What is eLearning?

I have designed, developed, and delivered eLearning solutions for a large part of my professional career. While the term has been thrown around a lot within news media in the past year, eLearning is no longer a term used very often between those within the industry, as it does not reflect the vast array of available learning solutions today.

Prior to eLearning, the term CBT (computer based training) was commonly used to describe everything considered to be an educational software program. As this software was typically being provided via compact disc, there was less of a need for standardization and portability within systems. Timely measurement was rarely an option for program evaluation or learner assessment.

The term itself became pervasive a few decades ago when online education mostly consisted of mass produced learning modules, typically built in Flash. These modules were commonly built using eLearning authoring tools that utilized standards and specifications such as SCORM to communicate with an LMS (learning management system). This allowed for easy plug-and-play interoperability within various learning environments and improved portability, production speed, and standardized design. Most eLearning was initially developed for use within corporate environments and quickly became more common within educational institutions.

The web has advanced significantly since the early days of online education. Today eLearning authoring tools are everywhere and, like most other development software, are significantly easier to use by less technical audiences. Learning modules might only make up a small part of any online education program and are really only a single type of learning delivery mechanism. While they are still quite useful for creating portable, dynamic, and formalized assessment driven content, they are by no means the only way to accomplish these goals.

The inclusion of scoring or gaming functionalities within social communication tools (social websites, chat tools, bots, virtual environments, etc) allow for formal or informal measurement within almost any web-based platform. With so many available channels to publish educational content, create engagement, and utilize measurement, today you are limited only by your own creativity.