Our college days prepare us for the workplace, but those college days are no less “real” just because we are students. So how does workplace learning compare to academic learning? First of all, it is usually more focused: If I am a technical writer, my software training course helps me do a very specific type of work. Second, the consequences are different. Performance reviews are not the same thing as grades. There are different results, but both are important. Third, the workplace can learn from academia: allow workers some free-rein in their workplace learning environment and see what suggestions for improved efficiency and performance can come from the workers themselves. As for academia learning from the workplace, professors would do well to stay up-to-date with their teaching tools and course content which can come from close cooperation with industry.

http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/emotions-and-humor-in-learning-and.html

Regarding informative graphics: Jakob Nielsen (web usability guy) made a usability point about avoiding meaningless graphics here.

And I wrote a bit about the implication for online course content here.

I understand the importance of learning objectives, but they often times are a waste of paper space. Objectives should be clear and to the point. If the objective of the lesson is to simply teach 2 plus 2, make that the objective. Sometimes when looking at lesson plans, curricula or syllabi the learning objectives seem to drone on, but say nothing. Whether shared with the learner or not, learning objectives should be to the point and improve the lesson- not add 30% more white noise.