It is always important to stay updated in business, especially in today’s fast-changing world. Elearning industry is among technology early-adopters, and in this article, we have gathered top trends that will affect the elearning business in 2019.
Elearning Trends 2019
Adaptive Learning
Adaptive or personalized learning is when a learning process and curriculum is adapted for a specific student, his needs and level of knowledge. Due to technologies, such a learning approach is already widely used, adjusting the learning course according to the student’s performance.
For example, the difficulty of quiz questions is adjusted based on student level of knowledge and previous results, moreover, a successful student can pass some topics, he is confident about.
Adaptive learning increases completion rates, course effectiveness and learners’ enjoyment of the learning process as they receive content personalized to them. Moreover, this approach provides more data about each individual student and enables each learner to learn at its own pace.
Microlearning
Microlearning means that the learning process is divided into small chunks that are easy-to-consume and cover a specific topic, so can be consumed independently.
The benefits of this type of learning include time-savings as it’s easier to find time for a small lesson rather than a 1.5-hour lecture, more focused learning experience, and better memorization.
Microlearning can be provided as videos, small games, quizzes, and infographics.
Such learning approach is in high demand nowadays, when it’s hard to find time for ourselves and focus on one thing for long periods of time.
Online tutoring
The global online tutoring market is projected to grow at 13.76% CAGR until 2022. We think it is due to the possibilities the Internet opened for tutors as well as for students. Now we can learn a language from a native speaker sitting at home. Group lessons can also be held online, with hangouts attached to the lesson. All of those features aren’t new, but in 2019 online tutoring will remain among the trends.
If you would like to do tutoring through your website, make sure to have such features as:
- Live chat widget that connects students with subject experts.
- Webinars.
- Discussion forums for students to discuss their questions online.
- Live video calls.
By the way, we have recently build a new website for Jack Westin, the CARS online tutor, with all of those features.
Adaption To BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
eLearning websites and platforms have to adapt to any device that is suitable for their student. It’s not a trend, more a necessity in 2019 to provide a seamless experience across any device. This will increase students’ engagement as they can learn during their way to work or study.
Mobile learning
We have talked about adaptive websites above, but here we are talking specifically about mobile apps. Users are related to their phones and sometimes use them even more often than a computer.
There is a demand for educational mobile apps on the market but still, a lot of companies doesn’t build them due to the large investment needed beforehand. But there is a solution in using web or hybrid applications as they are cheaper to develop. With ever-changing technology, mobile applications are becoming affordable and prove to be a useful tool to interact with your students.
Self-Directed Learning
Self-directed learning means that student goes through a course on its own pace and order. Such an approach allows your students to manage their learning process and pass it in the most comfortable way.
Implementation of self-directed learning in your website will have a positive impact on the course completion rates. That is achieved by letting students select and manage their learning activities, which can be pursued anytime, anywhere, from any device.
Blended Learning
Blended learning or ‘hybrid learning’ is an integration of digital technologies into traditional offline learning. Traditionally there is an online platform with recorded lectures, educational materials, assignments, etc.
Such technologies are already used in educational institutions but they are advancing, making the boundary between the digital and physical world almost unnoticed. Students now attend classrooms with laptops and tablets. Blackboards are now white and connected to wi-fi with the ability to make a screenshot and share it with students. Digitalization has touched every industry and the educational one will keep transforming too.
Big Data And Learning Analytics
Big data is a major trend among various industries. In terms of elearning, it’s data collected from students’ activities, their performance, etc.
Analytics of that data can help you improve your learning materials, activities, and even create a personalized elearning experience. Moreover, big data is needed for the implementation of such trending technologies as artificial intelligence.
With traditional elearning solutions, you can’t track the performance of each individual student, but with big data analysis, you can. This gives you an opportunity to optimize a learning course for a specific student and better its results.
Artificial Intelligence And Chat Bots
Artificial Intelligence is another modern technology that is occupying the elearning industry.
First of all, AI can be used to personalize the learning experience, we have talked about a lot, based on the data collected from the students’ performance. In addition, bots will guide students through the learning process and assist them if any questions occur.
In addition, robots can provide kids and people with special needs with the ability to learn like all the other people. We think that AI will keep transforming the elearning industry in 2019 and beyond.
“Learning can benefit greatly through the use of chatbots in many cases. Many case-based scenarios, for instance, can be improved with a dollop of the artificial intelligence that chatbots bring. Imagine playing the part of the salesperson or the doctor in a scenario and having to respond to objections you must overcome in a way that’s much more like real life.”
– Joe Ganci
Gamification And Game-Based Learning
Gamification is a strong trend in education for a long time as it betters students engagement and improves the overall success of the learning process. It’s a reason why companies are willing to invest in such technologies and make a learning experience even more engaging than ever before. Games help in releasing happy hormones, such as dopamine and serotonin, which make students ‘addicted’ to gamified learning. That is why game-based learning approach is a necessity for your course.
Gamification can be implemented in elearning in such ways as:
- Levels;
- Achievements;
- Points.
- Bonuses;
- Collaboration with others;
- Endless game — constant learning;
- Time limitations to perform the task.
AR/VR
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are the methods of gamification as well as highly useful educational tools. Both of them are growing technological trends that only start to show themselves. Such technologies are mostly used in scientific fields like biology, physics, math. But the imagination is the only limit in ways of its implementation.
AR is a powerful tool as allows to augment a real context with graphical assets for better engagement and additional information representation.
VR differs from AR in that it places a human into another, separate world. It provides an even more engaging experience and is mostly used in safety-related procedures. In addition, VR is used for the education of people with disabilities by providing them with the ability to have experience impossible in real life.
Social Learning
Social learning is engaging learners through collaboration in various ways, such as forums, chats, content sharing and discussion, comments, etc. Humans are social animals and collaboration makes the learning process more engaging and productive.
There was an increase in course completion up to 85% in Harvard Business School, as a result of social learning implementation. Moreover, according to McKinsey, productivity can be increased up to 35% by connecting people through social tech.
By the way, we have implemented social learning for one of our clients and it showed great results in terms of students engagement and performance.
Summary of elearning Trends
To sum up, here are the eLearning trends to look after in 2019:
- Users want your courses to be adaptive for all the screens and pass them at their own pace.
- VR and AR open a lot of opportunities in terms of education but require a lot of investments to be implemented.
- The same goes for AI. But you can already use chat-bots, which can be very useful in answering questions.
- Visual and video content are becoming the main types of content in elearning.
- Gamification is an old but strong trend to engage your users and increase the course completion rate.
- Social learning will lift your engagement rates too and help your students to learn better by helping each other.
That is all for 2019 trends in the elearning industry. Remember, that great content is always the main trend. Contact us if you need a strong development team to implement the latest trends and leave competitors behind.
Originally posted here.
It would be interesting to see a ‘view in the crystal ball’ which embeds all countries, and is not only focused on North America. I suspect the trends are very different in Africa, Asia and even Europe (where privacy is considered very important). Sorry for that critical note, I feel really a world citizen myself. Education – which is where learning attitudes are cradled – is very different in countries, laws and company rules as well.
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