Learning with E's: putting technology in its place

The topic of e-learning is the focus of much current interest within education and industry. to decrease the use of computers within education made by Cordes and. Miller (2000), for example, we need to avoid the temptation to pay too much attention to the technology and too little attention to the learners, teachers and their context. The future design challenge we face is the development of interactive educational content that enables learners to bridge the gap between the operational and conceptual levels of their interactive experience and engage with the concepts of the discipline being studied. The technology challenge is building a platform for the delivery of this content through existing and emerging technology and in multiple contexts. The theoretical challenge and potential pedagogical benefits lay in the development of a central pedagogical framework. In order to address these challenges we need to reflect on our progress to date, to assess the evidence for the effectiveness of e-learning and to identify what works and why.