Like any “new” complex phenomenon, e-Learning has been attracting, over the past decades, a lot of interest from different stakeholders in a totally horizontal manner with respect to education and training sectors. Many labels have been assigned to the act of using some kind of ICT in learning processes, from e-Learning to technology enhanced learning, to ubiquitous learning; many generations of e-Learning have been announced; many predictions have been made on the future of e-Learning, ranging from the most optimistic views to the most sceptical views.

In parallel, the growing relevance of the use of ICT in mainstream E&T and the increasing acceptance of the potential of new technologies to affect learning systems have brought attention to the scarcity of reliable quantitative and qualitative information on the e-Learning phenomenon. This is hardly surprising, given the nature of the two components of the “e-Learning mix”: ICT, as one of the fastest changing components of our society, and education, a recognised slower adopter of change.