Hopefully I can provide a different perspective as someone that has been certified fairly recently and is still inexperienced. It seems most everyone on this thread has been around for awhile. If not then just ignore me that's what my wife does.
I think that PADI's OW material is particularly well suited for eLearning. The reason is that when I was training it seemed to me that they have it so streamlined that it's really just a framework. There's very little meat to go along with it. They give you exactly what you need to know (to get started diving) no more and no less. If they take this same material and move it into a multi-media format and maybe even provide some links to get more information from the Internet then, the beginning student could benefit a lot.
There is always going to be the student that will need the traditional classroom training. I don't think that will ever go away. I believe those are the type of people that will keep the traditional learning environment alive and well.
However, there are quite a few others that are more than capable of being given the material and learning it completely on their own. These are the people that will be able to take full advantage of eLearning.
As for the independent instructors out there who are at odds over this method of learning I would like to make one point. When I was looking to start OW training the first place I found was PADI's website. There was not one independent instructor listed when I searched for the areas I was in at the time. They only showed me the shops in my area. It seems to me that PADI never has provided much support for their independent instructors which really is a shame but, that's probably a topic for another thread.
Finally, as far as my own preference goes. I still want the classroom environment. I can study the material and learn it on my own but, I'm a people person. I like to socialize and meet new people. I'd like for them to take their current format and enhance it with a multi-media environment that is available to all OW students rather than make it a stand alone option.
Sorry for the long post. Hopefully there is something useful in there.