I stumbled upon a fantastic TED conference video presentation on a couple of pieces of technology - Photosynth and Seadragon, developed by Blaise Aguera y Arcas, now an architect at Microsoft Live Labs. It's fascinating. All the information is visible on an one explorable screen rather than having links or pop-up windows with additional info. It can be viewed via multiple angles and magnifications, allowing you to look around corners or "fly" in for a close look.
When I saw this I thought about the concept of visual learning and how it could completely change e-learning. Think about a wide variety of learning content and delivery vehicles (job aids, EPSS, course content, maps, diagrams, mind maps, etc) all seamlessly tied together so the user can explore them all by using this technology without having multiple websites, web pages, pop-ups, links, etc. It would offer an incredible breadth and depth of content at the fingertips of a learner along with the engagement factor of explorational learning.
