ABSTRACT
The rapid developments in technology-mediated learning (or just ‘on-line learning’ or even the currently fashionable ‘e-learning’) are often accompanied by claims about its effectiveness in enhancing the process of learning itself, as well as its new efficiency in overcoming barriers of place and time in educational provision. The question is raised: are we seeing the development of a new pedagogy? Do we need an entirely new way of thinking about ‘e-learning’ that distinguishes it from the kind of learning that takes place in conventional educational settings? In fact, over the last two or three years almost every sector of education and training will have developed some of the methods associated with the new technology of learning. Almost every existing university, for example, will have some ongoing activity that involves creating new courses for the Internet, or web-based versions of existing courses. Most of these developments in the traditional university sector are attempting to apply existing methods and quality procedures to the new conditions of learning and teaching. This is not necessarily the case with all e-university developments, some of which are emerging from areas that have no tradition, or a very different tradition, of quality assurance. These include corporate universities, for-profit higher education companies, publishing and new media companies, and educational brokers.
