Upcoming trends of online learning

What is online learning?

Online learning is an electronic means of gaining an education, allowing students to be flexible and learn from the vicinity of their own home. Through making education more accessible to people that may be restricted to their geographical location, or to those that struggle in a classroom setting, online learning courses bring education to the learner. Students are able to work at their own pace and pursue other commitments such as full-time employment, whilst still gaining a qualification without having to attend a physical class.

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What are the upcoming trends of online learning?

• Blended learning
  As students are learning to navigate technology from a younger age, it is becoming an integral part of everyday life and schools are finding it to be more effective in teaching. Technology has impacted society’s attention span and therefore teaching has had to adapt to this in an attempt to ensure that students are still retaining information. Therefore, more courses will be offered in the form of ‘blended learning’ whereby modules will be taken both online and in the form of physical assessments. This not only allows students to work independently but still have that face-to-face communication and way of working that they are familiar with.
  

• More independent learning
  Technology will not only impact teaching but also the interaction between teacher and student. By utilising online resources, more teachers will require students to carry out reading before classes in order for more enriching discussions and the students being more familiar with the things that they will be taught. This not only means that students will have developed a more in-depth understanding before a class, but that the teacher’s role in their learning is reduced, with the student’s themselves becoming more self-reliant.

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• Micro-credentials
  As more working professionals are utilising online learning courses to simply deepen their knowledge about certain areas or to progress in their career, more courses will tailor their content to cater to these needs. There will be an increase in courses that will be offered in areas where there may be a deficiency of talent, for example in a more niche area such as cyber security. More institutions will offer smaller courses that are not full degrees, meaning that they will be less of an expense and require a smaller commitment, therefore providing organisations with the ability to train their staff and thereby improve the overall service that they provide.
  

• Utilising data
  In the same way that organisations use metrics to measure the performance of online campaigns, more institutions will utilise measurement and tailor teaching accordingly. For example, if students are required to partake in an online quiz, the institution is able to assess the performance of students and therefore identify weak areas and adjust content to bridge the gap in their knowledge. This not only ensures that students are achieving better grades but that teachers are also more aware of areas in which students are struggling. Data itself is a valuable resource and teachers will be able to use figures to measure progress and access statistics in real-time.

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Learning is slowly becoming a more layered experience because teaching itself must adapt to the audience and therefore be carried out in multiple ways. Online learning offers an education to improve skills and gaps in knowledge which can be fundamental for employee progression, but also to people that may not previously have had access to education. Therefore, the option of online learning can only lead to a more educated society and have a positive economic impact.

More institutions are offering online certifications due to recognising the way in which it can impact and improve their operation. Therefore, as technology itself continues to evolve and develop, online learning will quickly be incorporated both in the workplace and in schools. The ease of access will result in more organisations covering niche courses, catering to the existing demand that currently exists. It will also help employees to become more qualified and therefore secure more senior job roles.

Online learning has helped to present education as something that is more attainable, therefore allowing individuals of all ages to use learning in different ways. Traditional education often only appeals to a certain age group and so online learning revives the concept of education as being an essential element during any stage of life.