E-Learning: The Hype and the Reality

Abstract

This paper considers the increasing impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the associated rise in e-learning as a recognised and respected research area. The paper provides a summary of some of the current research areas under investigation and provides a list of characteristics of the area. The paper goes on to consider the professional identities of researchers in the area and the tensions which have resulted in terms of aligning with this new emergent group of professionals within existing institutional structures.