How will eLearning shape the future of education?

Nowadays, when talking about education, it’s hard not to mention “eLearning”. To be more specific, eLearning is learning conducted through electronic technologies, typically delivered on the Internet, like courses or training programs online. You may also notice how popular and evolving it has become lately. But eLearning isn’t just a trend, what if we tell you it’s the future of education? And we’re not just assuming that. Facts and information always say the loudest! Let this article which are full of helpful insights prove it to you.

The high demand for eLearning

The rising of MOOCs

What is MOOCs? And how successful it is in eLearning?

MOOCs stand for Massive Open Online Courses. They are reliable courses are made mostly by universities and accessible to everyone for free. Therefore, within the world of eLearning, some considered MOOC to be the pioneer, the hottest platform of all. Coursera, edX, and FutureLearn are a few well-known MOOC providers.

According to Class Central – MOOC Report, by 2018, there were 101 million students worldwide has taken at least 1 MOOC in their lives. More than 900 universities have participated in launching their own MOOC. Additionally, 2012 was called “the year of MOOCs” by the New York Times due to this surprising rise.

(Image source: Class Central)

The potential future of MOOCs

All in all, creating effective visual aids for educational purpose is not simply whipping up some pretty pictures. It is about delivering a meaningful piece of knowledge to your students. Therefore, a clear understanding of the message being delivered and the audience is very important!

With this steady increasing rate, it’s very hard not to see people’s great need for MOOCs and eLearning in general. Furthermore, over a decade, the fever from MOOCs shows no sign of dropping. In 2018, Class Central’s reports revealed that MOOCs had 20 million new students and 2,000 new courses. This proves it isn’t just a short term trend. But indicate a great potential future it has!

More and more tools are created for eLearning

The higher the demand for eLearning, the more development tools there are.

So far, over 40 available tools are helping instructional designers create online courses. And for every type of courses, you will find a perfect tool.  For instance, if you just want to build a simple lesson with recorded videos, Camtasia and Elucidat are your buddies. However, for a more complex course with engaging animated videos, Vyond or Adobe Captivate 9.0 will be helpful companions to start with.

In short, all these facts and numbers not only suggest that eLearning is effective, but it also points out clearly how eLearning is taking over the future of education. Why? Because if it’s not, how come people demand and invest in it so much?  

Educator’s solid belief in the future of eLearning

Teachers know what’s best. It’s because no one could understand students and their learning better than who is teaching it. According to a pool from School of Education, 75% of educators believe that digital learning content will replace textbooks by the year 2026. In essence, we trust them and they trust eLearning. Hence,… well, you get the idea.  

Why do educators believe in eLearning?

The reasons for their belief are quite simple.

• • First, with eLearning, educators can track and measure their students’ activities. Learner’s performances can be displayed as graphic charts which are easier to observe and compare.

• • Second, because it’s work!  There is no doubt eLearning helps enhance the learning process. Why? Comparable results between offline and online learning across 27 studies analysis from the US Dept of Education has proved this. With eLearning’s multiples online videos and interactive assignments, learning is much more fascinating. To be more specific, it captured learners’ attention, help them understand/remember better through visual information.

In a nutshell, just as educators thought, when technology meets education, it opens the door for exciting educational opportunities. So, based on teachers’ words, there is no reason not to give eLearning a try, right?

Futuristic learning style for our future learners

Learning is only most efficient when it fits the learner’s style. Therefore, with the latest learner generation – Gen Z, a modern digital learning method is required.

Generation Z and who are they?

Generation Z (or Gen Z) are people who were born from 1995 to 2010. Have been exposed to the internet and social networks from the early days, they are truly digital natives.

Gen Z and eLearning go together hand in hand

1. Fluent in technology what eLearning is based on

According to the survey of 1,000 UK consumers, Generation Z spends 10.6 hours engaging with online content every single day. If technology is a language, they are all quite fluent in it. And since they are on the Internet most of the time, what learning style could be more suitable than eLearning? Because Gen Z views technology, not as a tool but rather a way of life. Consequently, they grew up with tech, therefore will learn best with tech.

2. Prefer to learn less but gain more – which fits the eLearning’s mechanism

It’s very understandable that Gen Z wants to spend less time on studying so they can have time doing other things – socializing, working, etc. We all do. Luckily, making learning faster is one of eLearning’s strength.

For example, a case study by MIT, Harvard and Tsinghua University in 2014 showed that the amount of information intakes by online learning is somewhat greater than the traditional learning method. Hence, with eLearning, instead of giving 1 hour reading a book with plain text, they can now choose to watch a video that carries the same quantity of knowledge within just 30 minutes or less.

3. eLearning offers different types of learning for different types of new learners

Normally, in a traditional classroom, one learning method will be applied to all students. We all know this is a huge outdated disadvantage since every learner has their own kind of approach to knowledge.

On the other hand, eLearning has various types of learning. For instance, if you are a learner with special needs and aspirations, then “Personalized Learning” will be tailored for you, just how you like it. If you learn better through moving images and sound and often prefer Youtube than Google, then “Video Learning” will help you reach your goal. Or even if you are a passionate gamer, there is “Gamification learning” for you to entertaining while learning at the same time!

An example of animated video learning that shows the benefits of a machine to measure pallets of freight as they are placed on a warehouse scale.

Conclusion

In summary, eLearning proved to be the learning style of tomorrow. It meets many of the young generation learners’ needs, people from all around the world have an extremely high demand for it and thus, they won’t stop invest and improve eLearning progressively.

Indeed, it’s safe to say that eLearning with all of its advantage, is ahead of the curve and will lead us into a better future of education. Do you agree with us? If yes, then maybe this is a good time to explore further about eLearning. Check out our previous articles or subscribe to this blog for more awesome posts relating eLearning Trends & Tips.

Read Further:

• Video-Based Learning Benefits And Tips To Make It Great
• Why you need animated infographics in e-learning
• Pros and cons of animated educational videos in e-learning
• 5 best examples of educational science animated videos in e-learning