E-learning Market Size in 10 Years
Education is a growing industry and the basic requirement in every country. UNESCO reports that the total amount spent on education is USD 4.7 trillion annually. With the global pandemic and social distancing rules, traditional educational methods are likely to be replaced by custom eLearning development services and their platforms, which will increase the market size of e-learning in the education industry.
E-learning platforms are considered superior to traditional learning methods mainly due to their flexibility and the lack of extensive physical resources. Custom eLearning services can easily minimize training, infrastructure, and utility costs for a school. Instead, the funding can be redirected to enhancing e-learning software or platforms, which will provide students with additional skill development options.
Unlike traditional learning methods, E-learning can be accessed from any place and at any time. It only requires a stable internet connection and any electronic device. It is one of the biggest reasons for the increased popularity of e-learning platforms. Students can now easily access various courses and curriculum options from the comfort of their homes without needing to worry about traveling.
The current market size of the e-learning industry
The EduTech industry received over USD 1 billion in fundings in 2018. The funding has significantly increased since 2018, and now, the market capitalization of global education institutes is USD 6 trillion, i.e. more than the global health care market capitalization.
According to the statistics by Holoniq, education market analyst, currently, the global education stock is valued at USD 190 billion. Leading among them is the Chinese EduTech company – TAL, with a market capitalization of USD 20 billion. China also holds the largest e-learning market capitalization of USD 67 billion due to companies like TAL and VIPKID. Following China is the USA, with a market capitalization of USD 51 billion spread across 40 companies. The market capitalization of custom e-learning development companies is estimated to increase rapidly in the next 20 years.
List of the top e-Learning applications
Given below are the top six e-learning platforms:
Coursera
Coursera partners with various universities like Stanford, Penn, Princeton, Michigan, and companies like IBM, Google, PwC, making it one of the most popular online education platforms.
Skillshare
Skillshare specializes in providing an e-learning platform where anyone can share their skills and teach others. Instructors create step-by-step guides to help their students develop skills like cooking, photography, marketing, gaming, etc. It is an excellent example of a custom e-learning development platform since each instructor has complete freedom over classes.
Lynda
Part of the LinkedIn Learning group, Lynda offers various technology, creativity, and business-based courses. The platform has partnered with various well-known names in the industry, including Adobe, NBC, and USC.
Udacity
Udacity provides job training and micro-credential facilities that focus on technology skills that are in demand now. They’ve partnered with many IT giants, including Accenture and Cisco, to provide students courses in AI, robotics, and self-driving cars.
Udemy
Udemy is an all-inclusive platform that provides courses from all industrial fields. They have over 130,000 courses in their portfolio, ranging from marketing to data science and programming.
edX
edX specializes in providing university-level courses online so that students can earn micro qualifications. They have six different types of programs, including MicroMasters, Professional Certificates, and one-off courses.
Related : Automate Teaching with Custom eLearning Development
Trends that will encourage market size growth
As custom e-learning services evolve to include simple, complex, and professional course options, new trends are likely to emerge.
Professional likely to take additional courses
While traditional schools provide only learning options – part-time or full time – e-learning can provide a student with the option to study anytime, anywhere. Traditional schools require the student to be present for several hours a day to be considered eligible for examinations, which is a disadvantage for working professionals who cannot dedicate the time.
On the other hand, custom e-learning development can provide courses made of texts, videos, or interactive options. These can be done while traveling, eating meals or even while doing other activities like working out.
Several corporate and government set-ups are encouraging professionals to take additional online courses to gain an extra qualification. The goal is simple; these qualifications will provide the professional with different skills to be used in the job. Employers especially use this strategy to encourage their employees to apply for increments. The additional skill set will make them eligible for promotions while the company earns a skilled employee without external hiring.
Several private companies offer their employees reduced working hours if they’re willing to take short-term industry-specific courses. It provides the employees with the opportunity to enhance their careers and earn at the same time.
Introduction of micro-learning and social-learning
As we move to a digital era where classrooms are online, micro-learning and social-learning trends emerge to help students retain knowledge. Most students find it difficult to pay attention to online classes because they lack any interactive element. Most online classes are based entirely on the teacher talking while the students have to remain on mute. This lack of interactive elements might encourage independence, but it does demote social interactions and team efforts.
Social-learning elements have already been included by various custom eLearning development platforms to provide students with the same traditional classroom experience. Students can collaborate with others in either a team project or create study groups.
The second biggest advantage of online classrooms is communication problems. While students sit in front of computers and mobile phones for several hours a day, they’re expected to retain information immediately and keep up with the pace of work. Online classrooms are extremely similar to traditional learning methods but pose an added disadvantage. In traditional classes, the teacher can immediately point out whether the student cannot understand or is not paying attention. In online classrooms, however, it is difficult for any teacher to keep track of 20 students in 20 tiny boxes and understand which point needs to be cleared.
As a result, micro-learning is an emerging trend. Micro-learning usually includes a topic that has been broken down into several different smaller sections. The student can then tackle these sections one by one, taking frequent breaks and assessing how far they’ve come before moving on to the next. Micro-learning cannot be implemented in online or traditional classrooms because the teacher does not have the time.
Technological advancement of e-learning platforms
Technology is a fast-paced train, and everyone is expected to adapt quickly. The same can be said for e-learning platforms which are slowly adopting new technologies to develop more interactive and engaging platforms for students. The main reason for the new advancements is to encourage students to study by providing a ‘fun’ study method.
Gamification and virtual reality are two main technological trends that will increase interest in e-learning platforms. While online classrooms provide monotony, virtual reality will allow students to be completely immersed in the course. Virtual reality is especially advantageous for courses like geography, where students can experience various geographical structures and understand their difference rather than look at pictures.
The addition of games to e-learning platforms is not a new trend. Courses for younger students include games based on mathematics, where the students can learn basic concepts like addition and multiplication. As EduTech companies partner with various academic experts they have used custom e-learning services to include new games to help students understand complex topics like calculus.
These interactive tools can teach high school biology practical like dissections instead of providing students with living creatures.
What does the future look like?
The global education expenditure is USD 4.7 trillion annually. However, less than 3% of this is spent on digitization. With the recent pandemic, this will increase rapidly. In 2018, the global expenditure on educational technology was USD 152 billion and will likely increase to USD 342 billion by 2025. As new technological advancements are integrated by custom eLearning services, this will likely increase rapidly.
The global e-learning market will likely turn into a competitive playground in the future as firms try to stand out. The competition can become a challenge for all companies in the e-learning market because there is little to protect their intellectual property and copyright. It will mean companies will have to constantly upgrade their platforms and courses to keep garnering present customers’ attention.
EduTech firms will need to adapt their marketing strategies and course portfolios and provide added features to get new customers in the competitive field. The pandemic has taught the education industry that online learning is an advantage. It is efficient and will help students. This conclusion means smaller companies will have to evolve rapidly or risk being left behind.
While custom eLearning development providers focus on creating an engaging platform for students, it also becomes imperative that their e-learning tools help maximum retention. Otherwise, the student is likely to move to a competitor. Freemium packages offer short-term subscription plans, but these will need to create lasting impressions that will encourage all users to continue to get subscriptions.
The e-learning market is likely never to die down, and while it is still in its early phase, all existing e-learning platforms need to solidify their stance in the market. Partnering with IT firms specializing in e-learning platform creation, like Knovator, can prove advantageous. Knovator can easily help keep tabs on the upcoming trends and help adapt your existing platforms to future trends.
