There is hardly any youngster without a smartphone and using it more or less extensively. Technology enhanced learning (TEL) takes advantage of this common practice to support learning, on smartphones, tablets and computers.

The term TEL is used to describe the application of information and communication technologies to teaching and learning. TEL subsumes the older term e-learning, which was used in a confusing variety of meanings. 

For an in-depth understanding, two aspects of TEL should be distinguished. In a technical perspective TEL is seen as any online facility or system that directly supports learning and teaching. This includes websites, portals and learning platforms of educational organisations, providing information for learners on timetables, examination regulations and dates, learning materials and exercises. These institutional learning environments are not a novelty anymore; they can be used in all forms and stages of VSD.

The second aspect concerns the use of technologies to enhance the process of teaching and learning. Most commonly, technology is used to replicate existing teaching, by producing constantly available versions of existing course materials, resources or tools. Videos or recorded course components are made available online to increase flexibility with regard to when and/or where learners undertake their learning activities. In comparison to such operational improvements, more advanced approaches aim at qualitative changes in learning. Here, TEL is associated with structural changes in the teaching and learning process. Such interventions involve redesigning activities or parts of learning content to provide active learning opportunities: resources are prepared for learners to undertake enquiry-based learning activities, improve collaborative activities and learner interaction, or micro training is facilitated by dispensing content in learning nuggets.