In this short series, I’m highlighting instructional design models that have had profound impacts on my work… specifically those that speak to the creative process, and specifically those that have originated in the practice of creating corporate learning.

Yeah. I went there.

Dr. Michael Allen’s CCAF (Context/Challenge/Activity/Feedback) model is one of the first I was introduced to in anything close to a formal way, through ASTD’s E-Learning Instructional Design certificate program.

CCAF focuses on the parts of the interaction, including two that aren’t often appreciated — Context and Challenge — and Dr. Allen gives guidelines to make each of them powerful, relevant, and integrated with the others. I’ve come to think of these like the legs of a table: Each has to be well built in order for the table to be strong.

The link to the blog posts above will be helpful, but for a complete explanation, I highly suggest reading Allen’s Designing Successful E-Learning.

Well, that’s it for this series! These are some of the most helpful models I know of that actually influence what kind of learning experiences you create and how effective they are. Now it’s your turn… what would you add?

Other posts in this series:

• If Not ADDIE, Then What?
• Part 1: Thiagi’s 4-Door Model
• Part 2: Cathy Moore’s Action Mapping
• Part 3: Michael Allen’s CCAF
• No Seriously… If Not ADDIE, Then What?