• The convergence of the Internet and learning, or Internet-enabled learning.
• The use of network technologies to create, foster, deliver, and facilitate learning, anytime and anywhere.
• The delivery of individualized, comprehensive, dynamic learning content in real time, aiding the development of communities of knowledge, linking learners and practitioners with experts.
• A phenomenon delivering accountability, accessibility, and opportunity to allow people and organizations to keep up with the rapid changes that define the Internet world.
• A force that gives people and organizations the competitive edge to allow them to keep ahead of the rapidly changing global economy.

With good design and delivery, eLearning does all these things. But, at its heart, it is, simply, learning. Too bad most interpretations focus on the technology (the "e") and not on the learning.

eLearning has to keep the people it's designed for in mind. How do we learn? How do we acquire and retain skills and information to help us develop? Only when we address individual learning styles can the "e" in eLearning factor in. Then the technical side -- the electronic delivery -- can be adapted to the learner.

Maybe the "e" should actually follow the word "learning." However you type it, eLearning will alter the marketplace.

Want more? E-Learner.com explains what is e-Learning, how does it work, and some of  the terms you'll find when you take eLearning courses.

Even more? What is E-Learning? (from HowStuffWorks) explains what it is and how it works.

Source:  http://www.learnativity.com/elearning.html#def