Open learning system often includes aspects of e-learning. There are numerous universities and organizations that create open educational resources for self-motivated students to access anywhere, at any time.

* Course management system, software that facilitates e-learning or computer learning

Early e-learning systems, based on Computer-Based Learning / Training often attempted to replicate autocratic teaching styles whereby the role of the e-learning system was assumed to be for transferring knowledge, as opposed to systems developed later based on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning ( CSCL ), which encouraged the shared development of knowledge.

Bates and Poole ( 2003 ) and the OECD ( 2005 ) suggest that different types or forms of e-learning can be considered as a continuum, from no e-learning, i. e. no use of computers and / or the Internet for teaching and learning, through classroom aids, such as making classroom lecture Powerpoint slides available to students through a course web site or learning management system, to laptop programs, where students are required to bring laptops to class and use them as part of a face-to-face class, to hybrid learning, where classroom time is reduced but not eliminated, with more time devoted to online learning, through to fully online learning, which is a form of distance education.

Moodle has several features considered typical of an e-learning platform, plus some original innovations ( like its filtering system ).

WebCT ( Course Tools ) or Blackboard Learning System, now owned by Blackboard, is an online proprietary virtual learning environment system that is sold to colleges and other institutions and used in many campuses for e-learning.

Also it has powerful e-learning system.

NTU provides e-learning services via edveNTUre, which is based on BlackBoard technology, provides the framework and eco-system for learning and teaching.

The Library also provides Internet access to over 32, 610 unique full-text e-journal titles, almost 225, 100 e-books, and a wide array of multi-media and e-learning programmes.

Campus One, a ' University at Your Fingertips ', provides an online portal through which all of the University of Ulster's e-learning courses are made available on a global scale.

It provides e-learning facilities, laboratories and drama studio space for Sixth Form use, as well as extra common room space.

It provides developers, authors, instructional designers, and subject matter experts the means to create and re-use e-learning content and reduce duplicated development efforts.

The knowledge management team provides information management support, encompassing library, records management and archive, e-learning, web and audio visual services.

It takes on many forms, ranging from formal class-based learning to self-directed learning and e-learning.

In the context of e-learning, a major discussion in instructional theory is the potential of learning objects to structure and deliver content.

RLO-CETL, a British inter-university Learning Objects Center, defines " reusable learning objects " as " web-based interactive chunks of e-learning designed to explain a stand-alone learning objective ".

In contrast, the new e-learning places increased emphasis on social learning and use of social software such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and virtual worlds such as Second Life.

However, Bates and Poole argue that when instructors say they are using e-learning, this most often refers to the use of technology as classroom aids, although over time, there has been a gradual increase in fully online learning ( see Market above ).

Technology enhanced learning ( TEL ) has the goal to provide socio-technical innovations ( also improving efficiency and cost effectiveness ) for e-learning practices, regarding individuals and organizations, independent of time, place and pace.

A common standard format for e-learning content is SCORM whilst other specifications allow for the transporting of " learning objects " ( Schools Framework ) or categorizing metadata ( LOM ).

The concept of MIT OpenCourseWare grew out of the MIT Council on Education Technology, which was charged by MIT provost Robert Brown in 1999 with determining how MIT should position itself in the distance learning / e-learning environment.

Moodle ( abbreviation for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment ) is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment ( VLE ).

Blended learning can also be applied to the integration of e-learning with a Learning Management System using computers in a physical classroom, along with face-to-face instruction.

With today's prevalence of high technology in many countries, blended learning often refers specifically to the provision or use of resources which combine e-learning ( electronic ) or m-learning ( mobile ) with other educational resources, also called hybrid courses.

Terra has also created several vertical portals, like Invertia, a successful finance portal, and Educaterra ( e-learning ).

In a more simplified form they correspond to today's " e-contents " that often form the core of " e-learning " set-ups, sometimes also referred to as web-based training ( WBT ) or e-instruction.

There is also separate study of e-learning, e-government, e-democracy and telemedicine.

In addition to classroom application and growth of e-learning opportunities for knowledge attainment, educators involved in student affairs programming have recognized the increasing importance of computer usage with data generation for and about students.

Authorware is particularly well suited to creating e-learning content, as it includes highly customizable templates for CBT and WBT, including student assessment tools.

Five regional campuses and e-learning programs further extend educational access and opportunity to students across southern Ohio and bring the total student population to more than 35, 000.

As a synonym to e-learning, homeschooling can be combined with traditional education and lead to better and more complete results.

Before any institution invests a great deal of time and energy into building high-quality e-learning content ( which can cost over $ 10, 000 per classroom hour ), it needs to consider how this content can be easily loaded into a Learning Management System.

microprogramming basis, can be understood and simulated with e-learning tools like Mikrocodesimulator MikroSim on a didactial point of view.

Thus it can be seen that e-learning is moving rapidly from the margins to being a predominant form of post-secondary education, at least in the USA.

Today many technologies can be, and are, used in e-learning, from blogs to collaborative software, ePortfolios, and virtual classrooms.

It can be seen then that e-learning can describe a wide range of applications, and it is often by no means clear even in peer reviewed research publications which form of e-learning is being discussed.

Authorware is used for creating interactive programs that can integrate a range of multimedia content, particularly e-learning applications.

A content package is used in e-learning to define some learning content or an assessment that can be delivered, for example by a Learning Management System.

The virtual campus incorporates existing e-learning courses with new postgraduate and undergraduate programmes, all of which can be accessed and completed via Campus One from anywhere in the world.

For example, the blending of e-learning with traditional learning implies that there can be an unblended form of e-learning in which no traditional learning occurs.

Specifically relevant to e-learning where developers can share and build knowledge into courses in a collaborative environment.