Supporting E-learning has been a part of the work I do at a college library and it is the method that enabled me to complete my Masters in Library Science. I am now thinking about my experience with this practice in relation to the older concept of distance education. So many of the on-campus courses being offered now at our college rely heavily on interacting in the CMS and other online venues. The technology available over the past 5-10 years enabled my own distance learning to include live online interaction with the instructor and classmates. Truly it now doesn’t matter if you are across the parking lot from your school, or half-way around the world.

What matters isn’t the ‘distance’. What matter is the choice of the E-learning tools, how they are deployed, how their benefits (vs. in-class instruction) can be leveraged and how their weaknesses (vs. in-class instruction) can be overcome. It is clear that open educational materials are the ideal fuel to keep E-learning growing and reaching all learners. My challenge as someone who works with providing access to tools and materials is knowing where my place is in the promotion and adoption of these materials.