In case you haven't heard, e-learning is hot. According to International Data Corporation corporate online learning earned $1.1 billion in 1999 and is projected to produce $7.1 billion in sales by 2002. That means heightened competition within the industry, which in turn means greater quality and quantity of offerings and better technologies to access them. In a nutshell: Look forward to a better learning experience.

In addition to its vast offerings and streamlined search engine, Click2Learn also focuses on community as part of the learning process. "Community is key," says Martin. "A guiding principle for me is that people like to talk with other people and a tremendous amount of unmeasured learning takes place this way. Getting people to take courses and attend events is a goal." On Click2Learn, there is a space created where people congregate. In the future, the site will offer discussion groups, email groups, chat, synchronous interaction over the Internet, voice over IP. "This greatly enhances the attraction of learning and retention," he says.

Todd observes that we now "have unprecedented tools to address the need for learning everywhere in an organization." Increased learning means accelerated performance, he says. "Given the demands of the New Economy, that acceleration is in high demand. As more companies get this -- that e-learning is a strategic imperative -- the demand for robust, scaleable, effective and engaging e-learning solutions is going to explode. We're pretty close to that point right now."

The majority of e-learning experts predict that content will soon be delivered in smaller "chunks" and will be more targeted. "In general, people should expect to benefit from the granularization of content," notes Martin. Unlike today’s large structured courses, information and content will be broken down into smaller, more precise chunks, which will more accurately match content to a specific individual’s needs. Martin likens this to buying a chapter instead of ordering the whole book and only reading part of it. "Today, you have to navigate through a long course that takes time and money. Let’s say the part that you need is just 5 percent of that. Granularity should allow users to selectively consume smaller pieces of work," he explains.

Martin foresees a future in which content providers and distributors will arrive at a set of standards that will allow many types of publishers to use one system to deliver content. He also expects that the term e-learning will broaden to include simple pieces of information such as emails or stock quotes.

When it comes to the future of learning online, DigitalThink’s Todd is overwhelmingly positive. He sees a world in which learning experiences will come in many new forms, including portable text, rich media, interactive simulations delivered via browsers, PDAs, cell phones and other information appliances. "I think you'll see learning delivered in multi-year curriculum and five-minute tutorials. I think you'll see companies get a lot more deliberate with how they assess the skill gaps in their workforce, apply the right content and experiences to fill those gaps and measure the outcomes of those programs. I think individuals will begin to realize how important e-learning is to their professional development and they'll become savvy consumers."

Martin agrees. "E-learning will be delivered in more accessible and convenient ways, such as mobile devices." He also predicts that it will be easier for students to find the information and learning they need -- no more search and selection process. E-learning, in many ways, is about removing constraints, says Todd. In the past, information was scarce. In part, that’s what led to the model of the one-to-many classroom. But that scarcity is quickly eroding. "We don't live in a world of information scarcity anymore, we live in a world of information glut. We need approaches to learning that recognize our current information reality and move beyond conventional constraints to deliver learning to the user, when, where and how the user needs them."

Both Todd and Martin recognize that e-learning still has great potential beyond what most can imagine. "I think we have only begun to see the impact it will have on people and companies," says Todd. "If you look at the barriers to performance with any individual or any company they center around a lack of skills, competencies, knowledge or understanding to address a problem. Learning allows people and companies to surmount those barriers."