Yogesh Makkar founded Kapdec with a mission of making education possible for everyone. Yogesh, an engineer and an innovator holds an honors degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT-Kurukshetra, a Master’s in Engineering from the UNL & an MBA from Kelley School of Business. Yogesh is committed to making a difference in a student’s life by providing unique methods, with a global team’s help, to help students learn more and be comfortable with the learning process for lifelong learning. What keeps Yogesh awake at night is only his passion, that is, to deliver a unique platform – that, indeed every student anywhere on the globe should be able to use.
The year 2020 has been an inflection point for the education industry where technology has caused fundamental changes in the way educators to teach and learners consume knowledge. Also, the year has been a catalyst in enhancing the development of a few sectors, ed-tech being one of them. While most industries have struggled to survive the pandemic’s challenges, ed-tech has been experiencing unprecedented growth ever since the coronavirus outbreak.
Though e-learning existed even before the pandemic, it was always restricted to course material, e-books, and a few coaching platforms. Now, students have easy access to various live classes, online courses, language apps, video conferencing tools, immersive learning material, entrepreneurship courses, up-skilling courses, etc. In this article, we look at top e-Learning trends that are likely to dominate the industry in 2021 and beyond.
E-learning in 2020
As the education system leaders come forward to make online education work for the masses, e-learning is flexing its muscles. The pandemic has been an opportunity for educational institutions to permanently incorporate the long due digital technology into their education delivery model. The increasing significance and usage of e-learning are evident from MASSCOM’s updated estimates for the ed-tech market’s growth by 2022 – from an earlier predicted range of $2.8- $3.2 bn to a new prediction of $3.5 bn.
Though the initial phase of the pandemic outbreak was challenging for educators over how well equipped they are with technology; they successfully adapted to the evolving landscape of teaching in a short span.
Top E-learning Trends in 2021
Learning is rapidly expanding beyond the traditional classroom setting, and the adoption of e-learning is becoming increasingly popular as educational institutions explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Educational institutes are tapping on social media as a medium of communication to enable students to interact with their peers and faculty members after school. By providing an opportunity to share opinions, projects, and study materials, social media helps students connect with different people, build networks and enhance their learning experience. Further, e-learning plays a significant role in doing away with the one-size-fits-all approach of the education system by promoting open-source learning, which enables students to work in partnership with teachers and develop their own learning experiences. Also, it provisions students to connect beyond the classroom by participating in online communities and virtual networks.
Based on its popularity and growth trajectory, here are top trends expected to influence the industry in 2021:
- Immersive Learning
Video-based and immersive learning mediums that popularised in 2020 are going to be one of the significant influencers in the e-learning space in 2021. Though story-based learning is not a novel concept, it was never as advanced as it is now with integrating advanced technologies that give an immersive experience to learners. Video-based education focuses on conceptual learning rather than traditional learning approaches that focus on bookish knowledge.
The production and consumption of video content will continue to grow as students and teachers realize its significant role in enhancing education quality. The content will range from the production of dedicated videos on educational concepts to streaming of live classrooms.
- Personalized Learning
The growing adoption of e-learning has increased personalized learning instances, allowing educators to customize learning basis the needs of each student. It also includes a personalized recommendation system where students get an individualized list of recommended assessment tests, lectures, short courses, etc. Personalized learning will continue to be one of the top trends in 2021, where we will see it being used in conjunction with assessment engines, AI, and other tools to make learning exciting and effective.
- Gamification
Gamification will continue to hold the attention of educators to provide the right learning. Many e-learning platforms and apps have already integrated some of the most popular techniques into their teaching approaches to make learning an interesting experience. This includes an achievement system, tracking users’ streaks, competitions, and a reward system. It keeps students engaged while ensuring they learn.
- Micro-Learning
Learners today are searching for highly targeted content. If they want to refine a particular concept or learn a new one, they want an easily accessible and valuable resource. It is similar to YouTube, which gives a list of videos against a specific subject or input. In 2021, we will see more companies creating highly targeted content in the form of quizzes, videos, games, podcasts, etc., to maximize learners’ learning efficiency.
- Rise of Advanced Technologies
Developing technologies like AI, AR and VR will completely transform the e-learning space in the years to come. These technologies can understand and assess students’ learning abilities, personalize learning experiences, build more robust educational programs, provide the right environment for students to learn various concepts of science by watching experiments, etc. Further, there will be an advancement in tracking learning to make data tracking and analysis efficient.
- Quality of Content
As technology evolves, so will the quality of content to deliver high fidelity learning. In e-learning, the quality of content is majorly driven by 3 factors – meaningful interactions, visual storytelling, and high-quality graphic design. In 2021, we will witness the increased creation and curation of indigenous content by e-learning experts. Moreover, content curation will become one of the best ways to create high learner engagement.
- Social And Collaborative Learning
Social learning is becoming an essential form of education. Learners collaborate through various modes, such as informal chat sessions, forums, e-learning platforms, and learning circles to upgrade their knowledge, gain new skills and compete with fellow learners. The learning is transparent and encourages students to overcome their fears of gaining unique experience.
Summing Up!
As technology continues to challenge traditional learning methods, the e-learning industry keeps on growing. This growth is justified as it makes education easily accessible, affordable, and dynamic, in addition to facilitating students to study at any given time and place.
The above-mentioned e-learning trends will continue to impact the way teachers teach, learners learn, and educational institutions benefit from these interventions. Education will become more efficient and effective if educational institutions adapt to these emerging trends.