Will e-learning replace teachers?

Some people speculate that e-learning will replace teachers. This could not be further from the truth. It would be like saying that books will replace teachers or the need for them. Like books, e-learning is a tool that enhances the learning process. Before printed books, much of learning was through word of mouth and hands on training. If anything was written down, these copies were very limited.

Even after the printing press was developed, books were for a long time scarce. Today there are thousands of libraries with thousands and thousands of books in them. Books and libraries have not endangered the teaching profession. But books and libraries have greatly enhanced the learning process.

Today we are undergoing another revolution (or evolution) in the learning process, e-learning. In the e-learning environment there are electronic-books and other multimedia based content that resemble books. Also there are millions of websites that act as virtual libraries with content on just about any subject imaginable. In fact the World Wide Web is a vast virtual library in this sense. It is hard not to find content on a subject if ones looks hard enough on the Web.
Just as teachers guide students through text books and other learning content, teachers guide students trough e-content. E-learning in some ways has made learning easier. It has also made independent learning and research easier. E-learning is not the menace to teaching as some may think it to be but actually it is developing into a vital asset in the learning process. Today through e-learning a student is able to learn more in less time.

As long as there are students, there will always be a need for teachers.