e-learning

a.k.a. "educommerce"

An umbrella term to describe the act of learning online. There are several different types of e-learning. One kind, produced by "educommerce" companies, consists of online courses designed for etailers on the assumption that, if a site sells kayaks, it may also want to offer a class on kayaking. There is also e-learning through bona fide universities that offer courses and exams on the Net that home-based students can take for full university credit. There are e-learning B2B that hope to make a business out of selling pencils and textbooks on the Web. Corporate training makes up another e-learning segment; a company markets courses to companies that want to upgrade knowledge workers' skills. Finally, there is CBT (Computer-Based Training), a type of education in which the student learns by executing special training programs on a computer.