Distance learning started several years ago when colleges and tech schools needed to offer courses to students who lived a significant distance away from campus. Long distance instruction then utilized video equipment to bring "in" the professor to a group several miles away who were connected by video equipment and a T1 line.
The students could see the professor, hear his lecture, listen to him and ask questions. The set up was the same as the traditional classroom; the only difference was that a technician was added to the set up so that he could monitor that all went well with the video equipment.
eLearning today is Internet learning in which courses have been set up to train and educate people. Corporations and colleges use eLearning. The teaching methods involve setting up interactive presentations, embedded videos, chat devices and links to other websites in addition to traditional methods: online lectures, notes and tests.
While both distance learning and eLearning bring the coursework directly to the students or employees, traditional distance learning is usually stand alone, whereas eLearning is a design of connected media elements that are used as a necessary part of instruction. eLearning is available 24/7 as it is just a matter of going to your computer, writes Katy Campbell in "E-ffective Writing for E-Learning Environments."
Both are good ways to learn; it is a matter of how the institution decided to set up the course.