Reading the texts and other posts have certainly modified my understanding of eLearning. After my analysis, and thoughtful feedback from others, I use the term eLearning intentionally to signal that the technology is not separate from learning, but through capitalization I emphasize that the goal is Learning.
Perspectives on eLearning are intellectually and practically diverse; there are multiple frameworks that describe the concept. Not only are there many ways to “do” eLearning; we should not aspire to do it only one way.
It is impossible to articulate what is “left out” of eLearning definitions because we could exhaust all our time thinking about additions, clarifications, and exceptions ad nauseum. Instead, I propose that we see the definition of eLearning as encompassing a web of various points of emphasis, difference, and commonality. For me, the definition of eLearning must be open, flexible, multiple, and potential-focused. Too broad and it’s too inclusive/ambiguous to mean anything. Too narrow and it becomes too exclusive and categorical.
The most radical aspect of eLearning for me is imagining it as an ethical, civic-minded way of developing a capacity for understanding the interrelationships between teachers and teaching, learners and learning, and technology and ways of knowing in/with that technology. It is not only what we do with technology; it’s also how technology, teaching, and learning shape each other in a continuous, interrelated feedback loop. To consider one, we must consider all.
The eLearning most relevant to me is learning that incorporates technology at all levels to achieve: 1) self-empowerment, 2) self-articulation and communication with others, 3) empathy with others and participation in a wider community, 4) the ability to evaluate critically what limits people’s ability to self-articulate, communicate, and empathize with others. Although it is necessary to eLearning, technology should be a means to an end (i.e. to learning and socially responsible growth), not the end itself.
I use the term eLearning consciously, now, to indicate the modification of learning through electronic technology, but the prioritization of learning–and the pedagogies that facilitate learning–through the capitalization of the letter L.
Teaching Techné 