eLearning, E-learning, E-Learning or e-Learning?

Hi Jeff,

We always use "eLearning"

The rationale goes like this:  small 'e' denotes electronic  (etc: web/online, basically not paper based).  

The other 8 letters should be what we are all trying to achieve "Learning"

Hence the approach to eLearning (the term is long in the tooth now) is mainly about Learning, 8 letters to 1.  The "e" about the delivery technology... which of course will always change...

PS:

I previously worked in educational institute that spent many hours debating the most suitable syntax of the word eLearning, E-learning or e-Learning....only educational facility would waste meetings on such a benign topic. 

PPS:

As the internet was starting up (yes that old)  - I also worked for a manager (same institution) who had monthly meetings for a year to the determine if the Internet was going to be a worthwhile education tool...........<rolling eyes>

Anyway, hope it helps

Cheers

Garry

Hi all

eLearning isn't a proper word and so not recognised by all screen reading software. For those with accessibility issues or developers using an automated tool for quick and easy voice overs the elearning version sounds wrong. E-learning is pronounced properly and isn't inventing a word. Interestingly, email is in the dictionary as both e-mail and email but clearly a far more popular word. So until elearning appears in all the dictionaries, best to stick to the hyphenated version for the sake of others. 

Gavin

My friend who is a grammar stickler explained to me that with new hyphenated words (like e-learning), as the word becomes more commonplace and well-known/used, the hyphen is eventually dropped.

Examples: web-site has become website, e-mail has become email.

This means that "e-learning" will likely one day be recognized in the dictionary as "elearning" and the latter spelling might even become more common

Random fact!! =)

• http://blog.referralcandy.com/2013/10/22/ecommerce-hyphen/
• http://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/hyphens-and-their-usage/

PS Even Jay-Z dropped his hyphen - he's now Jay Z! Haha :) (Jay-Z to become Jay Z in massively disrespectful move against hyphens)

Personally, eLearning doesn't make sense. :) Seems it should be e-learning or elearning.

I use E-Learning in headings because it looks odd to not have the hypen with the big E small l. 

• 10 Best Elearning Tips vs 10 Best E-Learning Tips

But I use elearning in the body text.

I guess Oxford dictionary is the one to follow?

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/e-learning?q=elearning

So: e-learning.

Kind regards,

Christophe

In my personal experience, it depends on the organization/company. I agree with Jeff that the most important thing is just to pick one and be consistent with it! =)

Ask yourself, do you write "email" or "e-mail"? Then do the same with "e(-)learning". Consistency is key to happiness

This discussion is quite curious for a non(hyphen)English(hyphen)speaking country like Spain.

We have additonal problems to this. Sometimes people would ask: "So what do you do for a living?" and I reply: "elearning". When I receive a deep silence, I continue: "you know, these computer online courses...". Then there are 2 options: I can get a "so you are a computer engineer??" The other option is: "Boring stuff". Uffff...

We still mix email (like that, in English) with other forms, including the most accepted one "electronic mail" (but in Spanish). 

As for messages, we say: "I sent him a s-m-s", but now most commonly: "I sent a whatsapp". Like that, no translations.

BTW, I like hyphens, make things seem more sophisticated (though I think it'll happen what Bruce says here: they will disappear together with the "e").

My 2 cents.

Hi Jeff, I'd say it doesn't matter really as long as YOU use it consistently in anything you write. Like Garry states: in the end it's all about learning. 

I agree with Jeff - no correct, or incorrect syntax here. as long as you stick with one.

Nevertheless, out of pure curiosity I searched for both terms and got the following (perhaps quite useless) info: 

• Google gives about 12,200,000 results for "elearning", and about 17,300,000 results for "e-learning". This would indicate that "e-learning" is more common than "eLearning" - unless the extra 5 million references were all coming from online discussions about the frequent misuse of "E-learning"
  

• In Wikipedia's entry on "E-learning", the syntax "E-learning" is used 97 times, whereas "elearning" only 10. 

• It seems that offline publications about electronic/online learning prefer "elearning", whereas online articles more frequently use "E-learning".