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290 Tony Batesstudents). In particular, given the cost of developing and sustaining high-qualitye-learning, governments and institutions need to pay careful attention tocost–benefit analysis. For some groups, more conventional educational provisionmay be a better investment; while for others, e-learning will be the bestoption.There is certainly strong pressure, particularly from some American interests,to commercialize post-secondary education, and e-learning was seen as amajor means by which this could be achieved. The initial optimism around thisstrategy crashed with the dot-com bust of 2001, although it is unlikely thatpressure to use e-learning to privatize higher education will disappear.Electronic learning can and perhaps should change the nature of teachingand the relationship between teacher and learner in post-secondary education,but to date its applications in general have been quite conservative, replicating,either virtually or at a distance, many of the traditionally valuedapproaches to teaching, such as seminars, testing, and searching, analyzing,and applying information. However, as the technology improves, allowing forboth synchronous and asynchronous interaction, video as well as text, and asinstructors begin to understand the power and potential of e-learning, it islikely that we will see new and more powerful approaches to teaching andlearning emerging.This is unlikely to happen, though, without some fundamental changes inthe way in which faculty work. The technology raises the skill requirements offaculty, and, in particular, successful applications of e-learning depend onharnessing the skills of other professionals, such as instructional designers andmedia producers. This means that faculty will need to pay more attention toinstructional design and to teamwork if they are to use e-learning cost-effectively.Lastly, e-learning has suffered as much from over-exaggeration of its benefitsas it has from fear and resistance to change in very conservative institutions.Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that e-learning is a useful toolfor post-secondary education, as long as it is used with skill and discrimination.REFERENCESAllen, I. E. and Seaman, J. (2003) Sizing the Opportunity: The Quality and Extent ofOnline Education in the United States, 2002 and 2003. Wellesley, MA: The SloanConsortium.Bartolic-Zlomislic, S. and Bates, A. (1999) “Investing in Online Learning: PotentialBenefits and Limitations,” Canadian Journal of Communication 24: 349–66.Bates, A. W. (2000) Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College andUniversity Leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.