How Do You Spell Elearning? From E-learning to Learning Technologies

What should you use? Elearning, eLearning, E-Learning, Online Learning, Learning Technology? Does it really matter?

When I started in elearning (see what I did there) I used to see endless debates about how to write the word, with the ‘e’ standing for ‘electronic’. I would sit in meetings where marketing teams, sales teams and development teams would argue about how to put the word into product literature. Looking back, I am not sure it mattered that much. But what I do notice now is that elearning and Elearning appear far more commonly than e-learning or eLearning, even though you still see all the variations in use.

Like a lot of technology sectors, acronyms and phrases get introduced all the time. I see posts and articles about organisational problems where some voices in the industry appear to think the solution is simply to rename something or apply a new infographic. That does not work. You need to do the critical thinking, the work, and find the actual solution. The elearning spelling debate is a good example of where the industry eventually just settled on something practical and moved on.

As a phrase, elearning was the term used within exhibitions, conferences and sector groups for years. Over the last decade the ‘e’ seems to have quietly faded in some quarters. A good example in the UK is the Elearning Network, which dropped the ‘e’ to become the Learning Network, shifting slightly away from the elearning label. Despite that, the network still attracts a large following from the elearning community including instructional designers and developers.

Learning Technologies is perhaps the clearest example of where the terminology has moved. Originally held at Olympia, this major exhibition and conference now showcases what is happening across learning technology and HR tech each year in London, and has expanded to shows in Paris and beyond. The name itself reflects how the sector has grown. Elearning expanded into learning technologies to show the breadth of what the industry now covers.

AI is now expanding the picture again. Developers are using AI functions within tools like Articulate 360, building with AI-native platforms like Mindsmith, and some are experimenting with tools like Claude Code to develop complete courses. Whatever the tool, developers still need to consider accessibility and responsive design in everything they build. The terminology keeps evolving, but the fundamentals do not.

The history of the term elearning

Elearning is the shortened term for electronic learning, the process of delivering learning content through electronic resources such as software programmes and the internet. It can be structured formally, covering everything from GCSE and A-level courses to compliance training in the workplace. It can also be informal, such as joining an online forum or attending a coaching session via video call.

In the workplace, elearning is still often associated primarily with compliance courses on an LMS. For some that is a limitation. The shift towards calling it learning technologies rather than elearning has, in some ways, helped broaden perceptions of what the sector can deliver. Custom elearning and off-the-shelf elearning courses have made a significant contribution alongside the LMS and LXP sector, helping organisations deploy consistent training at scale. As AI-enabled platforms mature, skills mapping, learning pathways and career routes are becoming more common alongside traditional elearning delivery.

For large organisations focused on impact, ROI and total cost of ownership, what term you use matters less than whether the content works. Elearning gets content out quickly and effectively, and when mapped to the right people, it delivers a consistent message to large numbers of learners efficiently.

The evolution of elearning spellings

The term eLearning was first coined in 1999 by Elliott Masie, who used it during a TechLearn conference speech. The lowercase ‘e’ implied the format of the learning (electronic) and the capitalised ‘L’ denoted that learning was the intended outcome. In Masie’s original definition there was no hyphen.

The Oxford English Dictionary states that compound words should be joined with a hyphen, which is why electronic (adjective) and learning (noun) would formally be written as e-learning. E-learning is still commonly used at the start of a sentence or within a heading, and capitalising the E in that context is widely accepted even if it technically breaks the rule for common nouns.

However, many organisations have moved to elearning. Just as web-site became website and e-mail became email, e-learning has become elearning. The hyphen has been dropped over time as people have become more familiar with the term, partly driven by the way people search on mobile devices, where typing a hyphen is an extra step most people skip.

There is no formal ruling on how to spell elearning. The consensus from academia and business is simply to choose one version and stick to it. Consistency matters more than which variant you pick.

What should you actually use?

For most L&D professionals and organisations, elearning is now the safest and most widely recognised choice. It is the most commonly searched term, it is what most platforms and publishers use, and it avoids the formatting ambiguity of the hyphenated version. If your organisation already uses e-learning consistently across its documentation and systems, there is no compelling reason to change. But if you are starting fresh, elearning is where the industry has landed.

Within the sector the terminology continues to shift. Learning technologies, digital learning, and workplace learning are all in common use alongside elearning, and each carries slightly different connotations. Elearning as a phrase retains commercial and search relevance. It is still a major sector with significant revenue across LMS, LXP, content and authoring tool markets worldwide. The label may be evolving but the activity it describes is not going anywhere.

The prevalence of elearning in modern organisations

Within both business and education sectors, elearning has become the most widely used term for electronic learning. When people search for digital learning programmes, elearning is the term they reach for most often, which is why most publishers, platforms and content providers have adopted it as their primary label.

Elearning is fast becoming the default in professional settings, not because of of a formal decision but because of how language evolves in practice. The sector that delivered it has grown considerably beyond its original scope, and the terminology is following.