Discussion: Formal and Informal Learning with Hypermedia

Hypermedia (which includes hypertext as a subset) is an emerging technology which has the potential to radically enhance our interaction with the information world we live in. George Landow expresses this view best when he states “Hypertext … changes the way texts exist and the way we read them.” His comment does not imply that texts as we traditionally know them will disappear, but rather that new forms of text will appear (and are already appearing!). Hypermedia is an additive technology in this respect, just as the computer was (despite early predictions of the paperless society). As such, it is an enhancing technology, and while the field of information technology is still very much in the early stages of its involvement with hypermedia, it is already useful to examine how such enhancement can be best realized, particularly in the area of learning and instruction.