E-Learning is much more than E-Training

E-Learning! We need to talk about “e-forgetting,”
because to be successful at e-learning, you have to
forget the ways of your past.
—Tom Peters-

Like the above mentioned statement, I can say that Human knowledge is growing exponentially. A great paradox of our time is that the more we must learn, the less time we have to learn. So we are faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge: How do we keep up to speed on everything we must know, precisely when we must know it? Mass education became popular at the point in history when apprenticeships became impractical because there were too many knowledge seekers and not enough knowledge providers. Since then, we have relied on schooling, where one subject matter expert, or master, teaches dozens or hundreds of people at one time. But the world of learning is rapidly changing. With knowledge becoming so expansive (and often fleeting), demand for learning growing, and an increasing diversity in what individuals must know, even the best master teachers cannot reach all who have to learn with any semblance of timeliness and effectiveness. Our strategy now must be to capture knowledge so that it can be instantaneously accessed and shared. The only way to do this at anything close to the speed of change is to apply new thinking about learning technology and, more important, new thinking about learning itself. The technological revolution that spawned our fast-paced, information-centric world can also help us master it.