places. You’ll learn how and when to make decisions for using tools and technologies, hiring external help, and purchasing off-the-shelf training programs to speed up the work.


Even if you don’t have a ton of time or access to a lot of money, you can still produce an effective learning experience based on sound educational theory and adult learning principles.


About the On a Shoestring Series


The Association for Talent Development’s On a Shoestring series helps professionals successfully execute core topics in training and talent development when facing limitations of time, money, staff, and other resources. Using the Build-Borrow-Buy approach to problem solving, this series is designed for practitioners who work as a department of one, for new or “accidental” trainers, instructional designers, and learning managers who need fast, inexpensive access to practical strategies that work, and for those who work for small organizations or in industries that have limited training and development resources.