The popularity of e-learning has skyrocketed in the past decade, and the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the evolution even further.
Already, almost 60 percent of businesses favor offering on-demand training online, while the Research Institute of America has found that e-learning boosts retention rates by 25 to 60 percent.
So with e-learning receiving a huge boost during the global pandemic and technology advancing at impressive rates, what is the future of learning?
Personalized experiences
Instead of being stuck in a classroom, moving at a pace that doesn’t suit every learner, e-learning is opening the door to a completely personalized experience.
Not only can students control what, and when they learn, they can move at their own pace and even choose the way in which they study.
With e-learning there is no longer ‘one size fits all’.
Gamification
What better way to engage learners than connecting with their inner child and using game techniques?
This is precisely how gamification works. It uses game-design elements to educate and entertain learners.
It incorporates badges, points, and leader boards to motivate learners to excel and studies show that by making the work fun, employees’ skill retention can increase by up to 40 percent.
Microlearning
Also known as bite-size learning, microlearning is about breaking down complicated topics into smaller chunks to make them easier to understand and remember. It also means workers can learn on the go and incorporate small tasks into their everyday life. Think ‘how to’ videos on YouTube, flashcards, or emails with a ‘word of the day’.
Easy to deploy and showing improved retention and better engagement, microlearning is becoming popular for company training.
Collaborative learning
Just as students are more engaged in the classroom when working with their contemporaries, they also retain information much better when they work collaboratively online.
E-learning has managed to transform the collaborative learning experience into a digital one with chatrooms, platforms to share material, and online discussion forums. It’s a way of connecting learners so they can share insights and ideas.
Artificial Intelligence
There was a time when artificial intelligence seemed like science fiction, but it is set to become the next big trend in e-learning.
Universities are already testing AI teaching assistants to answer simple questions and manage simple tasks, while AI can also be used to understand learners’ interests and deliver customized learning experiences to enhance engagement.
Mobile Learning (m-learning)
Mobile learning is a trend that has rocked the learning community, with industry professionals targeting how we interact with our mobile devices.
Relatively up and coming, with applications for the likes of language-learning hitting the scene, there is no doubt that m-learning could quickly catch up with e-learning and become the next big thing in the world of online learning.
Augmented Reality
Augmented and virtual reality started off as ideas in gaming to bring virtual worlds to life. Now they are being ambitiously applied to the e-learning industry.
With the VR market set to hit $48.5 billion by 2025, there are some exciting developments to come. Imagine surgeons training with VR headsets powered by their mobile phones or students sitting in a virtual classroom and interacting with their teacher on the other side of the world.
Step into the future
E-learning doesn’t just offer valuable training tools for companies worldwide; it tells us a lot about how our learning has evolved.
These innovative approaches have created the best tools for professionals to reach their full potential, and there is no limit to where they can take us.
For a learning management system that inspires best practices in education and training, discover WCEA.
