For the last decade, most attempts to use technology in higher education in all over the world and Pakistan have been very haphazard as system have been designed only to automatic existing processes and computers have not accomplished much more than replacing the type writer and adding machine. Today, however, technology is creating a new educational platform and is reconfiguring the way a student learns. Learning through information technology is evolving a new era of education all over the world.

Open and distance e-learning is one of the most rapidly growing fields of education, and its potentials impact on all education delivery system has been greatly accentuated through the development of internet based information technologies. For the students distance e-learning means increased access, it may also mean a more learner-centered approach, enrichment, higher quality and new ways of interaction.

In this regard, Virtual university of Pakistan is generating new patterns of teaching and learning through information technology. Though Allama Iqbal Open University is also contributing a lot in giving distance learning but e-learning or learning through information technology lead to innovation in mainstream education and may even have effects beyond the realm of education itself in Pakistan. E-learning plays a significant role in the creation of the global knowledge based society.

It is providing a world class education at the door steps at a very low cost. It is widely assumed that students in e-learning should pay a higher proportion of the costs than conventional students but virtual university of Pakistan has set a good example against this assumption by providing very low cost and quality education regardless of boundaries.

In efforts to meet the innovative and changing demands for standard education and training, e-learning may be seen as an approach that is at least complementary and under certain circumstances it is an appropriate substitute of face to face methods that still dominates the most educational systems. Its benefit can be evaluated by technical, social and economic criteria as it has its own pedagogical merit, leading to different ways of conceiving knowledge generation and acquisition.

For the student, e-learning means more freedom to access a wider range of opportunities for learning and qualification. The barriers may be overcome by E- distance learning as it includes not only geographical distance, but also other confining circumstances, such as personal constraints, cultural and social barriers and lack of educational infrastructure. For students it is often a cheaper alternative to pursuing a course through conventional methods. Many people cannot continue their studies due to jobs E-distance education is an opportunity for those people to maintain their jobs and improve study.

Communication between teacher and student is an important component in distance e-learning. Communication between students and teachers consist of e-mails, videos, discussion forums, CDs and broadcasting through TV channels as Virtual Television channels. For employees it offers high quality and usually professional development in the work place. It allows upgrading of skills, increased productivity and development of a new learning culture. Web-based distance learning is a growing field with rapid changes.

Unlike virtual university, conventional universities are still organized on the assumption that learning is dependent on a single informed person imparting information by word of mouth to a small group of listeners in a class room. With distance e-learning there is a great specialization of labor and investment in capital to replace certain human activities. It is a different form of structure that makes technology effective and leads to lowering costs while increasing access.

Now in this modern age, it is clear that distance E-learning will be important for standard education and training systems. It is approaching acceptance within mainstream education and training in such a way that it will make up part of the repertoire of most educational institutions of Pakistan in future.

So the emergence of open and distance learning towards the centre of human resource development is not in the first line the consequence of the development of open and distance learning as a methodology itself, it is rather mainly due to the change of regional and national education policies, reacting to the rapid technological changes and the concept of the information society.