Vale "e"-Learning!
Long live Learning!
So – it’s finally happened!
I’ve been banging on about this (my students will be heard sighing with relief) for a couple of years now – explaining the issues with prefixes before the -Learning word and the implications and restrictions it causes…
And now…. here’s the first strategic deletion of the "e" (that I’m aware of… if anyone else has done it – get out there and be celebrated!) – welcome to ELIG (although it still starts with an "e"!) the European Learning Industry Group:
"The E-Learning Industry Group is now the European Learning Industry
Group, a change that reflects a shift within the organization itself,
as well as within the learning industry.“The term ‘e-learning’ has been overused,” said Joe Hegarty, Intel
Innovation Centres director of business operations. “Technology is now
clearly embedded in all modern learning solutions.”He also said technology must be regarded as a partner in the evolution of the learning industry."
But… I’ve just explored the ELIG website and… there’s "e"s all over it…. from "e"-Learning Summits to their tag line: "Promoting e-Learning in Europe" !
Oh well – I guess it’s too much to drop the "e" entirely…. perhaps?? ;-(
Digital Dialogues 
I had a feeling this was coming, and I have mixed emotions about it. Do you think we’ll still need some way to classify different job roles related to what was formerly eLearning? Or do we now say that somebody is a “learning specialist with SCORM knowledge and online course development experience?”
I think it’s important to acknowledge that learning is agnostic when it comes to technology, but I can’t help but think we’ll need to hang on to some terminology to know who does what.
I don’t share your concerns.
Before we added the “e” we didn’t need to define people as “c-learning designers”!
Those who worked in distance education simply explained that…
But to separate the “e” from the others is deluding ourselves that incorporating technology into everything we do is not essential…
I’m an educator – I specialise in organisational learning – and learning technologies. I’m not an “e”-educator – the learning is foremost, the chosen practices and methods are secondary.
ABB 🙂