Some view e-learning as a means to effective or efficient etc. learning, due to its ease of access and the pace being determined by the learner. Others point out that e-learning software developers tend to limit their focus on course delivery and content, while online education institutions require a much wider range of educational services.
Others are critical of e-learning in the context of education, because the face-to-face human interaction with a teacher has been removed from the process, and thus, some argue, the process is no longer "educational" in the highest philosophical sense (for example, as defined by RS Peters, a philosopher of education). However, these human interactions can be encouraged through web-conferencing programs such as Macromedia Breeze.
Further, continual advances in technology allow a wider range of learning experiences such as educational animation to be made available to support online learning.
E-learning systems such as Blackboard, Moodle, ATutor, ILIAS, often work towards a student-centered learning solution, building upon a social-constructivist pedagogy.