Face to face interaction and exchange will always remain a valuable element of many learning experiences.

There are times when it is important to bring people together so that they can see and experience each other, share stories, empathize and learn from each other in very personal and direct ways. Hence the challenge of e-Learning is not to get everything on- line and communicate solely via modem, voice or video exchange. The challenge is to use e-Learning where it works best and retain classroom or other face to face modes of instruction where they can pay real dividends.

If the classroom, with all the overhead and travel costs needed to bring people together, is just being used to communicate routine content, chances are that resources are being wasted -- even when the classroom is electronic rather than real.

When it comes to communication of the content of most learning experiences, web-based instruction can usually do the job much more effectively and achieve much more focussed results than traditional means. This is where on-line methods need to be used and where e-Learning experiences can replace classroom time with significant cost savings. e-Learning experiences have a powerful role to play in "before and after education" as well as through free-standing learning events. In this way it is often possible to use e-Learning to compress one week of traditional classroom instruction into one or two days, using the classroom or equivalent face to face interactions where they are most needed and can add most value.