Adaptive training technologies, as per the editors, are those that adapt to the needs of the learner. An alternative adjective found in the literature is “intelligent.” What makes a technology adaptive or intelligent is its ability to diagnose the needs of the learner and to provide necessary instruction in readily understandable, meaningful, motivational, and measurable ways. The concept is not new, having been discussed in instructional design circles for at least 30 years in my experience. What is new is the continued improvement and sophistication of the technology that drives the applications.

The authors and editors of the book speak from in-depth first-hand experience. The discussions offer value to people new to the field and to those who have evolved with it. The title refers to training and education, but the book targets people who train for business, industry, and the armed forces. Those in higher education who would find value in the book are most likely to be people involved in the development of adaptive technologies. The book is divided into five parts and 18 chapters. All of the authors are respected names in their fields.

Part 1, “Adaptive Training Technology,” contains three chapters. Shute and Zapata-Rivera discuss the why, how, and what of adaptive technology. VanLehn and Chi present a case study on how today’s adaptive technology can produce accelerated learning. Brusilovsky gets into Web-based systems, focusing on hypermedia.

Part 2, “Student Modeling Beyond Content Mastery,” contains four chapters. Aleven, Roll, and Koedinger address whether intelligent tutoring systems can help students foster lifelong learning skills. Conati continues the discussion on using adaptive training technology for metacognitive learning skills. D’Mello and Graesser move into the affective domain, the emotional experiences that accompany learning. Kay and Kummerfeld explore the potential for improving long-term learning. The entire section answers the oft-asked and seldom-answered question, “What exactly is meant by critical thinking skills needed by today’s adults in the workplace?”

Part 3, “Experiential Learning and Ill-Defined Domains,” is the largest section, with five chapters. Gonzalez describes her work on the decision-making process and its implication for teaching decision making in dynamic or uncertain environments. Lynch et al. write about adaptive technologies for ill-defined domains, that is, problem solving in areas where much of the necessary information is not available or not fully specified. Lane and Wray get into the realm of social and intercultural skills, using virtual humans to practice such skills. Mangos et al. present an assessment framework for simulation-based training. Flynn describes how semantic Web technology could be used to create virtual humans for training. The chapter is a good introduction to the emerging field.

Part 4, “Natural Language Processing for Training,” has two chapters. Litman writes about the use of speech, otherwise known as human or natural language, in interactions with adaptive training applications. The chapter includes a case study. Johnson et al. introduce the issue of intercultural competence, the ability to communicate successfully with people of other cultures. The chapter describes a computer-based approach to help learners master intercultural skills.

Part 5, “Culminations,” completes the book with four chapters. Lesgold, one of the editors, shares “lessons learned during the development of intelligent, coached apprenticeship systems.” Levchuk, Shebilske, and Freeman “present the challenges [in] designing adaptive technology for team training.” Bienkownski looks at design-based research for military training environments, largely through online learning. The very last chapter, written by Durlach, the other editor, ties the chapters together with regard to the current and future states of adaptive technology training.

In sum, the book is valuable, interesting, and relatively easy to read. It combines ideas we have studied for decades with applications that are emerging daily. The book is highly recommended. Other current books [1,2] also address adaptive technologies.